Brewer Foundation Recognized by Dallas Independent School District
May 5, 2023 – The Brewer Foundation received a special award from the Dallas Independent School District at the 2023 “State of the District” meeting. DISD Chief of Strategic Partnerships and Intergovernmental Relations Jon Dahlander presented the Foundation with the Emmett J. Conrad Extra Mile Award – awarded annually to those who champion community support for public schools.
The Brewer Foundation founded, funds and manages the Future Leaders Program (FLP) – a public-private partnership that provides academic resources, mentoring and leadership training to deserving students from DISD. The FLP has been recognized previously by the Texas State Board of Education and Governor’s Office.
Since its founding in 2001, the FLP has helped hundreds of DISD students prepare for and attend four-year colleges and universities. These students have earned more than $12.5 million in scholarship offers. The FLP Class of 2023 will attend colleges and universities such as Northwestern University, Brown University, Cornell University, and The University of Texas, to name a few.
Newsweek Reports on Brewer Foundation/NYU Debate Contest
May 4, 2023 – Newsweek reported today on the Brewer Foundation/NYU International Public Policy Forum. Founded in 2001 by the Brewer Foundation, the IPPF is the first and only competition that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. Now jointly administered by New York University, the contest annually reaches thousands of students.
As reported by Newsweek, “The IPPF is different from other public policy debates, which are largely comprised of oral arguments, because it includes rounds of essays that are exchanged by participants.” This year’s contest resolution is, “Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an effective model for international cooperation.”
The IPPF Finals take place Saturday, May 6 at the Harold Pratt House in New York City. Firm partner William A. Brewer III tells Newsweek about the unique finals format.
“Not only are these kids cross-examining each other, but now you've got lawyers and successful businesspeople and famous government officials sitting on a panel and asking you a bunch of questions about the topic that you've just debated. It's an exciting process,” Brewer said.
The final debate takes place at 3:30 p.m. EST. Log on to www.facebook.com/IPPFdebate to view all the action.
Read the full story here.
Law360: 18 States Want High Court To Take NRA Blacklisting Suit
April 6, 2023 — Law360 reports that Montana and 17 other states are "lining up behind the National Rifle Association at the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to take up the gun group's appeal arguing that a probe into NRA-affiliated insurers and statements from a former New York official about the reputational harm of associating with the group violated its constitutional rights."
The report states that the attorneys general filed an amicus brief on April 4, which asks the court to correct a Second Circuit decision they say "departed from [the Supreme Court's] clear instruction and gave state officials license to target and crackdown on their political opponents' protected speech."
The NRA, which is represented by Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, filed suit in 2018 against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) and then-DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo. The NRA contends the parties took aim at the NRA and conspired to use DFS's regulatory power to financially blacklist the NRA – coercing banks and insurers to cut ties with the Association, in order to suppress its pro-Second Amendment speech.
The NRA's First Amendment claims withstood multiple motions to dismiss. But in 2022, after Vullo appealed the trial court's ruling on qualified immunity, the Second Circuit struck down the NRA's claims.
As Law360 reports, in its amicus brief, the states said, "The Second Circuit's decision gives government officials license to financially cripple their political opponents, or otherwise stifle their protected speech — whether those rivals advocate for school choice, abortion rights, religious liberty, environmental protections, or any other politically salient issue."
The NRA is represented by William A. Brewer III, Sarah B. Rogers and Noah Peters of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors and Eugene Volokh.
Read the full report here.
Read the amicus brief here.
The City Journals Reports on Sweet 16 IPPF Team from Utah
On March 30, 2023, The City Journals reported that a group of homeschool students has advanced to the top 16 round of the Brewer Foundation / New York University International Public Policy Forum (IPPF).
According to the report, the students, debating as part of the Wasatch Independent Debate League, say the IPPF has provided "opportunities to learn skills they feel will serve them far beyond their years of competition with the debate league."
“My favorite thing about competing in the IPPF is the skills I am able to develop,” team captain Alexander Henage said. “I’ve always been a writer and loved writing. Through participating in the IPPF, I’ve seen more improvement than I have in any other class or extracurricular activity just because of how intense this process is over writing, researching and completing a finished project. It’s really rewarding.”
