Faculty Forum is a monthly feature highlighting the achievements of faculty at UT Law including publications in academia and the media, speaking engagements, interviews, awards, and other accomplishments.
Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference
The University of Tennessee College of Law was well represented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Southeast Association of Law Schools, held in late July and early August. Faculty members and members of the administrative staff gave presentations on panels, workshops, and discussion groups, participated as mentors, and served on SEALS committees. This year’s participants included the following faculty members:
- Brad Areheart
- New Scholars Colloquia: Labor and Employment
- Workshop on Labor and Employment Law: Discussion Group: Current Issues in Accommodations Law (moderator)
- Workshop on Labor and Employment Law: Discussion Group: New Voices in Labor and Employment Law
- Ben Barton
- New Scholars Colloquia: Federal Courts and Jurisdiction (mentor)
- Legal Ethics or Law and Technology? Technological Change and the Regulation of Lawyers
- Teri Baxter
- Constitutional Law for Beginning and New Law Teachers: Discussion Group: Innovations in Teaching Constitutional Law
- Karen Britton
- Deans Workshop: What Deans (and Associate Deans and Faculty, Too) Should Know
- Judy Cornett
- The New Civil Procedure: Paradox and Peril; Deborah Challener ’98, a professor at Mississippi College of Law, also participated in this panel
- Joan Heminway
- Workshop on Constitutional Law: Supreme Court Update: Business, Administrative, Securities, Labor, and Employment Issues
- Workshop on Teaching: Discussion Group: Techniques for Teaching Critical Reading in Law School Courses
- New Scholars Colloquia: Corporate Law and Financial Regulation (mentor)
- Workshop on Business Law: Discussion Group: Recent Developments in Federal Securities Regulation (moderator)
- Workshop on Business Law: Discussion Group: Hot Topics in Financial Institutions Law and Regulation
- Workshop on Business Law: Discussion Group: Business Ethics and the Law
- Michael Higdon
- Workshop on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research: Scholarship and Skills: The Fusion of Legal Theory, Doctrine, and Practice
- Becky Jacobs
- Discussion Group: ADR in Faculty Governance and Change: What Works – If Anything – and What Doesn’t? (moderator)
- Lucy Jewel
- Workshop on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research: Grading and Assessment (moderator)
- Brian Krumm,
- Workshop on Distance Learning: Educating the Digital Lawyer
- New Transactional, Entrepreneurship, and IP Law School Clinics/Labs: What’s Working and How?
- Alex Long
- Workshop on Labor and Employment Law: Current Issues in Whistleblower Protection
- Workshop on Labor and Employment Law: Discussion Group: Current Issues in Accommodations Law
- Workshop on Labor and Employment Law: Discussion Group: New Voices in Labor and Employment Law
- Paula Schaefer
- Workshop on Teaching: Strategies for Implementing Experiential Learning
- Melanie Wilson
- Deans Workshop: Discussion Group: Is the Perfect Storm Abating? A Candid Discussion
In addition, Areheart and Jacobs participated in a variety of activities as part of the Prospective Law Professors Workshop, and several UT faculty members serve as members or chairs of SEALS committees:
- Areheart: Prospective Law Teachers Workshop (Co-Chair); Scholarly Research Committee
- Barton: Beginning & Newer Law Teachers Workshop (Mentor Committee Liaison); Mentor Committee (Co-Chair); Prospective Law Teachers Workshop (Mentor Committee Liaison)
- Rob Blitt: International Committee
- Heminway: Program Formatting Committee
- Jacobs: Prospective Law Teachers Workshop
- Gary Pulsinelli: Website, Technology & Communications Committee
- Glenn Reynolds: Website, Technology & Communications Committee
- Schaefer: Program Formatting Committee
Ben Barton
Professor Ben Barton’s article, “The Upside of the Legal Profession’s Crisis,” has been published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The article discusses recent changes in the legal profession and how lawyers and clients may benefit in the long run. Barton’s article is based on his recent book, “Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession,” published recently by Oxford University Press.
