Thomas Jefferson wrote that a lawyer's job is "to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour."
The founding father and third president of the United States may well have had in mind the teams of high-powered lawyers battling each other hundreds of years later in federal court in a trademark dispute between two prominent Houston law schools.
The fight, sparked by South Texas College of Law's decision to change its name to the Houston College of Law, appeared nearly resolved in November when the school agreed to abandon its chosen moniker, which the University of Houston contended was too similar to the name of its law school...
But on Thursday, lawyers appeared yet again before U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison to say the settlement was teetering on the brink, though they still hoped for a drama-free resolution...
"In the spirit and letter of the law, it is," said Lynne Liberato, an alumna of and representative for South Texas law who is a partner at Haynes Boone...
"This process is not only complicated, it's expensive, so the plan is for the school to be named as it is - South Texas College of Law Houston," Liberato said...
"It's not over now, but it's our hope and our expectation that it will be," Liberato said. "We do have a disagreement, but I think most of it is resolved. Deaver disagrees."
Excerpted from the Houston Chronicle. To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).