Founded in 2001 by the Brewer Foundation, the IPPF is now jointly sponsored by New York University. The IPPF is the first and only debate contest that gives high school students the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. During the 2022-23 competition, teams are debating the topic, "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an effective model for international cooperation."
To read the full article, click here.
New Haven Register Profiles Advancing Team in Brewer Foundation/NYU International Public Policy
On March 26, 2023, The New Haven Register published the article, "Amity Regional High School Debate Team Argues Its Way Into Sweet 16 of International Competition." The article profiles one of the final 16 teams remaining in the 22nd annual Brewer Foundation/NYU International Public Policy Forum (IPPF).
Founded in 2001, the IPPF is the first and only debate contest that gives high school students the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. During the 2022-23 competition, teams are debating the topic, "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an effective model for international cooperation."
According to the article, the seven-member team from Amity Regional High School has spent more than "300 hours – mostly online – crafting and refining their arguments for the IPPF tournament."
"We get much more time to think about our arguments, and to plan, outline, review, revise, edit and have these in-depth discussions," member Sophia Liu said of written debates. "Whereas in an oral debate, it's very quick-paced because the speeches are one after another."
"A lot of the stuff that is covered in IPPF we don’t learn in school," Sophia Liu said. "I’ve never had an economics class or an international relations class. Learning how the United States relates to other nations is really interesting to me because I get to escape my bubble that I constantly live in."
To read the full article, click here.
Brewer Associate Gizem Petrosino Earns Rising Stars Recognition
Associate Gizem Petrosino has been selected to the 2023 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list. Ms. Petrosino earned the recognition in Business and Civil Litigation. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.
Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area.
Texas Tech University and Two Professors Face Lawsuit Claiming Years of Harassment, Misappropriation of Intellectual Property
March 23, 2023 -- A Texas Tech University (TTU) graduate has filed suit against two of her former professors and the University, claiming she was subjected to years of sexual harassment and degradation, and then denied lucrative patent royalties to which she was entitled. In the complaint, filed by Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, Dr. Cara Wessels Wells lays bare the inner workings of a hierarchal system where TTU professors Dr. Samuel Prien and Dr. Lindsay Penrose allegedly take credit for the work of students, subject them to harassment and humiliation, and abscond with royalty payments that belong to younger generations.
The complaint, filed March 22, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division, states that the professors engaged in a campaign against Dr. Wells that involved “taking credit for her work, interfering with her job prospects, and pursuing financial opportunities to which they were not entitled.” She seeks damages and injunctive relief.
The complaint states, “When Dr. Wells reported their [the professors] behavior to TTU, the University failed to investigate her accusations, offer her protection from Dr. Prien, or honor its commitment with respect to her hard-earned patents.” In November 2022, Dr. Wells filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) a charge of sex discrimination against the University and Drs. Prien and Penrose. In December, she received a Notice of Right to Sue. Among the claims in the lawsuit are Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Trade Secret Misappropriation.
“Our client claims she was subjected to years of abuse at Texas Tech – and continues to suffer the loss of financial opportunity,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer and counsel to Dr. Wells. “The University not only failed to take proper action to protect one of its students, but it actively worked to diminish her academic and professional success.”
Front Page News: New York Law Journal Reports on NRA Appeal
March 17, 2023 – The New York Law Journal reports that Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) has appealed the New York Supreme Court's June 2022 order that dismissed the NRA's First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause counterclaims – without discovery – against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The front-page article, “NRA Claims NY Seeks to ‘Crush’ Gun Rights Group in Battle with AG’s Office,” chronicles the NRA’s 58-page appellate brief, including the NRA’s claim that the lower court decision dismissing the counterclaims “practically draws a roadmap for how officials can abuse state power to destroy the ability for non-profits to advocate for positions disfavored by the government.”
According to the article, “Under the lower court’s decision, so long as the targeted entity has committed any technical infraction whatsoever, it would have no redress for the blatant violation of its First Amendment rights,” the brief from Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors partner William A. Brewer III states