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UT Law Professor Justin Driver has written the cover story for the June 30, 2011, edition of The New Republic. His article, “Obama’s Law,” explores President Obama’s legal philosophy and its troubling consequences.

Calvin Johnson has fifty ways to raise $1 trillion in taxes without raising rates, and he wants to convince Congress to adopt them. Now, he may get his chance. Johnson, the Andrews & Kurth Centennial Professor at the Law School, was recently awarded a fellowship at the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution based in Washington, D.C. The Tax Policy Center provides analysis for both policymakers and the public, and has a team of world-class budget and tax economists.

Eight students from the University of Texas School of Law have been selected by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice as Rapoport Center Summer Fellows. They will fan out to nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations in destinations as diverse as London; Washington, D.C.; and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Their projects include building the legal capacity of marginalized groups, assisting in war crimes prosecutions, representing victims of family violence, increasing compliance with international human rights treaties, and advocating for the rights of low-income workers.

It seems like the dream of most UT Law School graduates: to have the opportunity to work at the highest level in the legal discipline about which you’re most passionate—all while being able to enjoy Barton Springs in the summertime. For Judge Elsa Alcala, ’89, who was appointed to the Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals on March 22, 2011, it’s a reality that she earned through years of tireless work at various levels in the Texas criminal justice system.

On May 24, 2011, Professor Charles Silver testified before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee. The title of the hearing was “Can We Sue Our Way to Prosperity?: Litigation’s Effect on America’s Global Competitiveness.” Silver discussed how civil justice mechanisms in the United States contribute to prosperity by protecting legal rights and enforcing legal obligations.

Jack Balagia, ’76, vice president and general counsel of Exxon Mobil Corporation, will deliver the keynote address at the University of Texas School of Law’s Sunflower Ceremony graduation ceremony on May 21, 2011.

Six graduating students at the University of Texas School of Law have been honored by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law for their extraordinary commitment during Law School to using the law to serve others.

Stanley Johanson, James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Law, and law student Kathryn (“Katy”) Hutchinson, ’11, of the University of Texas at Austin have been awarded the 2011 Texas Exes Teaching Awards.

OUTLaw, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) law student group at the University of Texas School of Law, hosted a legal advocacy conference at the Law School’s Eidman Courtroom on April 15, 2011. The LBGT Legal Advocacy Conference covered legal issues that are pertinent to the LGBT community in the areas of employment discrimination, gay marriage and divorce, and family law (including assisted reproductive technology and adoption). Video from the conference is available now.

Alumni from far and near came to Austin for Reunion 2011, held April 15–16, at the Law School. Here are some photos from the festivities.

Former University of Virginia president and current professor of law emeritus Robert O’Neil, an authority on the First Amendment, will discuss his observations of developments in the field of conflict resolution at the Eleventh Annual Spring Symposium on Dispute Resolution on Friday, April 29, 2011, at the University of Texas School of Law.

Linda Mullenix, the Morris & Rita Atlas Chair in Advocacy at the Law School, has written an article in ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases previewing Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co. The case will be argued before the United States Supreme Court on April 25, 2011.