Women's History Month at the Harris County Law Library

In 1987, Congress passed a law designating March as Women’s History Month. In his proclamation, President Reagan called upon “all Americans to mark this month with appropriate observances to honor the achievements of American women.” This month, the Harris County Law Library celebrates the achievements of a pioneering Houston attorney, Camille Elizabeth Stanford Openshaw, who overcame bias in the male-dominated legal field of the early 20th century to obtain her law degree and make significant contributions in her legal career.

Camille E.S. Openshaw is the subject of both a physical exhibit and digital exhibit at the Harris County Law Library. In our digital exhibit, you can find Openshaw's yearbook photo from South Texas School of Law, where she was the second woman to graduate with a law degree, and her 1935 notoriety as she represented a member of the Bonnie & Clyde gang. As Openshaw persisted to pursue her legal career in a strongly biased era, she demonstrated a strong spirit worth celebrating. 

Today, women continue to make enormous strides in the law in both legal practice and academia. After 130 years, the prestigious Harvard Law Review elected for the first time a black woman, ImeIme Umana, as president , and Yale Law School just named a new dean, Heather Gerken, the first woman to ever hold the position. In a recent Bloomberg Law interview, Ms. Gerken comments on the personal significance of her position, pointing to her role as the mother of a 14-year old daughter while outlining her vision for the future of the institution she now helms. Continued inclusion and promotion of women in the legal profession and increasing overall diversity will remain perennially important topics as the significant contributions of women like Openshaw, Umana, and Gerken continue to receive deserved recognition. Here are a few sources to help you learn about the topic and keep tabs on new developments:

Latest & Greatest: Litigation with the Federal Government

By Gregory C. Sisk

Published by West Academic Publishing

KF 9065 .L472 2016

It is relatively common knowledge in the legal community that the Federal Government is a party to every federal criminal case. Yet few are aware that the Government is a party in nearly 20 percent of all civil cases filed in the federal courts. In these matters come the special rules surrounding sovereign immunity and the waiver of that immunity. In his book, Litigation with the Federal Government, author Gregory C. Sisk seeks to explain the concept of sovereign immunity and provide a summary of the various statutory waivers of sovereign immunity, both specific and general. He discusses, in some detail, the requirements needed to bring suit under the Federal Torts Claim Act and both the standards for and exceptions to liability under the statute. Other statutes include Suits in Admiralty Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Social Security Act, to name a few. Sisk also devotes some discussion to claims against federal officers and employees, including those seeking money damages and those looking to compel the officer or employee to perform a specific duty. The author also addresses the notion of equitable estoppel in the instance when the Federal Government is bound by the unauthorized representations by its employees. Lastly, the author discusses the Federal Government’s power to sue as a plaintiff.

Note that this book is part of the Hornbook Series, a set of one-volume treatises designed as study aids that simplify a legal topic by providing a summary or overview of the topic. They are good resources for those who want to understand more about a legal subject without having to sort through complex cases as well as for those who are representing themselves.