South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 2, September, 1977 Page: 4 of 8
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Pag« 4 — Annotations — Soptombor 1977
Magistrate Blask
Continued from page 3
responsibility will last. It will just
be one that we will have to per-
form in addition to our other
duties.
Q. How would this treaty affect
an American getting arrested in
Mexico in the future? Would he
be taken before a magistrate in
the U.S.?
A. I'm not at this point that
familiar with the treaty and
cannot say that this treaty would
apply to all Americans arrested
by Mexican authorities here and
after. I'm more inclined to think
that there is a time parameter.
Q. The fact that these prisoners
are serving time under the
Mexican law, would they be
serving the same amount of time
that's in accordance with Mexican
law when they come over here or
would it all of a sudden commute
to the penalty under U.S. law?
A. I've read this treaty briefly
and it is my impression that at the
time that they return to the U.S.
they would be serving the same
sentence that they were serving
in Mexico. This is a transfer of
location of confinement.
Q. Being confined in the U.S.
prisons would they be subject to
the rules and regulations of the
U.S. prisons? Would they get
good time and things like that?
A. As I read it I get the impres-
sion that if they want to appeal
their case they would have to do
so in Mexico according to
Mexican law.
Q. In addition to this prisoner
exchange program, have your
duties been expanding in any
other ways?
A. The magistrates here in
Houston have been given the
responsibility of hearing and
disposing of most of the prisoner
cases that come out of the De-
partment of Corrections. We are
not sure of the numbers now, but
there are upward of 500. This
month each of the magistrates
has been taking turns going to
Huntsville to hear a group of
cases. We pre-try the cases and
hear evidence on those that we
can. This is a commitment that we
have made to relieve the backlog
in this area. It requires a great
deal of effort.
Q. Where do you hold court in
Huntsville?
A. We either hold the court
sessions at the District Court in
Huntsville or at the judicial center
on the Sam Houston State
campus. Anyone is welcome to
come up there and observe these
hearings.
Q. Judge Blask, 1 know settle-
ment is a big part of the
magistrate's duties in this office,
how do you accomplish settle-
ments in very complex cases?
A. About three months ago we
had a case referred to as "The
Oyster Case" which involved a
situation where some three or
four years ago two hundred and
fifty people went to a restaurant
for seafood and many came down
with hepatitis. The restaurant
was sued and in turn sued the
fishermen who harvested the
oysters and the brokers who sold
them to the restaurant. The key to
the situation was that the
insurance carrier for the restau-
rant was willing to tender their
policy limits into the registry of
the court and they were then
dismissed from the case. We let
the Special Master take care of
the individual claims. My role in
this particular case for settlement
was to get the two parties
together when they were repre-
sented by over a hundred
different lawyers.
Q. When you say two parties,
that doesn't necessarily mean two
attorneys, does it?
A. No. I mean plaintiffs and
defendants. Plaintiffs were the
claimants, the people who got
sick. There were some two
hundred and thirty or forty of
them. My role was to try and
reach a settlement whereby the
plaintiffs represented by these
one hundred lawyers would agree
to the appointment of a Special
Master to listen to the individual
claims and assess a dollar value
upon the defendants which would
be paid out of the insurance pro-
ceeds on deposit with the court.
My role then was to get all the
lawyers together and get their
general framework of agreement.
This was accomplished and we
then had to notify all the parties
to come in and sign the
agreement to settle. Ibis was
done about a month later. The
Special Master, who is both a
lawyer and a doctor, appeared
and the settlement was accom-
plished. Doing so, it saved the
court two or three years of
litigation because each claim
would have been tried separately.
The plaintiffs were happy be-
cause they were going to be paid
in a relatively short period of time
and the case had been pending
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for three or four years. Had it
gone to trial there is no telling
how long it would have taken to
complete.
Q. How could you possibly work
with a hundred attorneys and get
them all to agree?
A. Well, it was a very interest-
ing challenge and was made
easier because the lawyers
wanted to settle the case and
when lawyers want to settle a
case they can do it. Sometimes
the role of a magistrate is that of a
catalyst. We get the parties
together, make a few sugges-
tions, arbitrate disputes, and so
forth. That is what occurred in
this case. The settlement was
really accomplished by the
lawyers. It was just a matter of
getting them together, making a
few suggestions and overcoming
some problems. But to finalize it
the attorneys had to want to settle
the case. They had clients who
were bombarding them with
questions such as: Where is my
case? Why isn't it settled? When
am I going to trial? The plaintiffs'
lawyers were in a position where
their hands were tied. They could
not give their clients any idea
when the case would be tried
because there were so many com-
ponents. So with that kind of at-
mosphere even though it was dif-
ficult getting them all together
and finally getting them all to
agree the atmosphere was right
for settlement. The lawyers
cooperated fully, represented
their clients well, and were very
responsive.
Q. Were any of those lawyers
form STCL?
A. Yes. I think there were
several.
Q. In your contacts with lawyers
who are graduates from STCL
what is your reaction?
