Michael Berenson, member of the Law Review’s Board of Advisory Editors passed away on November 30, 2013. A true renaissance man, Michael Berenson was an engineer, a rocket scientist, a successful businessman, and a law partner in the firm Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel, LLC. Prior to enrolling at Tulane University Law School, Michael Berenson was a rocket scientist during the years of the Gemini and Apollo space programs. Later, he founded Quanta Data Systems, a data processing firm serving businesses in the Greater New Orleans area. After these successful careers, Michael Berenson enrolled at Tulane University Law School, where he became an editor of the Tulane Law Review, and graduated with honors in 1990.
Remembering John M. McCollam
John M. McCollam, former Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review and Professor Emeritus of Tulane University Law School, passed away on January 13, 2014. He was an active member of the oil and gas law community and published A Primer for the Practice of Mineral Law Under the New Louisiana Mineral Code, 50 Tul. L. Rev. 729 (1976). We are thankful for all of Mr. McCollam's contributions to the Review and the Tulane Law School community.
Case Note Competition Winners Selected
Congratulations to the six members whose case notes were selected for publication in Volume 88.
Ben Berman - Maintain a Seaman’s Protection, or Cure a Seaman’s Fraud? Weighing the Proper Balance Between Seamen and Employers in Boudreaux v. Transocean Deepwater, Inc.
Jeffrey Gelpi - Pociask v. Moseley: The Louisiana Supreme Court Follows the Legislature's Lead and Gives Legal Fathers More Time to Disavow
Miles Indest - Walking Dead: The Fifth Circuit Resurrects Rational Basis Review in St. Joseph Abbey v. Castille
Jared Pessetto - In State v. Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., the Louisiana Supreme Court Retreats from Progress in Oilfield Contamination Litigation
Jacob Whitt - Cell Phones as an Eye of the Government: In re Application of the United States for Historical Cell Site Data
Bailey Wilson - United States v. Scruggs: The Fifth Circuit Creates a New Method to Determine What Constitutes a "More Serious" Charge
In Memory of Professor Harvey C. Couch
In memory of the late Professor Harvey C. Couch, the Board of Student Editors dedicates Issue 2 of Volume 88 to him for his forty-five years of service to Tulane University Law School and for his support of the Tulane Law Review as Faculty Advisor from 1975 to 1979.
Announcing Volume 88 Junior Members
Zachary D. Banks
Ben Berman
Katherine V. Burke
Chloe M. Chetta
Jeffrey Gelpi
Robert J. Giglio
James H. Gilbert
Maximilian T. Hass
Zane E. Hilton
Miles O. Indest
Lindsey M. Jaquillard
Jeffrey D. Karas
Justine A. Keel
Alyssa J. Leary
Andrea J. Longworth
Meghan Marchetti
Elizabeth B. McIntosh
Kyle K. Oxford
Alden N. Paras
Jared Pessetto
Austin N. Priddy
Talbot M. Quinn
Tegan Rymer
Elan Silver
Spencer C. Sinclair
Alston L. Walker
Lance W. Waters
Jacob T. Whitt
Leon H. Whitten
Bailey C. Wilson
Kristen L. Wilson
Special Thanks to Our Banquet Sponsors
The Law Review is grateful to those who contributed to the annual banquet held on April 18, 2013.
The 2013 Tulane Law Review Annual Banquet is Proudly Sponsored by:
Patrons
Flanagan Partners L.L.P.
Jones Walker
Krebs Farley & Pelleteri P.L.L.C.
Liskow & Lewis
Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard
Slattery, Marino & Roberts
Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C.
Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
Warren Burns
Benefactors
Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley Willis & Swanson L.L.P.
Gordon Arata McCollam Duplantis & Eagan L.L.C.
Phelps Dunbar L.L.P.
Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford, L.L.C.
Sponsors
Adams and Reese L.L.P.
Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, L.L.C.
Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson L.L.C.
2012-13 Tulane Law Review Award Recipients
Sarah Schindler, Kara McQueen-Borden, Annalisa Cravens, Kathryn Munson, Paul Stevens, Jr., Chris Hilton, and Andrew Kingsley received awards at the Tulane Law Review's annual banquet on April 18, 2013.
John Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence in Legal Scholarship
Awarded to the author of the best lead article in the current volume.
[sc:sc]Sarah B. Schindler[sc:/sc]
Robert E. Friedman Law Review Award
Established in honor of Robert E. Friedman, a 1935 graduate of Tulane Law School and Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review in 1934-35. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and was a former member of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He retired as head of the legal department of Mobil Oil of California. It is awarded annually on the nomination of a committee to the student submitting the best comment appearing in the current volume of the Tulane Law Review.
[sc:sc]Kara K. McQueen-Borden[sc:/sc]
Gertler Law Review Award
This award was established by Judge David Gertler (graduate of Tulane Law School). It is offered annually on the nomination of a faculty committee to the first-year member of the student Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review who published the best case note in the current volume.
[sc:sc]Annalisa L. Cravens[sc:/sc]
Charles Janvier II Award
Awarded to the junior and senior members of the Review who have made the most significant contributions to production excellence.