Barton’s book is noted favorably in Forbes magazine, and his book and article are both noted favorably at the Legal Skills Prof Blog. His book was also reviewed favorably by Mark Dubois in the Connecticut Law Tribune. The article, “Legal Profession Changing, But Glass May Be Half Full,” refers to Barton’s book as “a pleasant counterpoint to many of the high-profile nay-sayers and doomsday predictors.”
Barton has been invited to give a presentation at the University of Georgia School of Law. He will discuss his book at this presentation, which will take place in October in Athens, GA.
Barton will participate in the NYU Clinical Law Review Writers’ Workshop, to be held on Saturday, September 26th at NYU Law School. He will present a draft of his paper, “What the Market for Medical Services Can Tell Us About the Market for Medical Services.”
He will present a paper at the Advancing Access to Justice Conference, sponsored by Hastings and Stanford Law Schools. Barton will present on the plenary panel along with Professors Deborah Rhode of Stanford Law School and Gillian Hadfield of USC Gould School of Law, and his paper will be published in the Hastings Law Journal.
In addition, Barton will give a presentation on a plenary panel at this year’s Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, to be held in January 2016 in New York. Co-presenters include Professors Rhode and David Wilkins of Harvard Law School.
Judy Cornett
Professor Judy Cornett was quoted in the National Law Journal, in an article entitled, “Atticus’ Teachable Moment.” The article quotes several law professors discussing the recent publication of Harper Lee’s novel, “Go Set a Watchman.” This novel was written before “To Kill a Mockingbird” and features the same characters but takes place twenty years later. Cornett’s blog post about the publication of Lee’s novel has been posted at The Faculty Lounge. The post is entitled, “Go Set a Watchman – Breathing a Sigh of Relief.” Cornett was also quoted in a Knoxville News-Sentinel article, “Harper Lee’s New Novel Gets Warm Local Welcome,” on July 15. Cornett is the author of “Atticus Finch: Christian or Civic Hero? A Response to Professor McMillian,” 77 Tenn L. Rev. 723 (2010).
Joan Heminway
Professor Joan Heminway gave a presentation in August as part of a webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Section. The seminar was on the topic, “Crowdfunding: The New Thing in Financing Development.”
Heminway was also quoted in “Crowdfunding: A Short History,” published at The Real Deal. The article discusses the evolution of crowdfunding over the years.
Amy Hess
Professor Amy Hess’s article, “The Journal Enters the Twenty-First Century,” has been published in the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal. The article is part of a celebration of the Journal’s 50th anniversary. Hess served as the Journal’s editor from 1997 through 2001.
Hess also participated in two capacities at this year’s Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association, held in Chicago. Hess served as a moderator of a Showcase Program presented by the Real Property, Trust and Estate (RPTE) Section. She is also a member of the RPTE Section Council, which met at the Annual Meeting.
George Kuney
West Academic Publishing has published Professor George Kuney’s most recent book, “Experiencing Remedies,” a casebook with a particular focus on the relevant law of Tennessee and the southeastern United States on that subject.
Kuney’s article, “‘All Writs’ in Bankruptcy and District Courts: A Story of Differing Scope,” has been published in The Review of Litigation, a publication of The University of Texas School of Law. His co-authored article, “Limiting Credit Bidding For ‘Cause’ Under Section 363(k),” will appear in the August issue of The Bankruptcy Strategist, an ALM Media Properties publication.
Kuney’s co-authored book, Judgment Enforcement in Tennessee, was noted favorably in Quest, the University’s magazine celebrating faculty achievements in research and engagement. He also is currently developing four separate book projects. These projects include a new edition of West’s “Legal Drafting in a Nutshell,” his California Continuing Education of the Bar treatise, “California Law of Contracts,” and a book entitled “A Transactional Matter,” coauthored with Professor Brian Krumm.
Michelle Kwon
Professor Michelle Kwon will give a presentation of the University of Washington School of Law’s Third Annual Tax Symposium. The conference will take place in October in Seattle.
Kwon also will speak at this year’s American Bar Association Tax Section Meeting, to be held in September in Chicago.
