SHERMAN, TEXAS —The Austin College 2010 Law Symposium, designed for law professionals and interested students, will be held Tuesday, February 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Speakers will explore the intersection between the law and science, including patent law, the definition of “life” from legal and scientific perspectives, the use of technology for justice, and issues regarding biodefense and biosecurity.
The cost for the program is $25 for Grayson County attorneys and $60 for other attorneys. Students and faculty are welcome at no charge, and admission for all others is $25 per person. Register online by February 18 or call 1-800-467-6646 or 903-813-2383. Approval of CLE credit is pending.
As of this spring, in honor of Professor Emeritus Kenneth Street, the symposium will now be known as the Dr. Kenneth Street Law Symposium at Austin College. Street was a professor of political science from 1959 to 1997, held the John D. Moseley Chair of Government and Public Policy, and founded and directed the Social Science Laboratory, which allowed students to experience field research, observe political and social behavior, and text hypothesis about needs in the community. This year, Street was one of the first to be honored with the Austin College Alumni Board’s Faculty Service Award for his outstanding service to the community and Austin College.
Symposium Presenters:
Keynote Speaker: Victoria Sutton
Victoria Sutton is the director of the Center for Biodefense, Law, and Public Policy at Texas Tech University, the only center at a law school in the U.S. to focus solely on issues of law and biodefense, biosecurity, and bioterrorism. She served as the chief counsel for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. from September 2005 until January 2007. Before joining the faculty at Texas Tech, Dr. Sutton served in the President George H. W. Bush administration as assistant director in the White House Science Office and in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the White House, she was responsible for coordinating science and technology research programs at the cabinet level. After her White House service, Dr. Sutton was executive director of the Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine, where she led the development of the Institute's research initiatives. She is an appointee to the Governor Rick Perry Texas Council on Key Resources and Critical Infrastructure Council, for expertise in biodefense law. She wrote Law and Science: Cases and Materials.
Clyde Siebman
Clyde M. Siebman is founder and senior partner of the law firm of Siebman, Reynolds, Burg, Phillips & Smith, L.L.P. He manages the firm's offices in Sherman, Plano, and Lufkin. He is board-certified in civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Civil trial law is the practice of law dealing with the litigation of civil controversies in all areas of substantive law before state courts, federal courts, administrative agencies, and arbitrators. Siebman has appeared as counsel in over 250 cases in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas. He has served as a member of the Local Rules Advisory Committee, Non-Appropriated Fund Committee and U.S. Magistrate-Judge Merit Selection Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He is listed in The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers and has been recognized in the 2003 to 2009 Texas Super Lawyers publications. Siebman founded the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association. He served as its founding president and subsequently for an unprecedented four terms.
Tex Quesada
Tex Quesada is senior partner in the law firm of Sommerman & Quesada, L.L.P., in Dallas, Texas. He worked for the Supreme Court of Texas and is the president-elect of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Tex has served on a number of State Bar committees, including the local Grievance Committee, and regularly makes presentations at legal seminars across the state. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has successfully handled cases involving traumatic brain injuries, explosions, oil field injuries, truck wrecks, medical negligence and products liability.
Tom Mayo
Tom Mayo is associate professor at the Southern Methodist University School of Law, where he serves as director of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. Before teaching, he worked as a law clerk with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and as an associate at Covington & Burling, where he practiced in the areas of securities fraud, antitrust, communications law, and election law. He was twice awarded the Dedman School of Law outstanding teacher award and was awarded the Dallas County Medical Society’s Heath Award for outstanding leadership and service to medicine and to the community of Dallas in 2002. He was inducted into the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Health Lawyers Association and was a member of its board of directors from 1997 to 2003.He serves on the Texas Advance Directives Coalition, which was responsible for drafting the 1999 Advance Directives Act and its 2003 amendments, which pertains to legal protection for hospital personnel in regards to end-of-life decisions.
Symposium Sponsors:
The symposium is sponsored by the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation, the Austin College Student Assembly, the Austin College Pre-Law Society, the Austin College Political Science Department; the Grayson County Bar Association; Walker Sewell law firm of Dallas; Trey and Meredith Doty of Larry’s Liquor, Beer & Wine of Denison, Texas; Shore Freeman Mills; and Austin College alumni Jim Walker, president of the Austin College Alumni “L” Law Association; Gary Johnson, vice president of the “L” Association; Barbara and Brian Kilpatrick, vice president of the “L” Association; Chris Thompson and Jenny King, and Brandon Hurley.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges that Change Lives.