[sc:sc]Kara K. McQueen-Borden[sc:/sc]
[sc:sc]Kathryn W. Munson[sc:/sc]
Class of 2000 Law Review Award
To be awarded to that senior member of the Board of Student Editors of the Tulane Law Review who in the judgment of their fellow members has most effectively contributed to the success of the year’s publication program and whose writing has most significantly improved in professional quality.
[sc:sc]Christopher D. Hilton[sc:/sc]
Conrad Meyer III Law Review Award
The Conrad Meyer III Law Review Award is presented in honor of Conrad Meyer III (who served with distinction as Chairman of the Advisory Board for twelve years) at the Banquet each year to the member who has consistently exhibited outstanding leadership skills and dedication.
[sc:sc]Paul S. Stevens, Jr.[sc:/sc]
Class of 2000 Academic Leadership Award
The Academic Leadership Award is given at the Banquet each year to the outgoing Editor in Chief, in appreciation for their work in leading the Review for the year.
[sc:sc]Andrew Burke Kingsley[sc:/sc]
Author Weighs in on Medical Credit Card Abuse
An author exploring the role of doctors as money lenders to their patients in an article published in Volume 84 again weighed in on a similar issue (that is, medical credit cards) in a recent Fox Business article. Fox Business discussed the potential risks of seeking a credit card that is exclusively for medical and dental costs, including higher interest rates than those of traditional credit cards, in Medical Credit Cards: Treatment Today, Payment Headaches Tomorrow, published on March 25, 2013.
In the article, Jim Hawkins, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, explained that medical credit cards are not covered by the Truth in Lending Act, unlike other credit cards, meaning that medical providers are not required to disclose why they chose a particular financial institution in offering medical credit cards.
The article then cites Hawkins' work in the Review to explain that without proper oversight, patients may mistakenly believe they are taking a loan directly from the doctor instead of a third-party financial institution.
Hawkins' article, Doctors as Bankers: Evidence From Fertility Markets, explored the potential of abuse of the doctor-patient relationship when doctors discuss financing options to cover medical costs with the patient, particularly where such practice is not currently subject to regulation.[1. Jim Hawkins, Doctors as Bankers: Evidence From Fertility Markets, 84 [sc:sc]Tul. L. Rev.[sc:/sc] 841 (2010).]
As Hawkins elaborated in both his article and for Fox Business, this potential for abuse is compounded when the doctor does not make clear who will provide the credit: the doctor directly or a third party.[2. Id.]
Tulane Faculty Member and Former Review Advisor Honored in Paris
Tulane law faculty member Vernon Palmer, as a former advisor of the Review, will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the Université Paris-Dauphine in Paris, France. The honor is known as the Honoris Causa and is one of the most prestigious the university can bestow, requiring approval from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Professor Palmer has devoted his career to the study of civil and comparative law and teaches courses at Tulane in comparative law, obligations, European legal systems, products liability, and sales and leases in addition to serving as director of Tulane's Institute of European Legal Studies in Paris. This honor is not the first bestowed upon him in recognition of his contributions to the legal community of France; Professor Palmer was also knighted as a chevalier in the French Legion of Honor in 2006.
According to the law school. Professor Palmer will receive the honor in recognition of his contributions throughout the world to the field of comparative law. The Review would like to congratulate Prof. Palmer on this honor.
Symposium Article Selected to Appear in Intellectual Property Law Review
An article published in volume 86 of the Tulane Law Review discussing the tension between trademark protections and licensing of the intellectual property of sports teams has been selected for publication in the annual Intellectual Property Law Review. In selecting From Dallas Cap to American Needleand Beyond: Antitrust Law's Limited Capacity to Stitch Consumer Harm from Professional Sports Club Trademark Monopolies by Professor Matthew J. Mitten, the Intellectual Property Law Review's Editor Karen B. Tripp noted that the article represented "one of the best law review articles related to intellectual property law published within the last year."
Professor Mitten wrote the article for the Review's symposium issue on sports and antitrust law issues. Specifically, Professor Mitten examined the United States Supreme Court decision of American Needle, Inc. v. NFL, and its impact on "increasing legal protection for sports team trademarks" and "collective exclusive licensing of professional sports team trademarks."[1. Matthew J. Mitten, From Dallas Cap to American Needle and Beyond: Antitrust Law's Limited Capacity to Stitch Consumer Harm from Professional Sports Club Trademark Monopolies, 86 Tul. L. Rev. 901 (2012).]
Ultimately, Professor Mitten concluded that extending trademark protection amounted to consumer harm, requiring "the collective granting of exclusive product category licenses . . . be invalidated under the quick-look rule of reason because this restraint has clear anticompetitive effects that are not necessary to achieve legitimate procompetitive justifications and/or which may be achieved by a substantially less restrictive alternative."[2. Id.]
The reprinting of Professor Mitten's Article will appear in the 2013 edition of the Intellectual Property Law Review. The full text is also available online via Westlaw, LexisNexis, and HeinOnline (links are available here.)