Texas Tech Law Meet the Faculty Biographies

Professor Ann Graham

Graham, Ann
Professor of Law, 2004
(806) 742-3990 x295
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Admitted to practice in Texas, Oklahoma, and District of Columbia.

Professor Graham's background in banking and commercial law includes both state and local government service as well as major private law firm experience. After five years of litigation practice with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C., she was named FDIC's Regional Counsel for the Dallas Region (Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico) from 1981 to 1983. She returned to Washington, D.C. in private law firm practice. In 1988, Professor Graham was appointed General Counsel to the Texas Department of Banking where she served for five years. Ms. Graham has also served as Senior Vice President & Chief Regulatory Counsel to the Texas Bankers Association and as General Counsel to the Texas Credit Union League. Legislative drafting and state and federal lobbying for financial institution issues have been a significant part of her legal practice. Professor Graham served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Bank Counsel from 2003-2005.

Professor Graham's teaching experience includes the University of Texas School of Law, St. Edward's University's M.B.A. program, and the M.B.A. program administered jointly by Sul Ross State University and La Universidad Autonomo de Chihuahua in Chihuahua, Mexico. She frequently presents papers and speaks to financial institution officers, directors, and lawyers throughout Texas and nationally.

As a trained mediator, Professor Graham served as President of the Board of Directors for the Travis County Dispute Resolution Center. Among the many mediations she conducted for Settlement Week in the Travis County Courts and for the Travis County Dispute Resolution Center, she most values the bi-lingual (Spanish/English) mediations she conducted at Juvenile Court in Travis County.

A track record of community involvement includes her service as President of South Austin Rotary Club; President of Travis County Women Lawyers Association; Director for Travis County Bar Association; Secretary - Board of Directors of Westbank Community Library; Leadership Austin; and Vice President for Friends of Big Bend National Park. She is now a member of the Rotary Club of Lubbock and serves as Vice President.

Professor Graham's Banking Law Blog provides current analysis and commentary on the volatile U.S. financial institution industry.

Degrees

B.A., Texas Tech University, 1972

J.D., University of Virginia, 1975

Diploma in Comparative Legal Studies, Cambridge University, 1976

MBA, University of Texas, 1997

Courses

Banking Law, Commercial Law, Corporate Governance, Business Analysis

Recent Publications

Chevron Lite: How Much Deference Should Courts Give to State Agency Interpretation? 68 LOUISIANA L.REV. 1105-1119 (2008). Solicited submission for LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW Symposium Issue 2008; Presented at Louisiana Law Review Symposium Spring 2008, Presentation available: http://lawreview.law.lsu.edu/

Searching for Chevron in Muddy Watters: The Roberts Court and Judicial Review of Agency Regulations, 60 Admin. L. Rev. 229-272 (2008) (article analyzes U.S. Supreme Court cases involving judicial review of administrative interpretation of federal law, with the objective of determining the Roberts Court application of the Chevron doctrine).

Where Agencies, the Courts, and the Legislature Collide: Ten Years of Interpreting the Texas Constitutional Provisions for Home Equity Lending, 9 Texas Tech Admin. L. J. 79-113 (2007) (article analyzes the ten-year history of legal challenges to home equity lending in Texas and outlines current and future issues to be litigated).

Law and Border: The Seven-Hundred-Mile-Fence Proposal and the Rule of Law, (accepted for publication as a chapter in HISPANICS IN THE SOUTHWEST (2008).

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) Update – solicited by LexisNexis for publication in "Expert Commentaries."; Published Spring 2008.

"Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) – New Regulations" - Solicited by Texas Bankers Association for presentation and publication in course materials for Annual Legal Seminar Spring 2008.

Works In Progress

"How to Eat an Elephant: A Federal Banking Agency Nibbles Its Way to Power" – Paper presented to 2008 Workshop on Banking & Consumer Financial Services Law, University of Connecticut School of Law, May 28, 2008.
Abstract:
Over the past forty years, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has expanded both the power of national banks and its own authority through a series of interpretive letters, agency regulations, public statements, and judicial decisions, with and without Congressional changes to federal legislation. Two key areas - securities powers and federal preemption of consumer protection laws – illustrate a pattern of territory-enhancing measures. Favorable impacts include improved customer service through "one-stop shopping" and nationwide banking operations; operational efficiencies and economies of scale in the business of banking; and reduced incentives for disintermediation. Unfavorable impacts have occurred regarding the dual banking system, general administrative law relating to preemption, and restricted consumer protection relating to predatory lending – a contributing factor in the current subprime mortgage crisis. The U.S. Treasury Department is currently conducting a "Review of the Regulatory Structure Associated with Financial Institutions," which makes this analysis particularly timely.

"NAFTA, 9/11, and the U.S. Subprime Mortgage Meltdown: A Deadly Combination from the Human Rights Perspective," Presentation to Oxford Roundtable, Oxford University, August 2008.

"Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) – solicited by LexisNexis for publication as a 25 page article to be published as a Special Pamphlet in Fall 2008 (contract signed).

"Lessons from the Subprime Crisis: Implications for Financial Institution Regulation Worldwide," Symposium in the planning stages for February 2008, in Dallas, Texas.
Modeled on the 2006 Preemption Symposium held at Texas Tech University, I have secured commitments of assistance from: Professor Joseph J. Norton, SMU Dedman School of Law; George J. & Helen M. England Professor Patricia McCoy, University of Connecticut School of Law; and Professor Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., George Washington University School of Law. State and federal financial institution regulators, as well as representatives from state and federal trade associations, Congress, and state legislators and international financial markets experts can be expected to attend and speak.

Professor Ann Graham

Degrees

Courses

Recent Publications

Works In Progress

Other Publications and Presentations