A. Well, the lawyers I've seen
from STCL I've been very im-
pressesd with. A great number of
students are working as interns
for lawyers and the courts, which
I feel is a very helpful situation. It
may not give you a lot of money to
live on, but it gives one experi-
ence, exposure, and puts you a
step ahead of other graduates
who have not been exposed to the
real world of practicing law. I
think it's a great program and I
encourage the school to continue
to expand that kind of a program
and encourage students who can
afford it or can afford it on a
borderline basis to consider it
seriously because I think it will
give them the tremendous advan-
tage once they graduate and start
to practice.
Q. You have taught at STCL on
at least one occasion in the past
and are currently on the adjunct
faculty. How do you feel about the
school from a professor's point of
view?
A. Well, my previous semester
was the only contact I have had
with the school and I've been
impressed with the caliber of
students, the facilities certainly,
and the interests and abilities of
the students. I think the school
has a great future, but it's going
to take some time to develop a
reputation that will put the
graduates on a competing status
with the other well known law
schools such as Texas or even The
University of Houston and SMU.
The more students STCL can
place in public offices and with
good law firms, the more prestige
the school is going to gain and I
think they're on the road.
Q. Are you pleased with the
response of the students in the
conflicts of law course you are
currently teaching?
A. I'm really enjoying it. As I
told the class, it is the first time
I've taught a "textbook" course
and it has been quite an experi-
ence. I hope the class is getting
the benefit they deserve out of it.
I certainly am. I hope that it's not
a situation so typical in law
schools where the students do
most of their study during the last
week of the term. I'm hoping that
some of the principles of conflicts
are getting to the class. So far I
have been very impressed with
participation, low absenteeism,
and a lot of give and take. I've
found that the students are well
prepared and there has been a lot
Alumni News
of discussion not prompted by me
as much as by the issues in the
materials. I've been very pleased
with that kind of response and I
hope that this class participation
and interest is not just my
imagination but a sincere interest
by the students. Conflicts is not
the typical law school course
where the professor spouts out all
the rules and principles that the
students can grasp and apply to
the law. There are a few
principles, but it is a constantly
fluctuating area of the law. It is
extremely important today and
perhaps one of the most
important courses a student in
law school can take. Today,
litigation between parties of dif-
ferent states and countries is very
common and this was just not so
ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.
Academicians have different
theories on conflicts of interest
that could be applied to some
standardization between the
states but it's not a simple course
to teach. The law students who
are used to looking for definite
rules and definite areas have
difficulty grasping the course. I
think this is what makes it
interesting. It gives the stúdents
an opportunity to use their mind
to see problems and solve these
problems that they are going to
meet without doubt the day they
get out of law school.
Q. Are you going to continue on
the adjunct faculty at STCL?
A. I'm not sure. I was very
flattered that I was asked to teach
this course and I think it just
depends on whether the time is
available and the school asks me.
Founder's Day Lunch Set
October 20, 1977 has been set
for the Founder's Day Luncheon.
The new 1977-78 officers of the
Alumni will be installed.
Founder's Day is a very special
day. In 1972, the alumni met to
reorganize and change the name
from Ex-student Association to
The Alumni Association. Just this
year, the decision was made to
incorporate. Therefore, it is now
The Alumni Association, Incor-
porated.
Also at the luncheon, the "Dis-
tinguished Alumnus of the Year"
will be named. Each year an
anonymous committee is ap-
pointed by the president to select
an alumnus who has made an
outstanding civic contribution to
the community in which he lives;
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made significant contributions to
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Calender
1977-78
Thursday, October 20
Founder's Day Luncheon —
introduction of new officers, Dis-
tinguished Alumnus Award.
Saturday, November 12
Professional Orientation —
alumni and students, South Texas
College of Law, 9 a.m.-l p.m.
Wednesday, December 14
Christmas Party — Inns of
Court, Houston Bar, 4:30-9 pm.
Thursday, January 19
Alumni Luncheon — Southwest
Area Luncheon, Meyerland Club,
9000 South Rice Avenue.
More details later. If you have
any questions, please call the
Alumni Office and ask for Mrs.
Mabel Welch, 659-8040.
Seminars
Many of the Houston Bar Associ-
ation and State Bar Association
Continuing Legal Education Sem-
inars and Institutes are held at
South Texas College of Law.
Students are welcome to attend
these programs without charge.
However, should you want any of
the materials, they may be
purchased at one-half the price.
Students should bring a current
STCL I.D. card to obtain these
benefits.
October 7 — "Real Estate",
8:30-5 Auditorium.
October 21 — "How to Present
and Exclude Evidence", 8:30-5,
Auditorium.
November 10-11 — "Basic Di-
vorce", 8:30-5, Auditorium.
December 1 — "Pre Trial",
8:30-5, Auditorium.
December 16 — 'Commercial/
Consumer Law", 8:30-12 p.m.,
Auditorium.
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Ziegler, Dave N. & Johnson, Peter. South Texas College of Law, Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 2, September, 1977, newspaper, September 1977; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144373/m1/4/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.