Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES
Focus Intellectual Property/Science & Technology Law
April 2018 Volume 43 Number 4
Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom
Thank You Mock Trial Judges
BY JESSICA D. SMITH
Each year on May 1, the American Bar Association, along with local bars, lawyers, students, and the community celebrate the Rule of Law. Law Day is a national day set aside to celebrate the role of law in our society and to cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal profession. This annual day was created to strengthen our great heritage of liberty, justice, and equality under law. This year’s Law Day theme is: Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom. The ABA hopes to educate the public on the three distinct and independent branches of the U.S. Government—Congress, the Presidency, and a Supreme Court. These three separate branches share power, and each branch serves as a check on the power of the others. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” James Madison explained in Federalist 51. Why? Madison believed that the Constitution’s principles of separation of powers and checks and balances preserve political liberty. They provide a framework for freedom. Yet, this framework is not selfexecuting. The ABA Law Day website states: “We the people must continually act to ensure that our constitutional democracy endures, preserving our liberties and advancing our rights. The Law Day 2018 theme enables us to reflect on the separation of powers as fundamental to our constitutional purpose and to consider how our governmental system is working for ourselves and our posterity.” “Without this separation, one Supreme Court justice wrote, ‘the Bill of Rights would be worthless,’” explained ABA President Hilarie Bass. “The Constitutional structure of our three-part government provides a framework for our freedom, preserving liberty and advancing our rights.” This year, the Dallas Bar Association will continue its tradition of celebrating Law Day with a luncheon on May 4, 2018 honoring the judiciary and the Rule of Law. This year’s keynote speech will differ from our past events. For our May 4 Law Day Luncheon DBA President Michael K. Hurst will interview U.S. Congressmen Pete Sessions and Marc Veasey. Congressman Sessions, who represents the 32nd District of Texas, was born on March 22, 1955 and grew up in Waco, Texas. He graduated from Churchill High School in San Antonio and went on to graduate from Southwestern University in 1978, where he now serves on the Board of Trustees. As a businessman, he served as Chairman of the Northeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce. In 1996, he was elected to represent the House of Representatives. In 2002, Congressman Sessions began representing
Pete Sessions
Marc Veasey
the 32nd Congressional District, created from redistricting. In 2016, he was reelected to Congress for his eleventh term. Congressman Sessions is an Eagle Scout and a former Scout Master. He is a recipient of the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and is a member of both the National Eagle Scout Association’s national committee and the Executive Board of the Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Congressman Sessions is married to Karen Sessions, and is the proud father of two sons, Bill and Alex, and three stepsons, Conor, Liam and Nicholas. Congressman Veasey, who represents the 33rd District of Texas, was born and raised in Fort Worth. He earned a BS from Texas Wesleyan University, where he majored in Mass Communication. Prior to serving in the Texas House of Representatives, Congressman Veasey worked as a congressional staffer in North Texas. In both Southeast Fort Worth and Dallas, Congressman Veasey worked on important issues dealing with transportation, economic development and higher education that benefitted the entire DallasFort Worth area. He was first elected to the Texas State House in 2004. Congressman Veasey represented District 95—an area now part of the 33rd Congressional District—for four consecutive terms. As a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Veasey serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. As a member of the Texas State House, he served in a number of leadership positions including Democratic Whip and Chair of the Democratic Caucus. Congressman Veasey and his wife Tonya live in the Metroplex area and have an 11-year-old son, Adam. The luncheon begins at noon on Friday, May 4, 2018, at the Belo Mansion. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. For tickets log on to www.dallasbar.org. For more information, contact Liz Hayden at lhayden@dallasbar. org or (214) 220-7474. HN Jessica D. Smith is the DBA Communications/Media Director. She can be reached at jsmith@dallasbar.org.
Creekview High School, of Carrollton, won the State High School Mock Trial Championship. Dallas Bar Association members presided over and served as “jurors” for the final competition on March 3. From left to right are: (back row) John L. Sholden (former judge), James L. Young, Thomas P. Goranson, Stacie McNulty, Nicole LeBoeuf, and Allison Reppond. (Front row) Gaylynn Gee, Laura Benitez Geisler, Jennifer Ryback, and Jaime Olin.
Are Your Clients Ready for GDPR on May 25? BY ROBERT J. SCOTT AND STEPHEN F. PINSON
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes effective on May 25, 2018 and should give all inhouse counsel and law firms cause for worry. GDPR is the most wide sweeping privacy regulation to hit the global market since the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. GDPR is a regulation that requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU residents (EU data subjects). The new legislation introduces tough new fines for non-compliance and gives individuals assorted rights regarding how their data may be used (“processed”) by companies doing business involving EU data subjects. The regulation also affects US businesses through its extraterritorial jurisdiction and scope.
more and more companies operated in all continents. GDPR seeks to address this use and to set up a cohesive data protection regime throughout the EU and abroad.
Who Should be Preparing for GDPR?
Any business that processes personal data (PD) of EU residents is subject to GDPR, regardless of the location of the processing. This includes EU domiciled businesses and non-EU businesses (i.e., US companies). Additionally, companies are subject to the regulation regardless of whether they receive a fee or compensation for the services they provide or the activity in which they participate. See GDPR Art. 1-3.
Why Should In-House Counsel and Law Firms be Why Was GDPR Enacted? Concerned? GDPR was drafted to give European residents more control over how their personal data is used and exploited, notably by large US companies like Facebook and Google. These companies transfer data from locations all over the world, aggregating it for their internal business purposes and utilizing the data for advertising and tracking purposes, among others. But cross-border data transfers are not limited to large internet companies. In an increasingly global economy,
The fines for non-compliance can be as much as 20 million euros or 4 percent of annual revenues (whichever is higher). See Art. 83-84. Under GDPR, the regulation defines anyone processing PD as either a “controller” or “processor”, each with its own set of obligations. See Art. 4. All businesses affected by the regulation must understand which definition
Inside Don’t miss your opportunity to advertise
8 What’s a “Patent Pending” and What’s It Worth? 12 Fashion Law: Taking the IP Runway by Storm 17 The Top Five Patent Myths
(print & online) in the #1 “Legal Resource & Expert Witness Guide” in Dallas County. Contact PJ Hines at (214) 597-5920 or pjhines@legaldirectories.com
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