Texas Tech University

J. Wesley Cochran

Jack F Maddox Professor of Law, 1991

Email: wesley.cochran@ttu.edu

Phone: (806) 834-6932

Admitted to practice in Texas.

Professor Cochran's career in legal education spans more than 40 years, including service at the law schools of Loyola University in New Orleans, the University of Washington, and the University of Mississippi. He teaches a variety of courses, from the first-year courses of Torts and Criminal Law to popular electives like Sports Law. He also teaches a course in the growing area of Gaming and Racing Law. His teaching abilities were recognized by the University in 2004 when he received the President's Excellence in Teaching Award.

At the School of Law, Professor Cochran serves as the Faculty Advisor to students enrolled in the J.D./M.S. in Sport Management dual-degree program and as the Faculty Advisor to students in the Intellectual Property track of the law school's Law and Science Certificate program. He also serves as the advisor to the Intellectual Property Students Association and the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. From 2007-12, Professor Cochran served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and, for more than15 years, he served as the President of the Texas Tech University Chapter of the Order of the Coif, the national legal scholastic honor society, and the School of Law's representative to the Texas Tech University Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's largest multi-disciplinary honor society.

His service to Texas Tech University takes many different forms. Professor Cochran has represented the law school in the University Faculty Senate for many years, and he was elected as President of the Faculty Senate for 2019-20. In this capacity, he served the voice of all faculty at the university in matters of governance and operations, made difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Cochran's service reaches beyond the university community as well. In addition to speaking to professional trade associations and community groups on issues related to intellectual property, technology, and professional development, he has been recruited for site evaluation teams for the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, inspecting law schools as part of the accreditation process.

Professor Cochran wrote several chapters for a new edition of a gaming and racing law casebook, published in the spring of 2021. He is also working on a student study aid in Texas marital property law.

Photo Description

Education

  • B.A., Austin College, 1976
  • J.D., University of Houston, 1978
  • M.L.L., University of Washington, 1980

Courses

  • Torts
  • Criminal Law
  • Sports Law
  • Trademark and Unfair Competition Law
  • Marital Property

Selected Publications

It Takes Two to Tango!: Problems with Community Property Ownership of Copyrights and Patents in Texas, 58 Baylor Law Rev. 407-466 (2006).

Gaming Law: Cases & Materials. (Lexis-Nexis, 2003) (Co-author).

Legal Research Exercises to Accompany Robert C. Berring's Finding the Law (10th Ed.) And Cohen, Berring and Olson's How to Find the Law (9th ed.). (West Publishing, 1996). (Co-author).

Instructor's Manual for Legal Research Exercises to Accompany Robert C. Berring's Finding the Law (10th ed.) and Cohen, Berring and Olson's How to Find the Law (9th ed.). (West Publishing, 1996). (Co-author).

Why Can't I Watch this Video Here?: Copyright Confusion and Performances of Videocassettes and Videodiscs in Libraries, 15 Hastings Comm. & Ent. L.J. 837 (1993).

Time Management Handbook for Librarians. (Greenwood Press, 1992).

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