Faculty Forum: May 2020

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

This summer Professors Eric Amarante, Joan Heminway, Michelle Kwon, Brian Krumm, and George Kuney will be working with students Ri’charda Anderson, Nathan Cates, Michael Dellinger, Autumn Bowling, Mason Shelton and Landon Foody in their participation in a 10-week LawMeets Mergers and Acquisition Boot Camp. The program will consist of a series of drafting and negotiation exercises based on a simulated leveraged buyout transaction. Over 100 students from 35 law schools in North America will be participating.

Professor Zack Buck’s article “Specialty Drugs and the Health Care Cost Crisis,” co-authored with Professor Sharona Hoffman of Case Western, has been published in Issue 1 of Volume 55 of the Wake Forest Law Review (citation is 55 Wake Forest L. Rev. 55 (2020)).

Professor Sherley Cruz was interviewed by Nashville Public Radio regarding unemployment issues in Tennessee and was quoted in the story.  Here is the link to the story: https://wpln.org/post/many-tennesseans-still-wait-on-answers-about-unemployment-as-the-state-races-to-catch-up/ .

Professor Cruz participated in a series of videos by the Tennessee Access to Justice Commission on worker’s rights during the COVID pandemic that are accessible on Facebook and Twitter.

Professor Michael Higdon has agreed to become a co-author (primarily to contribute content concerning family law) on “The Law of Succession: Wills, Trusts, and Estates” by Professor Danaya C. Wright (publisher: Foundation Press).

Professor Higdon’s article “Parens Patriae and the Disinherited Child,” has been published in the Washington Law Review (citation is 102 Wash. L. Rev. 101 (2020)).

Professor Becky Jacobs presented virtually at the 22nd Annual ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference. She is the co-organizer and a presenter on a panel entitled “Decoding’ Ethical Design and Practice in Resolving Smart Contract & Blockchain-Related Disputes.” The session was co-organized by Erin Archerd, Detroit Mercy Law, and co-panelists are Amy Schmitz, Missouri Law; Colin Rule, Tyler Tech; Marcia Weldon, Miami Law; and Angie Raymond, Indiana’s Kelley School of Business. 

Professor Lucy Jewel recently presented a CLE webinar on behalf of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section. She addressed methods for crafting an effective brief, from storytelling strategies to mechanical writing pointers. Her dual credit/one hour webinar can be accessed here.

Professor Jewel has been appointed vice chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section. She will assume the chair position in 2021.

Professor Glenn Reynolds’ 3/26 Constitutional Law class on the development of free speech doctrine was broadcast on C-SPAN as part of its Lectures In History series. Professor Reynolds also appeared on ‘Special Report’ to talk about the pandemic’s effect on higher education.

Professor Greg Stein’s article “The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Urban Land Use Patterns” will appear in the Spring 2021 issue of the Florida State University Law Review. Professor Stein has also published “Uneasy Lies the Head that Owns Property” in Jotwell, and his article reviews “Private Property Suffuses Life,” by Professor Paul Babie.

Dean Melanie Wilson attended her first meeting as a member of the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools, a preeminent nonprofit association of 178 member and 19 fee-paid law schools, with a mission to advance excellence in legal education. She also served as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, a student-run publication at Northwestern University School of Law.