Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Bill Powers' new employer supports Courthouse Bond


"For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,"
2 Timothy 3:2

Following his departure last June, disgraced former UT President Bill Powers was hired by the Dallas-based law firm Jackson-Walker L.L.P:
Former University of Texas President William Powers, Jr. Joins Jackson Walker

(AUSTIN) – Jackson Walker L.L.P. is pleased to announce that former University of Texas at Austin president William Powers, Jr. will join the firm's Austin office as of counsel. A widely published legal scholar, nationally renowned academic leader, respected corporate governance authority, and sought-after consultant to domestic and foreign governments, Mr. Powers brings a wealth of experience to his new role with the firm.
 And, of course, they have questionable contracts with the University:
The agenda book for this week’s two-day meeting of the University of Texas System Board of Regents ran 479 pages. Regent Wallace L. Hall Jr. seems to have reviewed every page in advance.

Among the items that caught his eye were six contracts for legal services, summarized deep in the “consent agenda,” with Jackson Walker LLP, a law firm that recently hired UT-Austin’s former president, Bill Powers, now a law professor.

Hall asked Wednesday whether the contracts involved the UT System, as indicated in the agenda book, or the Austin campus. Daniel Sharphorn, the system’s general counsel, explained that although the contracts are with the system, the work is to be performed for the campus.

It would have been more transparent if the agenda items had made that clear, Hall said. And he questioned the appropriateness of contracting with a firm that employs a former president.
Which makes this item from page 5 of the pro-Travis County Courthouse Bond committee's July 15 campaign finance report very interesting:


Bottom Line: The obscene cost and the lack of accessibility are the primary reasons to make Travis County develop a better alternative, but if we can spite Bill Powers in the process, so much the better.

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