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MEDIA REVIEWS
Texas Annotated Civil Practice and Remedies Code
PPublished by LexisNexis
2004 edition
1047 pages, $79.99
Reviewed by PATRICE PUJOL
There From its Texas Desktop Code Series, LexisNexis has released the Texas Annotated Civil Practice and Remedies Code, 2004 edition. This 1,047-page, one-volume book contains the complete Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and portions of articles I, V, and XVI of the Texas Constitution that are relevant to civil litigation. Additionally, the book contains selected parts of the following Texas Codes: Business and Commerce (including the Business Corporations Act), Family, Finance, Government, Insurance, Labor, Local Government, Occupations, Probate and Property. Increasing the ease of use is the 128-page index that covers minor sections of the book.
The volume includes the statutory changes and additions from the 78th Texas Legislative Regular Session. Thus, the book addresses the important tort reform changes made in House Bill 4, as well as other notable amendments in the Business and Commerce, Government, Insurance and Property Codes.
Unlike O’Connor CPRC Plus, which places amended and former versions of the law by individual section or article, the Lexis product differentiates the amended and former versions of the law by chapter. For example, Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code is first presented in its current form, which includes the changes brought by the tort reform in 1995 and 2003. Immediately following this current version is the version of Chapter 33 that was in effect before the 1995 tort reform. Although it may be more convenient to have each version set out by individual section, the Lexis volume carefully detail the changes, if any, between the current and former versions.
In addition, the case annotations are well-written and detailed. The vast majority of the annotations include recent opinions, and a substantial number are unpublished. The only criticism would be the uneven distribution of case notes. Chapter 38, addressing attorneys fees, contains more than 25 case notes. However, Chapter 41, on exemplary damages, has only four case notes. Overall, the LexisNexis Texas Annotated Civil Practice and Remedies Code is an excellent value at $79.99. Current Lexis subscribers may be eligible for a discounted price and/or electronic updates.
Patrice Pujol is an appellate and litigation attorney with the Houston office of Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz and Tardy, LLP. She is the editor-in-chief of The Houston Lawyer.
Texas Annotated Court Rules
Published by LexisNexis
July 2004 edition
499 pages, $89.99
Reviewed by PATRICE PUJOL
This edition of the Texas Annotated Court Rules includes the Rules of Civil Procedure, Judicial Administration, Evidence and Appellate Procedure. This streamlined volume packs 499 pages of rules and case notes, and offers a very detailed, 62-page index. Like its sister volume, the annotations are well-written, concise and reliable. The book is also very easy to use and much lighter than similar products from West and Jones McClure.
However, this sleek volume does not include some of the more recent rule changes. For instance, on March 3, 2004, the Texas Supreme Court issued new Rule 194.2(l) that addresses “designated responsible third parties” in a party’s answers to requests for disclosure. This new rule was not included in the book, despite that it is the “July 2004” edition. In fairness to LexisNexis, this omission is undoubtedly due to publishing deadlines and should not detract from the quality of this excellent resource book. The volume offers a great number of case notes that recount more recent opinions on the rules pertaining to class actions, discovery, summary judgment, and post-judgment motions. As a whole, Texas Annotated Court Rules is a great alternative to other comparable books on the Texas rules.
Patrice Pujol is an appellate and litigation attorney with the Houston office of Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz and Tardy, LLP. She is the editor-in-chief of The Houston Lawyer.
A Miltonic Sonnet about Being Given the Game Ball after
a Play in Right Field
By David Crump
Published by iUniverse Inc.
2004
67 pages, $12.95
Reviewed by J. BRADLEY COMPERE
This David Crump, a law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, was playing right field for the Mariners (not the Major League Baseball team from Seattle, but a local club league team here in Houston) when he made a diving catch to win a tight game. After receiving a plethora of accolades and kudos, along with the game ball itself, Crump ran home and wrote a Miltonic sonnet to illustrate the experience. He entered that poem, A Miltonic Sonnet about Being Given the Game Ball after a Play in Right Field, in ByLine Magazine’s national contest for poetry in formal structure and won first place. Soon thereafter, Crump made a New Year’s resolution to write a sonnet a week for all 52 weeks of the year. The result was this book, an innovative, eclectic, smart and highly entertaining amalgam of Crump’s anachronistic attempt at artistry.
As most of us have not confronted a sonnet since high school, Crump conveniently sets out the parameters of the sonnet form at the beginning of his book in an effort to give the reader a better understanding of the style, sophistication and sweat he puts into his art. The sonnet is a rare, yet recognizable, poetic form featuring a mandatory 14-line length. According to Crump, “It’s long enough so that it has to say something impressive, but it’s short enough so that it’s hard to say anything at all.” Crump’s work is just that: impressive.
The topics of Crump’s sonnets run the gamut – from Reddi-Wip to Dead from Rock ‘n Roll; Dylan Thomas to Disney in Paris. Crump even delves into some interesting, not-otherwise-explored subjects in The View that Galileo’s Judges Would Have of Him Today if They Happened to Meet Him in Misdemeanor Court; But What Did Hemingway’s Waiter Think?; and my personal favorite, A Sonnet Strung Together Out of Several Really Old and Tired Jokes.
What makes this work intriguing is its use of a poetic form made famous by the likes of William Shakespeare and John Milton and rarely seen in popular poetry today. As Crump himself points out, “My poems are different from the ancient ones. They aren’t centered on love or religious devotion, and they use present day language.” It’s nice to see a law professor having fun with language. David Crump shows us that even lawyers can take time to explore a little creativity.
Brad Compere is an attorney with the firm of Rymer, Moore, Jackson & Echols, P.C. He graduated from The University of Texas in Austin with a B.A, and earned his law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law. He is also a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer.
ENRON: Corporate Fiascos and Their Implications
Edited by Nancy B. Rapoport and Bala G. Dharan
Foundation Press, Trade Paperback,
949 pages, $23.50
Reviewed by ANN D. ZEIGLER
This This book is heavy reading, not just because it is nearly a thousand pages long, but because it is a collection of essays meant to be used as a text in law and business school classes. It is, however, a very thoughtful gathering of insights on the issues that have made the past few years so scary for us as practitioners advising business clients (and cleaning up after those who didn’t take someone else’s good advice). The editors are University of Houston Law School Dean Nancy B. Rapoport and Rice University accounting professor Bala G. Dharan. The 36 essays are all well written, given their aim as springboards for graduate-level classroom analysis.
In this book, Enron is the factual focus for analyzing current business management practices in order to see why the corporate executive “perp walk” is now an unsurprising part of the evening news, and how, specifically, that needs to change. Each of the five chapters contains a group of related essays on topics including the factual perspective from which Enron’s collapse can be viewed, the business world in which it happened, the associated legal environment, ethical issues and lessons to be learned.
Even if you don’t want to read the book, you need to see the front and back cover art by Rapoport’s husband, Jeffrey D. Van Niel, an environmental law consultant and former Master Commissioner for the Ohio Supreme Court in public utility/energy law. The front cover is an illustration of the Titanic cruising toward the iceberg “Hubris” under clouds of “Stock Options,” “Conflicts of Interest,” “Hidden Debt” and Self-Dealing.” The back cover illustration is titled, “Employees and shareholders may now board the lifeboats.” The lifeboats, of course, are already gone. The 949 pages between those two illustrations contain an excellent group of essays on the real issues we need to discuss with our business clients. If we don’t have those discussions, we can bet that the clients will be stopping payment on our fee checks the morning after the “perp walk.” And for good reason.
Ann D. Zeigler is a bankruptcy lawyer at Hughes, Watters & Askanase, LLP, and a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer.
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