Glenn Reynolds
Professor Glenn Reynolds, along with Professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Stephen Salzburg, have filed an amicus brief in support of certiorari in Rindfleisch v. Wisconsin, which addresses the government’s power to trawl emails for evidence regarding a person not under investigation. The case is also discussed in “Legal Experts on Right and Left Seek Review of Rindfleisch John Doe Conviction,” published at WisconsinWatchdog.org.
Reynolds was quoted in an article, “Chattanooga Shooting Reopens Debate over Military Personnel Regulations,” posted at the website of WJLA News (the ABC affiliate in Arlington, VA).
Greg Stein
Associate Dean Greg Stein has been nominated to serve on the Board of Governors of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) for a three-year term to begin on January 1, 2016. He previously served on the ACREL Board from 2011 through 2013. Stein will participate in ACREL’s Fall Meeting in two different capacities, serving as a Member-Elect of the Board and Co-Chairing the Meeting of the Law Professors’ Committee. The meeting takes place in October in Baltimore.
Maurice Stucke
Professor Maurice Stucke is the coauthor of a new posting, “The Curious Case of Competition and Quality,” published at the Oxford University Press Blog. He was quoted in Fortune magazine, in an article entitled, “Would Feds Block A Google–Twitter Merger? Probably Not,” noting that current antitrust models are somewhat outdated because they were not designed to focus on questions such as control over data. Stucke was quoted again in Fortune, in an article entitled “Supreme Court Ruling Gives Startups A New Weapon Against Regulators.” The article discusses state licensing requirements and challenges to them brought by companies such as Uber.
Stucke will speak at the Academy of European Law Seminar, “Competition Rebooted: Enforcement and Personal Data in Digital Markets.” The conference will be held in September in Brussels, Belgium. He also has been invited to give a presentation at the Fourth Annual Haifa/Loyola Competition Law Symposium. The conference will address a variety of subjects, including Big Data, pricing algorithms, and competition policy. Stucke will present his own working paper and comment on another participant’s paper. The conference will take place in June 2016 in Haifa, Israel.
Penny White
Professor Penny White’s article, “If It Ain’t Broke, Break It—How the Tennessee General Assembly Dismantled and Destroyed Tennessee’s Uniquely Excellent Judicial System,” was recently published in Volume 10 of the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy. The article chronicles the change in Tennessee’s judicial selection system with the recent passage of Amendment 2. White was quoted in an article in The Tennesseean entitled, “Ron Ramsey Eyes Republican Majority on Tennessee Supreme Court.” In the article, she decries the increasing politicization of the Tennessee Supreme Court. White was also quoted at WJHL (Johnson City), in an article on the same topic entitled, “Ramsey ‘Looking Forward’ to ‘First Ever Republican Supreme Court Majority’.”
White was a guest presenter at the Kansas Judiciary’s 2015 Annual Judicial Conference in Overland Park, Kansas, in June. White spoke about “New and Not-So-New Evidentiary Challenges,” discussing Kansas’s new expert testimony standard as well as authentication issues pertaining to electronic evidence. She also was a member of the faculty for the National Judicial College’s Advanced Evidence course in August in Big Sky, Montana. More than 80 judges from all across the country attended the week-long program to improve their working knowledge of evidence rules. White’s presentations covered the topics of Relevance, Balancing Relevance and Danger, Hearsay, and Confrontation.
White and Professor David Faigman of UC Hastings have created a series of web-based interactive modules for state court judges about the role and weight of forensic evidence in criminal cases. The project, which is a joint endeavor of the National Judicial College and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, will enable state court judges to make simulated rulings on cutting-edge scientific and forensic evidence issues and receive real-time feedback and instruction. White created three of the modules: the Introduction module (Where Science and Law Meet); a module detailing the judge’s role as gatekeeper; and the module on judicial ethics.
Paula Williams
Professor Paula Williams gave a presentation at the Global Alliance for Justice Conference, held in July in Eskisehir, Turkey.
Jingwei Zhang
Professor Jingwei Zhang attended the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in July and gave a presentation entitled “International Attorneys and LLM Students: Filling Research Gaps.” The presentation introduced participants to the common hurdles in teaching legal research to international students and effective techniques for overcoming these hurdles.