South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 3, Ed. 1, November, 2007 Page: 1 of 8
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The Student Newspaper of South Texas College of Law
ANNOTATIONS
November 2007
Volume XXXX, Number 3
More about Professor Steiner's Book: An Honest Calling
By Anil Ali
Staff Writer
It was a pleasure talking with Professor
Steiner about his new book, An Honest
Calling: the Law Practice of Abraham
Lincoln. The book delves into the law practice
of Abraham Lincoln, telling the audience
about what exactly went on within the busy
law practice of Lincoln and the situations he
faced as a lawyer, an experience any law
student should read about.
Before more can be said about the book, it
helps to know a little more about Dr. Steiner.
Dr. Steiner has been teaching law for nearly
14 years (which he loves) almost exclusively
at the South Texas College of Law. He's a
family man, and he also enjoys Jazz, County,
and Blues. Furthermore, his favorite works
to read have been George OrwelFs Essays.
According to Professor Steiner, some works
that are similarly well done are Lincoln by
David Donald, Dred Scott Case: Its
Significance in American Law and Politics by
Don Fehrenbacher, and Honor's Voice - The
transformation of Abraham Lincoln by
Douglas Wilson. These books have great
references that are plausible and are clearly
well done.
But let's get to the issue, what inspired
Professor Steiner to write this book was his
interest in Abraham Lincoln back in graduate
school. This book was actually a project that
he started when he was working on his
dissertation. Unfortunately, he couldn't
complete the manuscript until now and that's
where the story (or non-fictional account)
begins. When asked about how long the whole
process took, he responded, "A long time." A
long time means somewhere between one year
and a lifetime.
Additionally, because the publisher knew
Professor Steiner was a law professor and a
qualified historian, they contacted Professor
Steiner to publish his book when informed he
was writing it. Unfortunately, he turned down
their offer at that moment because he was just
too busy (helping eager students), but a year
later when the publisher asked again,
Professor Steiner was happy to continue his
work on Lincoln - and finish it.
While writing it, he used a clean legal pad
and a pen - he's definitely not a writing diva.
Other than having a clean pad and pen, he said
he has no special rituals that he performs
before he starts his writing day which varies
extensively.
To give an example and to create
enthusiasm, an interesting quote by Abraham
Lincoln's partner Herndon stated that working
with Lincoln was like working at the Law
offices of "dull, dry place." It would indeed
be an interesting place to work. On the flip
side, Lincoln once quoted, "That is cool," (the
Cooper Union Address) but you should know
the context of his speech was referring to
something cold or distant rather than as an
expression of approval as we would think in
current society.
To conclude and to foreshadow, Professor
Steiner is currently working on another book
about Lincoln and the
American
Conservatives, and also
on one about the
Modern Supreme Court
of Texas over the last 30
years; but before you
get too excited about
the upcoming books,
please check out
Professor Steiner's An
Honest Calling.
STCL holds annual charity softball tournament
By Tamara Lewis
Editor in Chief
STCL held its annual charity
softball tournament this past
month on October 20,2007. The
weather was beautiful and the
beer was cold. Of the 28 total
teams that participated, Law
Firms fielded 4 teams, the
University of Houston Law
School fielded 9 teams, Thurgood
Marshall Law fielded 4 teams,
and STCL fielded 10 teams
(because we're the best). After
numerous kegs, lots of sun block,
and some sliding home in shorts
(resulting in great scabs for)
Beirne, Maynard and Parsons
came out on top after defeating the
Law Office of Jerry Michael
Acosta in the final game. The
entire day lasted 17 hours. Each
player was provided with food
vouchers which were redeemable
at the concession stand for hot
dogs, hamburgers, chicken
burgers, sausage wraps, and
nachos.
Triple Play Charity Softball
Tournament was originally the
brainchild of former Student Bar
Association President Joe
McMullen in 2004. The name
Triple Play' refers to the fact that
three law schools participate in
the event. While the University of
Houston Law School and
Thurgood Marshall Law do field
a good number of teams, the large
majority of the administrative
work involved in setting up the
tournament is done by South
Texas. Besides the efforts of Brad
Poronsky, Michael Grinsfelder
and Jordan Stapley, the Deans
office provides a substantial
amount of support. Dean Wanda
Morrow, Tanya Holmes and
Bianca Schomberg spent
considerable time planning the
event and held down the
What's Inside
registration/information/souvenir
table at the tournament. Even the
STCL faculty and staff fielded a
team which recruited Dean Alfini
as their ringer.
Through the efforts of the
above folks and all the
participants, Triple Play 2007
raised $2,157 for Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Houston. Since the
tournaments inception, it has
generated more than
$8,000 in charity
money. Brad
Poronsky noted the
fact that besides the
money raised, the
event generated good
will between the
schools, some
exercise in the sun,
and networking
between current and
future legal-peers.
Besides the actual
tournament, many
players brought out
their dogs for an exhausting day
of playing and socializing. In
between games, many players
wrote their names into a beer-
pong bracket that was going on in
the shade.
By the numbers, the
tournament involved 40 softballs,
28 teams, 12 volunteers, 8 non-
participating sponsors 380
players, and 53 games.
Letter from the President, pg. 2; Winter Break, pg. 7; Body of Law, pg 3
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Lewis, Tamara E. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 3, Ed. 1, November, 2007, newspaper, November 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144582/m1/1/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.