For the Record: Recently Published Work, New Grant Funding, Talks on Law School Inequity, Racial Justice and More
Catch up on recent University of Arizona Law faculty accomplishments.
News
Coan Publishes Qualified Immunity Article in Washington and Lee Law Review
An article by Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Law Andrew Coan and alumnus DeLorean Forbes (‘21) titled Qualified Immunity: Round Two, on the future of qualified immunity in federal courts, has been published in the Washington and Lee Law Review. Coan and Forbes propose disaggregating the federal judiciary and utilizing political and social movements.
Woods Co-Authors Paper on Lifting Restrictions for Platform Research
Professor of Law Andrew Keane Woods has co-authored a paper in the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University titled A Safe Harbor for Platform Research. The policy paper proposes legal protection for certain research and newsgathering projects focused on social media platforms.
The white paper proposes draft legislation which has been adopted in the new Platform Accountability and Transparency Act. Read more about the act here.
Bambauer and Inter-Disciplinary Team Awarded PIF Grant, Authored Article in Lawfare on Cybersecurity
Professor Derek Bambauer and a team of inter-disciplinary faculty members from the University of Arizona were selected for a Provost Investment Fund grant. The team aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using algorithmic techniques, such as natural language processing, software analysis, and semantic modeling, to bridge the technological gap between human-language wills and software-based smart contracts. The project's long-term goal is to develop affordable and trustworthy techniques to translate human-language wills into smart contracts.
Bambauer also recently authored a piece about cybersecurity regulation in Lawfare.
Arizona Law Faculty Present at the AALS 2022 Annual Meeting
Associate Professor of Legal Writing and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Sylvia Lett and Shefali Milczarek-Desai, director of Arizona Law's Workers’ Rights Clinic, presented at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) 2022 Annual Meeting. Their session, titled “Equality, Intersectionality and Status in the Legal Academy,” discussed inequity in legal education.
On Jan. 8, Director of the Health Law and Policy Program Tara Sklar and Shefali Milczarek-Desai were panelists in the AALS Annual Meeting’s Aging and the Law Section on Inequality and Aging where they discussed racial justice in long-term care.
Sklar Presents at Various Symposiums
Tara Sklar, director of the Health Law and Policy Program, spoke at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Innovations in Healthy Aging Virtual Sneak Preview on Jan. 27. The event shared the work that is being done to address society’s changing needs associated with aging and how to get involved.
Sklar spoke at the 2022 Precision Medicine and Pharmacogenomics: Propelling Proof and Practice in Populations Symposium on Jan.14. She presented "Genetic Technologies: Access, Rights, Privacy, and Consent." The event was hosted by the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.
On Feb. 1, she presented at the Arizona Rural and Public Health Policy Forum at the University of Richmond School of Law’s 2022 Symposium Journal of Law and Technology. Additionally, Sklar presented at Lawyering in the Digital Age on Feb. 4 and Addressing Disparities & Equitable Access in Telehealth: Legal Barriers and Opportunities at the Arizona Telemedicine Program and Southwest Telehealth Resource Center on Feb. 7.
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Highlights Sepe Forthcoming Paper
Professor of Law and Finance Simone Sepe’s forthcoming paper, Blood in the Water: The Value of Antitakeover Provisions During Market Shocks, is highlighted in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. The paper explores market-wide shocks causing large declines in share prices and whether antitakeover provisions exacerbate or mitigate the effects of these “market shocks” on firm value. “Blood in the Water: The Value of Antitakeover Provisions During Market Shocks” is forthcoming in the Journal of Financial Economics.
In the Media
An Argument for Remote Appellate Court Hearings
The National Law Journal
Feb. 9, 2022
Assistant Director of Legal Writing and Clinical Professor of Law Tessa Dysart wrote an argument for remote appellate court hearings.
The Los Angeles Times
Jan. 26, 2022
Shefali Milczarek-Desai, associate clinical professor of law and director of the Workers' Rights Clinic and co-chair of the Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program, wrote on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) historical struggles to regulate large workplaces.
Use of rape-kit DNA to probe other crimes shocks prosecutors
AP News
Feb. 16, 2022
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin shocked prosecutors when he disclosed the use of rape-kit DNA to probe other crimes. Arizona Law Professor Jason Kreag, who has studied forensic DNA issues, weighs in.
How a social justice innovation lab is developing new types of legal services
Legal Rebels Podcast
Feb. 16, 2022
Director of Innovation for Justice Program Stacy Rupprecht Jane is interviewed on the latest episode of ABA Journal Legal Rebels podcast to discuss how the college's social justice innovation lab is developing new types of legal services.
White House Takes Aim at Environmental Racism, but Won’t Mention Race
The New York Times
Feb. 15, 2022
Research shows that communities of color bear a disproportionate burden from pollution but using race to allocate federal help could result in legal problems. Arizona Law Dean Emerita Toni Massaro weighs in.
Ahead of the Curve: The Law School Admissions Process Is Built Around LSATs—So Where Does the GRE Fit In?
Law.com
Feb. 7, 2022
Arizona Law Dean Marc Miller weighs in on whether the law school admissions process can make room for potentially broader acceptance of GRE scores.
Cyberattacks are on the rise. How looking at security from a different perspective can help
KJZZ Phoenix
Jan. 26, 2022
Arizona Law professor Derek Bambauer discusses cybersecurity.
