For the Record: Presentations, Awards, New Books and Research Papers, and Expert Insights on Immigration, Environmental Law and More

News 

Miller Named ABA 2024-2025 GPSolo Difference Makers Award Recipient  

The American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division has named Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law and former dean Marc L. Miller a recipient of the 2024-2025 GPSolo Difference Makers Award. The award recognizes extraordinary individuals and providers who "make a difference" by breaking down barriers or through community service, pro bono work or service to the profession.  

The GPSolo Difference Makers Awards will be presented to Miller and four other lawyers and a nonprofit group on January 31 during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix.  

Arizona Law at the 2025 Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting 

Professor of Practice Cayley Balser and Project Lead at i4J Antonio Coronado were both session speakers for “AALS Open Source Program.” Through conscious, collective processes of (re)imagination, the program explored how schools might forge future courses, careers, and institutions premised on community legal power. 

Jessica Findley, director of Bar & Academic Success and professor of practice, was one of the panelists during “Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession, Co-Sponsored by Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Professionals, Law and the Social Sciences, and Minority Groups.” Law schools have enrolled their first full class since the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Few Supreme Court decisions will have a greater impact on legal education, affecting everything from financial aid to classroom discussions to the success of students of color. Findley and panel presented papers or works-in-progress that use empirical methods to examine changes in legal education and possible responses. 

Dean Emerita Toni Massaro was a speaker during the “AALS Presidential Keynote Plenary Session.” The session celebrated past successes, explored current and former challenges, and considered how the future for women law students, legal academics, and lawyers will continue to benefit from the courage of the pioneers in the legal profession. 

Robert H. Mundheim Professor of Law and Business Barak Orbach joined an expert panel for “Antitrust and Economic Regulation” to discuss antitrust lawsuits brought by the DOJ and FTC against major tech companies, poised to result in landmark decisions that could have profound impact on the economy and the future of antitrust law.  

Associate Professor of Law Shalev Roisman served as a senior scholar during the Administrative Law’s New Voices program which gives junior administrative law scholars an opportunity to receive useful feedback on their work from more senior scholars before publication. 

Director of Legal Writing Susie Salmon was a speaker for the session, “Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research.” Salmon served on the panel to help educators navigate the dynamic shifts in the classroom.  

Tara Sklar, faculty director of the Health Law & Policy Program, was a speaker at “Aging and the Law, Co-Sponsored by Law, Medicine and Health Care and Trusts and Estates,” which focused on discussing the difficulties older adults experience in accessing basic needs, including healthcare and utilization of health technology; housing, aging in place, and long-term care; employment and retirement; and estate planning.  

Associate Professor of Law Oren Tamir was awarded during the annual AALS Awards Ceremony with the 2025 Mark Tushnet Prize in Comparative Law for his article, “Our Parochial Administrative Law.”  

Simon New Book Featured in Faculty Book Talk  

On January 27, Associate Clinical Professor of Law Diana Simon discussed her new book, “The Case for Effective Legal Writing: Court Opinions, Commentary, and Exercises,” with Susie Salmon, Director of Legal Writing at the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library’s Faculty Book Series.  

The book is the first of its kind, and connects writing technique to real-world consequences. It brings the courthouse to the legal writing classroom with dozens of court cases in which writing technique determined the outcome of – or was otherwise significant in – cases.  

Antognini New Article Fraudulent Families  

James E. Rogers Professor of Law Albertina Antognini new article “Fraudulent Families,” is now available on SSRN, and will soon be published in UC Irvine Law Review, Vol. 15. Through an analysis of Supreme Court decisions involving property rights, citizenship laws, and paternity, Antonini's article reveals that the Court’s claims about "paternity fraud" often lack evidence of biological fraud and instead reflect biases against nonmarital families. 

Media  

Trump's orders on climate and environment could hurt Arizona's economy, experts fear 
The Arizona Republic  
Jan. 27, 2027 

President Donald Trump began his second term issuing many executive orders opposing the transition away from fossil fuels for the preservation of a livable climate, including one that eliminates incentives for electric vehicle makers and consumers. It also attempts to pause the disbursement of federal funds to many projects, though according to University of Arizona environmental law professor Kirsten Engel, a former Arizona state senator, it remains unclear under what circumstances those funds would be most at risk. 

