Spring 2002 - The University of Texas at Austin

BRIEFS
Michael W. “Mike” Perrin, ’71,
has been named president-elect of
the University of Texas School of
Law Alumni Association. His term as
president begins Sept. 1, 2002.
“Our alumni association has prospered
under Jim Derrick and Eduardo
Rodriguez’s leadership,” Dean Bill
Powers said. “We’re delighted that
Mike will
be our next
president.
He’s already
helped create
innovative
programs for
our alumni,
and we look
forward to
working
with him.”
Perrin
received his
undergraduate
degree in
mathematics
from UT in
1969 and his
law degree
from the Law
School in 1971. Perrin participated in
several law school organizations
including Phi Delta Phi fraternity, an
international legal fraternity and Legal
Eagles, an intramural football team. He
also made the highest grade in the
State of Texas for the Bar Examination
administered in February 1972.
Perrin is the managing partner
of the Houston office of King &
Spalding. He joined the firm in 1996,
having previously maintained a
broad-based civil litigation practice
throughout Texas since 1972. His
current practice includes the defense
of oil and gas royalty cases, pipeline
cases, products liability matters,
commercial litigation, and tort cases.
He has tried cases in federal and
state courts, including a wide range
of personal injury actions arising
from oil field activities, transportation
and industrial plants.
A NN BUTLER
T E X A S S T U DENT PUBLICATIONS
LeClercq has been selected to create a plain-language set of notices in class-action lawsuits.
Terri LeClercq
NATIONALLY KNOWN W R I TING EXPERT
RECEIVES SIX-FIGURE GRANT
A
AFTER A NATIONWIDE
search, a group of
plaintiff attorneys
have selected Terri
LeClercq, to create a
plain-language set of notices in classaction
lawsuits. LeClercq, a Senior Lecturer
and Director of International Programs
at the Law School, will receive a
$100,000 stipend to fund the project.
The stipend comes out of settlement
funds awarded in Hayden v.
Atochem, a class-action lawsuit. Lacking
standardized notice forms, both sides’
attorneys struggled to draft readilycomprehensible
notices to class members.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys decided
that something must be done to
ensure that, in the future, notices to
class members serve their purpose.
When U.S. District Judge Lynn N.
Hughes suggested that the attorneys
set aside a portion of their settlement
fees to hire a nationally recognized
expert to create standardized forms,
they jumped at the idea.
LeClercq will coordinate her investigation
with the Federal Judicial Center,
which has proposed an amendment
to Rule 23 that would require
plain-language notice. Eventually, she
plans to place the materials online, link
to other Web sites and translate the
forms into Spanish.
LeClercq is the author of several
authoritative books on writing including
Expert Legal Writing (1995) and
Guide to Legal Writing Style (2000). A former
English professor, she has taught
writing and editing at the Law School
for 19 years and has served as an expert
witness on language in numerous cases.
Spring 2002 UTLAW 47