Wisconsin debates cash bail changes in wake of Waukesha parade deaths
Wisconsin Law Journal
Jan. 24, 2022
Director of Empirical & Policy Research at the University of Arizona Law Christopher L. Griffin, Jr. weighs in on the risks of using risk assessment tools.
Law.com
Jan. 24, 2022
Sarah Mauet, UX4Justice director and professor of practice, discusses the importance of user experience when developing technology-based access to the courts.
Native American tribe's eviction plan raises civil rights concerns. Should US government intervene?
USA Today
Jan. 22, 2022
Washington state Indigenous tribe's plan to evict disenrolled members from federally assisted tribal housing. Regents Professor and Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Faculty Co-Chair Rob Williams weighs in.
Do you trust that Algorithm?
Tech Refactored
Jan. 20, 2022
Professor of Law Derek Bambauer explains what algorithms are, how they work and why people trust (or don’t trust) algorithms.
New legal advocates can make representation more affordable for Arizonans
KOLD
Jan. 19, 2022
Keith Swisher, professor of Legal Ethics and director of BA in Law and Master of Legal Studies Programs, and Linus Kafta, assistant director of BA in Law and Master of Legal Studies Program, discuss the need for legal paraprofessionals.
The Marble Palace Blog: The Role of Justices and Judges in a Tumultuous Time
Law.com
Dec. 30, 2021
Judges, lawyers, law professors and even journalists weigh in on how the Supreme Court and other courts could help calm the divisions in the nation. The ideas come from articles in a recent edition of the Journal of Appellate Practice and Process housed at Arizona Law, along with The National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
New UA program aims to ease Arizona's lawyer shortage
The Arizona Daily Star
Dec. 28, 2021
Arizona Law Professor of Legal Ethics and Director of BA in Law and Master of Legal Studies Programs Keith Swisher and Assistant Director of the BA in Law and Master of Legal Studies Program and Professor of Practice Linus Kafta discuss pathways currently offered at Arizona Law to become a licensed legal paraprofessional.
As Western states pledge to take less water from Colorado River, tribes seek a bigger role
Los Angeles Times
Dec. 26, 2021
When officials from California, Arizona and Nevada signed a deal this month to take less water from the shrinking Colorado River, a sizable portion of the water savings came through agreements with two Native tribes. University of Arizona Law Regents Professor Robert Glennon discusses the historic deal.
Algorithms are making many of our daily decisions — and most people are OK with that
KJZZ The Show
Dec. 16, 2021
University of Arizona Law Professor Derek Bambauer studied how large a role algorithms play in those decisions — and how often many of us would prefer to leave those choices to the numbers, rather than contemplating deeply and picking for ourselves. Bambauer discusses how "algorithm" became a more common term.
Ahead of the Curve: The ABA's Approval of the GRE 'Caught Everybody Off Guard'—But Will It Be a Game Changer?
Law.com
Dec. 13, 2021
Dean and Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law Marc Miller discusses the November vote by the Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The council decided to allow law schools to accept applicants’ scores from Graduate Record Examinations in lieu of the Law School Admissions Test. Miller was the catalyst for the ABA first allowing law schools to accept the GRE, on a case-by-case basis, five years ago.
Legal education innovations emerge as regulatory landscape changes
American Bar Association
Dec. 8, 2021
On December 7, Stacy Rupprecht Jane, director of the Innovation for Justice Program, was a panelist on at an IAALS Conference as part of “Redesigning Legal” series, Redesigning Legal: The Role of Legal Education, Clinics, and Legal Labs. The online seminar explored the opportunities being created by regulatory innovation for legal education.
Algorithms are making many of your decisions, and you might be OK with that
Techxplore
Dec. 7, 2021
Algorithms – systems or processes that help make a choice – have become ubiquitous with the rise of big data, and now typically involve math formulas in the form of computer code. A new study by law professor Derek Bambauer finds that many people are perfectly happy letting a machine make certain decisions for them.
Montana Gov. Gianforte, AG Knudsen try to stop American Prairie's bison through political pressure
Yahoo News
Dec. 7, 2021
An effort by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and the heads of several key state agencies, to stop a private nonprofit group's attempt to release small bison herds on small plots of open land. University of Arizona law professor Justin Pidot and a partner were hired to examine the legal concerns raised by the state.
Rethinking Wisconsin's bail system: Activists push for bail abolition, counties try pretrial tools
Wisconsin Public Radio
Dec. 7, 2021
In an interview on prison policy initiatives, University of Arizona law professor Christopher L. Griffin, Jr. discusses the use of pretrial risk assessment tools.
After ABA's blessing, will law schools rush to use the GRE in admissions?
Reuters
Dec. 1, 2021
The American Bar Association ruled that law schools can use the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) in admissions. Dean and Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law Marc Miller is interviewed. Arizona Law became the first law school to accept the GRE in 2016.
Investors are buying up rural Arizona farmland to sell the water to urban homebuilders
azcentral (Arizona Republic)
Nov. 25, 2021
Investors are buying up rural Arizona farmland to sell the water to urban home builders. Arizona Law Regents Professor Robert Glennon is cited, saying water markets do not necessarily need to threaten farming communities.
Lat's Legal Library (11.2021): Laboratories Of... Something
Original Jurisdiction
November 2021
Arizona Law Professor Tessa Dysart's book Law Teaching Strategies for a New Era: Beyond the Physical Classroom was featured in Original Jurisdiction's holiday installment of Lat’s Legal Library.