No court, no hearing: Trump revives fast-track deportations, expands reach nationwide 
AZ Mirror  
Jan 25, 2025 

Legal experts warn the Trump Administration's border security policy that removes the due process protections provided by immigration courts paves the way for mass deportations and threatens to put Latinos in Arizona, regardless of their citizenship status, at risk of racial profiling and removal from the country. Professor Lynn Marcus, director of the Immigration Law Clinic, and Florence Project Director and former immigration law clinic student Laura Belous (‘10) weigh in.  

The Buzz: How Trump’s immigration policies affect Southern Arizona 
Arizona Public Media (NPR) 
Jan. 24, 2025 

Professor Lynn Marcus, Director of the University of Arizona’s Immigration Law Clinic, discusses how the Trump administrations immigration policies affect Southern Arizona. 

Experts: Trump immigration plans could hurt public safety 
Arizona Daily Star  
Jan. 20, 2025 

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan, billed as a blueprint for the Trump administration, also seeks to limit eligibility for “U visas,” a nonimmigrant visa category for crime victims, including victims of sexual assault and trafficking, who cooperate with law enforcement. Professor Lynn Marcus, director of the University of Arizona’s Immigration Law Clinic, weighs in.  

‘We Needed More Time’: As Biden Leaves Office, His Climate Legacy Remains Incomplete 
Inside Climate News 
Jan. 19, 2025 

Allies say President Biden’s clean energy and environmental justice achievements will last. But he leaves behind no solution for the nation's fossil fuel reliance. Justin Pidot, co-director of the Environmental Law Program and the former general counsel for the Council on Environmental Quality in the Biden White House, weighs in. 

Three Lessons From the Supreme Court’s TikTok Decision 
Lawfare 
Jan. 18, 2025 

All three branches of the American government have now put their seal on the idea that TikTok poses a national security threat. Professor of Law Andrew Woods writes about three immediate lessons. 

Trump Could Let ICE Into Schools — And Educators Are Getting Ahead Of It 
Huffington Post 
Jan. 14, 2025 

The Trump administration is considering rolling back a policy that keeps immigration officials out of places like schools & churches. The article mentions a 2011 report from Arizona Law that finds legislation contributes to a drop in enrollment. 

Opinion: Enough with the land acknowledgements 
New York Times 
Jan. 5, 2025 

Kathleen DuVal, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, writes that many land acknowledgements have "begun to sound more like rote obligations, and Indigenous scholars tell me there can be tricky politics involved with naming who lived on what land and who their descendants are. Keith Richotte Jr., director of the University of Arizona's Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program and a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian, is interviewed.  

Shrinking Colorado River Could Raise US Grocery Prices in 2025 
Newsweek 
Dec. 31, 2024 

Farmers relying on the Colorado River are raising the alarm as diminishing river flows threaten food supplies and could lead to increased U.S. grocery prices in 2025. Professor Emeritus Robert Glennon, a water law expert, weighs in. 

Carbon credit schemes ‘uprooting Maasai tribes’ 
The Telegraph 
Dec. 23, 2024 

Tanzania’s government has begun evicting people from the Ngorongoro conservation area in a bid to protect wildlife. Activists call the relocation a way to secure funds from conservation, tourism & climate initiatives. Regents Professor Rob Williams Jr. is quoted.  

LSAT alternatives gain slowly in law admissions, ABA data show 
Bloomberg Law 
Dec. 18, 2024 

Recently-released American Bar Association data show the vast majority of students accepted by U.S. law schools – 38,728 – took the longstanding Law School Admissions Test, while just 724 took alternative exams, including 23 who took the University of Arizona-developed JD-Next. "We looked for a test that would eliminate race disparities," while still producing a reliable predictor of law school success, as required by the ABA's accreditation standards, said Marc L. Miller, former dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law. "We found a way to assess someone's potential, not merely describe their past."