A Busy Week of Teleconferences

The AT has a few teleconferences scheduled this week that may be of interest:

On Tuesday 10/25, the Fuel & Energy and FTC committees have a panel to discuss the FTC challenge of Aloha Petroleum's acquisition of Trustreet properties' Oahu assets.

On Wednesday 10/26, the Criminal Justice Section joins the AT and ABA Center for CLE to present Hot Topics in Criminal Antitrust enforcement.

And on Friday 10/28, the Corporate Counseling Committee presents their In-House Counsel Antitrust update.

Be sure to bookmark the full AT calendar so you can keep up with future programs!

LSD Liaison Reports Now Available Online

The October LSD Liaison reports are now available online. Remember, Liaisons are your student representative to the sections and forums. If you have questions about student programming or benefits with a particular ABA entity, they can help you find the right answer. Also, if you're interested in applying for a liaison position for next year, it's not too early to get in touch with the current liaison!

I've got company!

I'm very pleased to have Ms. Robin Haynes of Gonzaga University, recently appointed LSD Liaison to the Section of Litigation's Antitrust Committee, join me in the blogosphere. She has been active with the LT's Antitrust Committee for some time now and it will be great to have her input on upcoming events and issues of interest to our LSD and AT members from the LT perspective.

Speaking of committees, I'm also pleased to report Mr. Albert Kim, with the FTC in Washington, has successfully revived the YLD's Antitrust Committee. The YLD is the next step for most of our LSD members, so you can continue to stay involved with the AT and your peers after graduating!

I had to join in the committee adventure, too, and I have also been appointed the LSD Liaison to the Section of Litigation's ADR Committee. I'm looking forward to working with Co-Chairs Susan Potter Norton and Robert Hines on future projects.

Now, why haven't you joined a committee?

Software Merger News & Another DOJ Visit!

On the heels of the announcement that the US DOJ cleared the proposed Adobe & Macromedia merger, we were fortunate enough to have J. Bruce McDonald, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, visit our Antitrust section at the University of Houston Law Center today! Prof McDonald - yes, he was an adjunct prof at UHLC back in the day - discussed the DOJ's case against the Oracle & Peoplesoft merger, which a California district court ultimately disagreed with in U.S. v. Oracle, 331 F.Supp.2d 1098 (N.D. Cal. 2004). (Related DOJ Case filings available here.)

Prof McDonald also provided some tips on the antitrust legal market beyond the DOJ and FTC recruiting programs. As a former partner at our local Baker & Botts, Prof McDonald is a great resource and I, for one, really appreciated the visit!

More speeches by J. Bruce McDonald.

Know Your Rights Special Follow-up

For those of you that missed tonight's program, it is scheduled for rebroadcast at 10pm CDT Thursday. Panelists included:

• Bill Quigley, Director, Law Clinic at Loyola Law School (temporarily hosted by Univ of Houston Law Center)
• Mark Mareau, Director, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
• Bob Sohns, Director, Lone Star Legal Aid

also joining the panel later

• Marcy Kurtz, Bankruptcy Attorney, Bracewell & Giuliani
• Opal Jackson, FEMA Spokesperson

Topics discussed or mentioned included: landlord/tenant issues, liability for falling trees on your or neighbor's property, interstate child custody and child support payments, unemployment compensation, wages lost due to evacuations, how to find your relatives who have been relocated in the Louisiana prison system, price gouging, FEMA support, insurance claims and coverage expectations & limits, vandalized abandoned cars and their missing contents, and the upcoming bankruptcy filing deadlines.

Texas & Louisiana residents with related questions can still call back in Wed-Fri, October 5-7, from 4-7pm CDT to get answers to their legal questions. The numbers are 713.743.2168 or toll-free 877.743.2168.

Some of the links mentioned on-air:

• Prof Richard Alderman, The People's Lawyer http://www.peopleslawyer.net/
• State Bar of Texas http://www.texasbar.com/
• S.J.Beaulieu, Chapter 13 Trustee, New Orleans http://www.13network.com/trustees/nor/norhome.asp

The special edition of the People's Law School for hurricane related issues will be this Saturday afternoon. FEMA representatives will be there to answer your questions. Please check Prof Alderman's site for registration info.

[UPDATE] Read the official UH Press Release here [/UPDATE]