The Journal at 30: an insider's view.

• Author: Skelton, James W., Jr.

1. INTRODUCTION II. GETTING STARTED III. GAINING MOMENTUM IV. BUDGETARY AND OTHER CHALLENGES V. THE RUSSIAN PETROLEUM LEGISLATION PROJECT VI. SPONSORSHIPS VII. THE LECTURE SERIES VIII. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY ISSUE IX. ADVISORY BOARD X. BOARDS OF EDITORS XI. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION

   It has been my good fortune to have been associated with the Houston Journal of International Law (the "Journal") for the past thirty years. Beginning as a contributing author, then a member of the Advisory Board, and now as its Chairman, I have been given opportunities to witness and participate in many of the steps along the road to the growth and maturity of the Journal. The purpose of this Article, therefore, is to share the insights I have gained regarding the establishment of the Journal and its many stages and phases of development and improvement. It is my hope that this process of memorializing the efforts of those many individuals who have devoted their time and energy to make the Journal a success will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

2. GETTING STARTED

   The first volume of the Journal was dated Spring 1978. Volume 1, Number 1, was rather slim, consisting of a mere seventy pages, but it was quite a remarkable achievement. As John Brentin, the first Editor in Chief, predicted in the Editor's Foreword, "Given the phenomenal pattern of growth Houston has been experiencing in international business and commerce, the Journal will become an important medium of communication for practitioners, students, and scholars within the international community." (1) This statement has proven to be a prophetic and accurate reflection of the development of the international legal practice in Houston, in which the Journal has played an active role.

   The Introduction to that initial publication was written by the Dean of the College of Law, George W. Hardy III. (2) Dean Hardy revealed some background information about the Journal's humble beginnings as follows: "I think it is extremely important for readers to be aware that this publication is the product of interest, labor, and persistence of a small group of dedicated students. Their industry has produced not only its contents but the major portion of its funding." (3) The Dean was referring to the International Law Society's pivotal role in raising funds and finding publishable articles, especially the efforts of the Society's former president, Walter Wright. I was made aware of the details of those efforts when I met Walter at New York University (N.Y.U.) Law School in September 1977, where we were enrolled in the LL.M. course of study in International Legal Studies. Walter regaled me with tales about the hours he and his fellow members of the International Law Society spent working the hallways of the College of Law in pursuit of financial assistance for the Journal. In fact, John Brentin referred to Walter in the Editor's Foreword, saying that his "vision and determination have brought us to this point." (4) Indeed, Walter Wright made the establishment of the Journal his personal crusade and should be viewed as its founder.

   Professor Jordan Paust was the only Faculty Advisor listed in Volume 1, Number 1, in which he contributed a brief but intriguing commentary regarding two jet fighter aircraft incidents between the Soviet Union and the United States. (5) Professor Paust was the first professor who was asked to help create the Journal, and he has continued tirelessly in his advisory role, always making himself available to assist the law students as well as suggesting scholarly articles for the Journal. Being a prolific author, it is not surprising that he has contributed a dozen articles over these thirty years. (6)

3. GAINING MOMENTUM

   By the time Volume 1, Number 2, was published in the spring of 1979, Professor Stephen Zamora was on the scene at the College of Law and had become the Journal's second Faculty Advisor. Professor Zamora has also served untiringly as an advisor since that time and has provided consistently invaluable counsel to the editorial boards. He not only became the Director of the Mexican Legal Studies Program but also served as the Dean of the Law Center from 1995 to 2000. (7)

   The lead article in Volume 1, Number 2, was written by Professor Ved Nanda, who provided an interesting insight into the self-determination of Bangladesh. (8) Other articles included the first of several that I submitted to the Journal. This first one set out a recommended approach for the United States to ratify the United Nation's international covenants on human rights. (9) Having recently obtained my LL.M. from N.Y.U., I was eager to use some of the research materials I had acquired at N.Y.U. to set out my ideas about certain contemporary international issues, such as those related to human rights. Not surprisingly, Professor Paust managed to contribute another thoughtful note on standards for oil exploitation in occupied territories. (10)

   Thus, the first volume of the Journal was completed at 152 pages. (11) The Board of Editors for Volume 1, Number 1, had a total of fourteen editors, whereas the new Board of Editors for Volume 1, Number 2, was comprised of twenty-three editors and ten staff members. (12) (As a result of having two editorial boards working on the first volume over a period of two years, the current year's board is number 31 instead of number 30.) This increase in the number of the law student participants revealed that it had taken only one year for the Journal to become recognized and accepted as an important periodical at the University of Houston College of Law.

