Faculty Notes: July 2017

Faculty Notes is a monthly feature written by Teri Baxter highlighting the achievements of faculty at UT Law including publications in academia and the media, speaking engagements, interviews, awards, and other accomplishments. 

Professor Doug Blaze has joined the board of ThinkTennessee, a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to developing and promoting ideas to move Tennessee forward. The organization believes that “facts matter and that moderate, pragmatic voices—the kind that have served our state well for generations—should play a prominent role in shaping public policy.” Robyn Askew – a prominent alum of the College of Law is also a board member.   Bob Cooper, former State Attorney General and now at Bass Berry, is the chairman.   

At the Law and Society annual meeting and conference in June, Professor Ben Barton was on a panel called “The Evolving Role of the Civil Judge” and presented on how online dispute resolution is reshaping the role of civil courts around the world. The trend is improving access to justice and overall satisfaction with litigation.

Professor Eliza Fink presented “Effective Educational Technology Products for VARK Learning Styles” at the American Association of Law Librarian’s annual meeting and conference. The program illustrated how law librarians can lead by example within their libraries and classrooms by implementing education technology that tailors learning to students’ unique skill sets, as well as provides for formative assessment of that strategy throughout the learning period.  Attendees were invited to complete their own VARK (visual, aural, ready/write, kinesthetic) learning style assessment (vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire).  Professor Fink then discussed concrete strategies to address each learning style, and highlight specific strategies, tools, and products for each learning style.

Professor Joan Heminway was quoted in the American Lawyers article “Linklaters Associate Denies Wrongdoing in Insider Trading Case” about an attorney who was suspended from her law firm after her husband was prosecuted for allegedly profiting from trades involving his wife’s clients. Professor Heminway recalled her time as an M&A lawyer at Skadden, Arps and “her own fear of being caught up in such a scenario while working on big deals in New York.” Professor Heminway noted that she was careful to exclude her husband from confidential client communications and wondered whether the Linklaters associate “just wasn’t as vigilant with this information.”

Professor Lucy Jewel presented her paper, Neurorhetoric, Race, and the Law: Toxic Neural Pathways and Healing Alternatives at the biennial conference of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) at the University of Minnesota School of Law.  Professor Jewel’s panel was comprised of authors who contributed articles to a recently published symposium issue of the Maryland Law Review, on the topic of Race & Advocacy. Professor Jewel also serves as an elected member of the ALWD board of directors

Professor Glenn Reynolds was interviewed for, and appears in, “Rigged: The Injustice of Corporate Welfare,” a documentary produced by the Beacon Center of Tennessee.  The film explains how corporate welfare benefits large corporations at the expense of small and minority-run businesses.

Professor Maurice Stucke was quoted in the USA Today article “Hearing sought to air Amazon-Whole Foods antitrust issues.” Professor Stucke commented on how the acquisition might affect competition in the marketplace. “Antitrust laws are built on the deconcentration of power,” he said. “The United States historically has been suspect of concentrated economic power, just as it’s suspect of concentrated political power.”

Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy, by Professors Maurice Stucke and Ariel Ezrachi, was at the top of Allianz Global Investors’ Neil Dwane’s recommended summer reading list on MarketWatch.com.