Inadmissible

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law professor James McGrath says he occasionally has to re-examine a letter he received in June from the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, stating that he would be teaching law at Beijing University of Chemical Technology for the 2011-2012 school year. “Sometimes I check the document to make sure I read it correctly,” says McGrath. “I’ll be staying on the campus there.” McGrath is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholar grant, an exchange program sponsored by the State Department, and will be teaching, in English, an introduction to U.S. law course and a course on courts and remedies. “It’s a full university with a school of law and humanities as well,” he says. “I can’t wait. Not for one minute am I taking this for granted at all.” He’ll be in Beijing from August until July 2012 and will return to teach at the Fort Worth law school. McGrath is excited that the grant includes funds to hire a tutor to help him learn Mandarin while he is in China. “Mandarin is very difficult for me,” he says. “I don’t have a good ear for tones.” McGrath says he’s looking forward to being immersed in a different culture. “I’m going to embrace the way people live over there,” he says.

Facebook Suit Settles

Houston lawyer Jason M. Medley has settled a libel suit he filed on behalf of his daughter against three Houston-area middle-school students over a video the defendants allegedly posted on the social networking site Facebook. On Aug. 2, Medley, a shareholder in O’Donnell, Ferebee, Medley & Keiser in Houston, filed a motion of nonsuit without prejudice in Medley a/n/f S.M., a Minor v. Moore, et al. “Plaintiff has resolved this matter with the Defendants in an amicable fashion,” Medley wrote in the notice. Plaintiff’s attorney Robert J. Naudin Jr. , a shareholder in O’Donnell, Ferebee, announced the settlement Aug. 3 in an e-mail. “This matter has been resolved after receiving apologizes from the girls involved and having small donations made to a non-profit group which educates the public on responsible internet use,” Naudin wrote. In a statement, Medley wrote that he is disappointed he had to resort to legal action, but he hopes to join an effort to help develop an “educational curriculum that focuses on teaching young people responsible internet usage and safety.” In the June 14 petition, the plaintiff, a minor identified in the petition as “S.M.” and in an attached cease-and-desist letter as Medley’s daughter, alleged the defendants made “several statements alleging untrue facts, as well as other suggestive, derogatory, inflammatory and sexually explicit statements and gestures” regarding her in the video, which was posted on Facebook on May 18. The plaintiff alleged the actions of the defendants constituted libel per se, negligence and defamation, and she sought unspecified actual damages, costs and interest and a “permanent injunction enjoining the Defendants from further threatening or defaming” her. In answers filed on July 18, the three students asked 157th District Judge Randy Wilson of Houston to dismiss the suit, enter a judgment that the plaintiff take nothing, and assess all costs against the plaintiff. Kevin Walters , an attorney with Chaffee McCall in Houston who represents one of the defendants, confirms the terms of the settlement, but declines further comment. Answers for the other two defendants were filed pro se by relatives as the defendants’ next friend, and the pleadings did not provide contact information. Texas Lawyer is not identifying the plaintiff and the defendants because they are minors.

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