   The third Board of Editors, led by Scott Cramer as Editor in Chief, was responsible for the publication of Volume 2, Numbers 1 and 2, which were dated Autumn 1979 and Spring 1980, respectively. For the first time, the Journal had accomplished its goal of publishing two issues in a single school year. These were substantial issues as well, each with more than 200 pages of text. Equally important, the initial issue registered another first by being dedicated to a symposium on the "Role of Private Enterprise in Outer Space," and the introduction to the symposium was written by the well-known author, James A. Michener. (13) This generated a lot of attention for the Journal, which proved there definitely was a niche for this type of publication at the College of Law.

   The Journal has produced several other symposia and special issues through the years, covering such topics as immigration, exchange controls, the use of force against terrorists, the Iran-Contra affair, investment in Mexico, the Mexico-U.S. free trade agreement, the Russian petroleum legislation project, and intellectual property. (14)

   Notably, Volume 2 included sections on Current Documents and Book Reviews for the first time. (15) Of course, Professor Paust had crafted an article for the first issue covering jurisdictional issues surrounding an oil spill in Mexico. (16) For the second issue of Volume 2, I gathered additional sources together to write an article that compared standards of international procedural due process to the practice of preventive detention. (17) The Journal's Articles Editors were of great assistance in adding footnotes and suggesting modifications to the text that made this comparative study more complete and scholarly. As a result of such close cooperation, my knowledge of and relationship with the Journal was developing by leaps and bounds.

   The Board of Editors for Volume 3 duplicated the feat of the prior board by publishing two issues in the same school year, Autumn 1980 and Spring 1981. Another first was accomplished by the announcement, on the fourth page of Volume 3, Number 1, of the appointment of the Journal's initial Advisory Board, which included Walter Wright and Professors Paust and Zamora. (18) Mont Hoyt and I are the only practicing lawyers from that original list who continue to serve on the Advisory Board. (19) Judge Lynn Hughes' name appeared on the Advisory Board list in Volume 3, Number 2, and he has been actively involved ever since. (20)

   Although only in its third full year, the Journal's Volume 3 attracted a variety of engaging articles covering such subjects as OPEC pricing agreements, production payments in the U.K., flags of convenience and oil pollution, the European patent as an agent of technology transfer, and international bankruptcy. (21) In addition, the articles were sourced from many diverse places like the University of Virginia, Illinois State University, the United Kingdom, and France, as well as from law firms around the State of Texas. (22) The Journal was quickly making a name for itself and was gaining respect as an international legal periodical with each new issue.

   Through the years, the Journal has gained a national reputation among other elite law school periodicals. I believe this is one of the factors that has served to improve the Law Center's rank among other U.S. law schools to number sixty in 2007 and a tie for fifty-fifth this year, according to the U.S. News and World Report's rankings. (23)

4. BUDGETARY AND OTHER CHALLENGES

   Throughout its history, indeed from its inception, the Journal has been beset by budgetary issues. The reasons are many, but the administration's policy for funding the law journals has appeared to follow a minimalist path, and the Journal's endowment fund never reached the levels required to allow a worry free financial existence.

   The most chronic problem has been the call for new computers. There were both minor and major crises associated with the incessant quest for better computer equipment. I vividly recall one minor crisis that was discussed at an Advisory Board meeting held at my office in the late 1990s, after which I stood in the parking lot and wrote a check that would make up the difference between the balance of the Journal's bank account and the total cost of a replacement computer for the one that had just...