Law Schools

Preliminary Injunction Issued In The Battle Over Houston

This judge has a finely tuned sense of irony.

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Houston by dayAfter 93 years of being known as South Texas College of Law, the powers that be decided to change its name to Houston College of Law. Never mind that a mere four miles away the University of Houston Law Center had been happily toiling away. Oh, and the newly named Houston College of Law also redid its color scheme in… familiar colors.

Houston v Houston screenshot

Next, the University of Houston Law Center filed a lawsuit, because, duh, that’s what happens when you try to f*ck with a bunch of lawyers.

Procedurally, Houston Law Center filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent the lesser Houston Law from carrying out its rebranding scheme. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison made a ruling in #HoustonvHouston, and it wasn’t good news for Houston Law — erm, I mean the NEW Houston College of Law — as he granted the injunction against the name change. Judge Ellison held the facts “weigh heavily in favor” of Houston Law Center and there was “substantial threat of irreparable injury.” Judge Ellison also noted the irony in South Texas College of Law wanting to change its name, as reported by the Houston Chronicle:

Ellison noted in the ruling that South Texas College of Law had wanted to change its name so consumers did not assume it was in the Rio Grande Valley or confuse it with Texas Southern University. “It must be with a great sense of irony that (d)efendant now attempts to downplay the effects of the same type of affiliation confusion that prompted defendant to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebrand itself,” he said.

The news wasn’t taken well by South Texas College of Law:

“We were stunned that this would be the outcome,” Donald J. Guter, dean of the 93-year-old private law school, said Friday. “It’s not the opinion we were expecting. We were confident we had the law on our side.”

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Looks like they may have to go back to the rebranding drawing board.

UH comes out on top in judge’s ruling on law school dispute [Houston Chronicle via Tax Law Prof]

Earlier: University Of Houston Law Center Files Lawsuit Against Unranked Law School
Law School’s Name Change Sparks Ire, Potential Lawsuit
Is This Law School’s Name Change A Good Idea?

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