Episode 14 - Professor Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, Professor of Law and Charles Weigel II Research Professor of State & Federal Constitutional Law, South Texas College of Law Houston

Houston Law Nerd Podcast, with Dylan Russell

In the 14th episode of Houston Law Nerd Podcast, I sit down with Professor Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes, a Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston, and the Charles Weigel II Research Professor of State & Federal Constitutional Law. His faculty page at South Texas College of Law Houston is located here: https://www.stcl.edu/academics/faculty-and-adjuncts/#member-7558-info
Listen in and learn while we discuss many topics including his easy decision, as a 10-year-old, to become a lawyer like his father and uncle, his decision while at Baylor Law School, where he was class valedictorian, to ultimately become a law professor, his start as an attorney at the Texas Supreme Court, his time in private practice in a large firm where he worked on appeals and trials, his crossroads decision to apply for a law professor position, which he accepted at South Texas College of Law in 2001, his thoughts on the purpose of the law, including the late Professor Charles Weigel's answer "to provide certainty," the changing landscape of U.S. Constitutional jurisprudence including likely demise of Chevron deference, his approach to amicus briefs depending on whether he's advocating for a client or focusing on a particular area of law not fully addressed by the litigants or other amici, the change over the last two decades on how South Texas and other law schools approach assessing students and grading, the importance of doing your own research when presenting oral argument or briefs in appellate courts, and tips for current law students, among numerous other topics.
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