Tag: LEAP Center

All Rise: The 10th Court of Appeals

For the 12th year, the LEAP Center hosted the 10th Court of Appeals, allowing Sam Houston State University students and Huntsville residents to hear three appellate court cases in the Kerper Courtroom. The 10th Court of Appeals out of Waco, TX, which currently consists of Chief Justice Gray, Justice Johnson, and Justice Smith, serves 18 counties in Texas including Walker County.

We had a great showing for the first case, and we were happy to have Judges Moorman and Sorenson on hand to watch the cases.

One of the unusual things about these hearings is that each lawyer has three minutes to describe the facts of the case to the audience, after which they turn to the Justices and begin their formal arguments.

Attorneys have 20 minutes to make their arguments, which judges can interrupt for questions, and the appellant attorney gets a five-minute rebuttal after the appellee attorney has spoken. One of the enjoyable aspects about this year’s iteration of the cases is that we had the chance to sit in the jury box!

The second case, which involved deed restrictions, was unusual in that one of the parties was in the courtroom, as the attorneys argued their case.

After the 11 am hearing, the court was adjourned for lunch where LEAP Students were able to talk with the justices, community members, and even the Court Bailiff. I was lucky enough to be sitting with Justice Smith and Justice Johnson, who discussed their path to law school and their careers prior to being judges. We were able to ask questions about court proceedings and discussed how law enforcement and prosecutors work together. One question that I was excited to have answered was why attorneys always say, “May it please the court” before presenting their argument. Justice Smith informed us that it is a tradition and has no meaning or necessity. He also told us that he always wanted to say “It doesn’t” in response. The lunch was very valuable, allowing students to receive advice about their career paths and talk about their endeavors at school.

Court readjourned at 1:30 pm with another civil matter over a Lady Bird Deed, and the hearing turned out to be what is referred to as a “hot panel.” This Deed was drawn by a husband and wife to give land to the husband’s son. The wife revoked the deed after the husband’s passing and now the question is whether she is able to do that or not. There were a lot of questions asked by the judges and one very interesting point a student made to me after the hearing was the attorneys’ ability to be interrupted, answer the question, and go right back to their original point. This hearing raised a lot of questions about property ownership and intent, which was interesting to hear. At the end of the hearing, audience members were able to ask questions, and we learned much more about the justices, their workload, and the attorneys’ views on their careers.

After the audience and attorneys left, LEAP students were able to get pictures and have their brochures signed by the Justices. We helped clean up and continued to discuss different career paths within the legal profession, specifically discussing staff attorneys.

Thank you to everyone who came out to watch the cases today. Thank you to Chief Justice Gray, Justice Johnson, and Justice Smith for allowing students to have this opportunity and for being so welcoming and helpful to future law students.

Pre-Law Activities and Mock LSATs at SHSU

On Saturday, April 1, a beautiful spring day, the LEAP Center continued with a packed schedule of both community and academic events. While LEAP Center Ambassadors and volunteers assisted in the annual Wynne Home community Easter Egg Hunt, 17 Pre-Law Society students showed up at 9:30 am on Saturday to take a Mock LSAT, the Law School Admission Test.

Students applying to law school will take the actual LSAT in a fall semester, a year before they plan to start law school. Students who are freshmen through seniors are encouraged to take the Mock LSAT.

A Mock LSAT score provides helpful information to aspiring pre-law students early in a student’s academic career. First, a baseline Mock LSAT score allows students to see how close they are to their goal LSAT score. Then, students can work with a pre-law advisor at the LEAP Center to develop a study plan to prepare for the LSAT, an important first step in their journey to law school. Second, students experience taking an actual LSAT under LSAT timing conditions.

In addition to administering the Mock LSAT twice a year, the LEAP Center offers pre-law advising and various pre-law activities, such as the provision of a Mock law school taught by a law professor from Houston’s South Texas College of Law. These pre-law activities contribute to Sam Houston State University’s continued ranking in the top 200 nationally as a top law-school feeder among almost 3,000 four-year universities and colleges in the United States.

NASSR, 2023–Romanticism and Justice at SHSU

The LEAP Center is always on the hunt for quality events, and when we heard the North American Society for the Study of Romanticism was being hosted at SHSU–and that the lead organizer was Dr. Michael Demson–we knew we’d found one.

The Conference is taking place over three days, March 30-April 1, with dozens of panels, workshops, entertainment, tours, and other interesting and entertaining programs. LEAP assisted with one of these, a tour of the Huntsville Unit for a group of students, conference attendees, and SHSU staff. Mostly, though, we just enjoyed the conference, benefitting from the great work of Demson and an entire conference committee from individuals across campus and, in fact, from campuses across North America.

The meat of the conference was from the plenary speakers and the panels, both virtual and in-person, with approximately 200 people attending.

LEAP students attended a few of these, including the first-day plenary speaker, Professor Doran Larson, who, among his many titles, is the Director of the American Prison Writing Archive, and he was introduced ably by Professor Michael Demson.

Professor Larsen discussed the distinct themes in prison writing, noting how little they had changed over time, a reflection of the horrible state, as he sees it, of our prison system.


His presentation generated much interest and discussion.

The conference picked up the next day, with a full day of panels, which we were able to attend. We saw great panels featuring professors not only from the United States, but from around the world. All of the panels helped us learn about justice, literature, and many different cultures.

We even learned about Finnish literature from SHSU’s own Dr. Helen Halamari, with her husband Dr. Rob Adams in attendance.

This was our favorite panel. Interesting fact: not only is Dr. Halamari a TSUS Regents Professor, she also has a Ph.D., and four different Master’s Degrees.

Many kudos to Dr. Demson and the great staff (Deanna Briones, Sarie Fuller, Yahneed John, Brittany Johnson, Jerin Milan, and Rhonda Owens) who helped bring this conference to SHSU.