Inadmissible

Texas law students are doing their bit to help the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The Hispanic Law Student Association at South Texas College of Law in Houston — in an effort led by HLSA president Alina Morros and vice president Laura Garcia, both third-year students — collected cash donations last week for the American Red Cross, law school spokeswoman Sheila Hansel writes in an e-mail. And students at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston are collecting clothes, blankets, shoes and nonperishable food items for the American Red Cross, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Virgie Mouton writes in an e-mail. Through Jan. 29, the Thurgood Marshall students also are collecting cash donations that will be divided between the American Red Cross and Yéle Haiti — a nonprofit organization founded by musician Wyclef Jean and dedicated to rebuilding Haiti, Mouton writes. Courtney Richards, a second-year student at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth who is president of the Student Bar Association, says the SBA has collaborated with faculty members to announce the group’s fundraising drive, which lasts through Jan. 29, and to pass collection envelopes during class. Some faculty members, such as law professor Malinda Seymore , are offering students an academic incentive to support relief efforts — protection from being called on in class, Richards says. “Students can have a day of immunity for a $5 donation,” Richards says. Although she had already given money to the fund-raising effort, Richards says on Jan. 20 she added a $5 donation to get immunity from being called on in Seymore’s criminal procedure class. “The SBA tried to pull our funds together to get this moving,” she says. “Once the incentive was offered, most of us put $5 on top of that.” On a serious note, Richards says that when SBA members saw the pain and suffering going on in Haiti, the group decided to organize a way to help students donate funds to the earthquake victims. “I think there is a big awareness around campus about how much the people in Haiti are suffering,” she says. “It’s not just one day; things keep happening. People are dying, and they really do need our help.”

Locke Lord’s Lure

On Jan. 18, Paul Coggins left the Dallas office of Fish & Richardson , where he was a principal, to join Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell as a partner. Coggins, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, will chair 619-lawyer Locke Lord’s white-collar practice. “He has a national reputation for his criminal-defense practice, and is well-respected by clients and attorneys alike. He commands a tremendous respect and is highly regarded,” Jerry Clements , a partner in Austin who chairs the firm, writes in a statement. “To say we are thrilled to have Paul join Locke Lord is an understatement,” she writes. Coggins says Fish treated him well, but he sees a “great opportunity and a great fit” at Locke Lord. Coggins says his longtime friend, Robert Sussman , who chaired Locke Lord’s white-collar defense group before his death in 2009, tried on many occasions to recruit him to Locke Lord. “Tragically Bob passed away, and Locke Lord said, ‘We have this hole to fill, and we think you are the right guy to do it,’ ” Coggins says. He says he brought most of his clients with him to Locke Lord but declines to identify them. Fish & Richardson is sad to lose Coggins, who joined the Dallas office in 2001, and “ wishes him the best,” Tom Melsheimer , managing principal in Dallas, wrote in a Jan. 15 e-mail to lawyers and staff at Fish. “You will be one of the best decisions your new firm has made,” Melsheimer wrote.

MPs Less Pessimistic