Professor Julie Patterson Forrester joined the faculty at SMU Dedman School of Law in 1990. Previously, she received her B.S.E.E. with highest honors in 1981 and her J.D. with high honors in 1985 from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of the Texas Law Review, Chancellors, and Order of the Coif. After graduation she was a real estate attorney with the Dallas law firm of Thompson & Knight.
 
At SMU, Professor Forrester teaches in the areas of Property, Real Estate Transactions, and Land Use. She writes and speaks on real estate finance, the residential mortgage market, predatory lending, and real property law. Professor Forrester was one of the first legal scholars to write about the problem of predatory lending in the subprime mortgage market, and she was awarded the John Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence in 1995 for her first predatory lending article.
 
Professor Forrester served the law school as associate dean for academic affairs from 1995-1996. She is a member of the American Law Institute and is on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Law Schools Real Estate Transactions Section.  She served on the Texas State Bar Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section committee that was charged with drafting the Texas Assignment of Rents Act.

Primary Articles

Promising to Be Prudent:  A Private Law Approach to Mortgage Loan Regulation in Common-Interest Communities, 19 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 739 (2012) (with Jerome M. Organ)
 
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Uniform Instruments:  The Forgotten Benefit to Homeowners, 72 Mo. L. Rev. 1077 (2007)
 
Still Crazy After All These Years: The Absolute Assignment of Rents in Mortgage Loan Transactions, 59 Fla. L. Rev. 487 (2007)

Still Mortgaging the American Dream: Predatory Lending, Preemption, and Federally-Supported Lenders, 74 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1303 (2006)
 
Home Equity Loans in Texas:  Maintaining the Texas Tradition of Homestead Protection,  55 SMU L. Rev. 157 (2002)
 
Bankruptcy Takings, 51 Fla. L. Rev. 851 (1999)
 
Constructing a New Theoretical Framework for Home Improvement Financing, 75 Or. L. Rev. 1095 (1996)
 
Mortgaging the American Dream:  A Critical Evaluation of the Federal Government's Promotion of Home Equity Financing, 69 Tul. L. Rev. 373 (1994)
 
A Uniform and More Rational Approach to Rents as Security for the Mortgage Loan, 46 Rutgers L. Rev. 349 (1993)

Books

Property: Cases, Materials, and Questions (2^nd ed. 2010) (with Teacher’s Manual) (with Edward E. Chase)

Speeches/Presentations

Real Estate Law Basics, Dallas City Attorney’s Office Community Prosecution Team, January 2013
 
Restrictive Covenants and Lending Issues, Dallas Bar Association Real Property Section, December 2012
 
Professors' Corner: ABA Real Property Legal Education and Uniform Laws Group Call: Lien Priority and Recording Act Issues, April 2012 (inaugural session)
 
Promising to Be Prudent: A Private Law Approach to Mortgage Loan Regulation in Common-Interest Communities, Joint Meeting of the Sections on Property and Real Estate Transactions, American Association of Law Schools, Annual Meeting, January 2012
 
The Texas Assignment of Rents Act, Houston Bar Association Real Estate Section, October 2011
 
Texas Assignment of Rents Act, Mortgage Lending Institute, Austin, September 2011, and Dallas, October 2011
 
Interview on Channel 5 News about ownership of engagement ring, aired July 6, 2011
 
The Texas Assignment of Rents Act, Dallas Area Real Estate Lawyer’s Discussion Group, May 2011
 
Proposed Texas Assignment of Rents Act, Advanced Real Estate Law Course, San Antonio, Texas Bar CLE, July 2010
 
Uniform Assignment of Rents Act, Advanced Real Estate Drafting Course, Dallas, Texas Bar CLE, March 2010
 
Panelist, Meltdown! Law and the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, 2009 Summit for Appellate Judges, Lawyers and Staff Attorneys, Appellate Judges Education Institute, November 2009
 
Interview on Channel 11 News about adverse possession scheme, aired July 2, 2009
           
The Subprime Mortgage Mess, Reunion Weekend CLE, SMU Dedman School of Law, April 2009
 
Absolute Assignment of Rents, Mortgage Lending Institute, Austin and Dallas, September 2008
 
Why Texas Should Adopt the Uniform Assignment of Rents Act, Dallas Area Real Estate Lawyer’s Discussion Group, May 2008
 
Panel Moderator, Disclosure: Problems and Solutions, Emerging Issues in Subprime and Predatory Lending, Research Conference, Seton Hall University School of Law, Center for Social Justice, May 2008
 
The Subprime and Predatory Lending Crises, Society of International Business Fellows, Dallas Briefing, SMU Dedman School of Law, May 2008
 
Panelist, Subprime, Predatory Lending and the Foreclosure Crisis, 14th Annual Paul Robeson Conference, The 40th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act: Continuing Housing Inequality and Ideas for Change, Columbia Law School, April 2008
 
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Uniform Mortgage Instruments: The Forgotten Benefit to Homeowners, Festschrift in Honor of Dale A. Whitman, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, April 2007
 
Still Crazy After All These Years: The Absolute Assignment of Rents in Mortgage LoanTransactions, Faculty Forum, SMU Dedman School of Law, March 2006
 
Our Pedagogical Choices: Use of Technology in Teaching, Panel Participant, Section on Teaching Methods, American Association of Law Schools, Annual Meeting, January 2006
 
The Uniform Assignment of Rents Act, Dallas Area Real Estate Lawyer’s Discussion Group, October 2005, and Thompson & Knight Real Estate Section, November 2005
 
Eminent Domain, Panel Discussion with Richard Epstein, Gideon Kanner, Ken Wright, The McCuistion Program, KERA, taped October 2003, aired nationally June 2004
 
Bankruptcy Takings, Faculty Forum, SMU School of Law, March 1999
 
Home Equity Lending Practices and Remedies, Panel Participant
National Association of Consumer Advocates Conference, San Antonio, February 1999
 
Attacking Foreclosure and Foreclosure Sales, Panel Participant
National Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, San Diego, October 1998
 
Home Equity Loans in Texas, Amarillo Bar Association Spring Institute, May 1998
and Dallas Area Real Estate Lawyer’s Discussion Group, December 1997
 
Assignments of Rents After the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994
Dallas Area Real Estate Lawyer’s Discussion Group, February 1995
 
Mortgaging the American Dream:  A Critical Evaluation of the Federal Government's Promotion of Home Equity Financing, Faculty Forum, SMU School of Law, March 1994
 
Mechanic's and Materialman's Lien Update
State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Law Course, Summer 1992
 
Speaker, Swearing-In Ceremony, State Bar of Texas, May 1986

Other

The Proposed Texas Assignment of Rents Act:  A Legislative Escape from the Common Law Morass, 48 Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Reporter, No. 4 at 32 (2011)
 
The Subprime Lending Crisis: How Did We Get Here?, The Quad, SMU Dedman School of Law, Fall 2008, at 37
 
Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act, in Major Acts of Congress (Macmillon Reference USA 2003)
 
Home Equity Financing: Is the Federal Government Mortgaging the American Dream, The Brief, SMU School of Law, Fall 1995, at 4