News

Emily Burgess ’22 (BS’19) uses law school experience to expand advocacy work

Apr. 18, 2022—Burgess will serve as a law clerk for Judge Travis McDonough '92 of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. She is a Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Public Interest Scholar and a Justice-Moore Family Public Interest Scholar.

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“And a Public Defender for All”: Sara Mayeux’s opinion piece addresses Judge Ketangi Brown Jackson’s historic SCOTUS appointment

Apr. 12, 2022—Judge Jackson is the first Supreme Court justice whose prior experience includes work as a federal public defender. Mayeux asserts that "given that several...justices previously worked as federal prosecutors, Jackson's confirmation injects a welcome measure of professional balance to the lineup" and that Jackson is the "first justice since Thurgood Marshall with meaningful criminal defense experience."

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Laura Dolbow ’17 (BA’12) named Sharswood Fellow by University of Pennsylvania Law School

Apr. 6, 2022—Dolbow graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in 2017. After law school, she was a law clerk for Judge Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and then for Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. After clerking, she joined Covington & Burling as an associate in Washington, D.C.

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“International Law and Women’s Human Rights in Afghanistan,” a lecture by Karima Bennoune March 31

Mar. 29, 2022—UC Davis scholar Karima Bennoune's talk is the 2022 Victor S. Johnson Lecture. Bennoune holds the Homer G. Angelo and Ann Berryhill Endowed Chair in International Law at UC Davis Law School. Her talk begins at 12:30 p.m. Thurs., March 31, and is free and open to the public.

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Kimberly Welch, Vanderbilt scholar of American slavery, race and law, selected for Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship

Mar. 21, 2022—Welch is an associate professor of history and of law. The two-year, $306,000 fellowship will support research leave and tuition to undertake a self-directed course of study at Vanderbilt Law School and the Owen Graduate School of Management to learn the tools and techniques essential to support her study of the role of Black moneylenders in the 19th-century credit economy.

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Jim Blumstein reflects on the enduring significance of his Supreme Court voting rights victory 50 years later

Mar. 21, 2022—Blumstein, a New York native, challenged a residency requirement imposed by the state of Tennessee after moving to Nashville to join Vanderbilt's law faculty in 1970. When his challenge prevailed, Tennessee appealed the ruling. Blumstein argued the case, Dunn v. Blumstein, before the Supreme Court. On March 21, 1972, the high court issued a 6–1 decision in Blumstein’s favor, with Justice Thurgood Marshall writing the majority opinion.

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Watch now: Slobogin discusses criminal justice reform with Cyntoia Brown-Long and Gov. Bill Haslam

Mar. 19, 2022—Chris Slobogin, who directs the law school's Criminal Justice Program, moderated "Reform for Redemption," a March 18 discussion on criminal justice reform with Cyntoia Brown-Long, who was incarcerated as a juvenile, and former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who granted Brown clemency. Watch the event, which was sponsored by the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, now.

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Ed Cheng’s proposed new approach to scientific evidence is the focus of Villanova Law symposium March 18

Mar. 17, 2022—Cheng’s 2022 Vanderbilt Law Review article, “The Consensus Rule: A New Approach to Scientific Evidence,” will be the focus of a day-long symposium March 18 at Villanova Law School, where Cheng’s proposal that the legal system should defer to expert communities rather than reach independent decisions will be critically evaluated by scholars in the field.

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Mike Newton argues that Russia should be investigated for war crimes in CNN email interview

Mar. 15, 2022—Congress is considering a resolution to investigate the Russian invaders of Ukraine for possible war crimes. In an email interview with CNN Opinion, conduct of hostilities expert Mike Newton argues that such an investigation is justified due to Russia's attacks on civilians.

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Chancery Court judges Joseph Slights III of Delaware and Anne Martin ’92 of Tennessee to discuss business courts at VLS March 15

Mar. 8, 2022—"Business Courts from Tennessee to Delaware," a moderated discussion featuring Vice Chancelor Slights and Chancellor Martin sponsored by the Law and Business Program, is scheduled in Flynn Auditorium from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. The public is invited to attend in person or virtually.

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Khalil Bryant, Class of 2022, named Distinguished Law Student for the Sixth Circuit by American College of Bankruptcy

Mar. 4, 2022—To qualify for this prestigious award, students must be nominated by a College member or a professor or dean of their law school. Nominees undergo a rigorous evaluation process that includes interviews, submission of written materials and a review of the candidate’s academic standing by members of the ACB council.

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Dunn v. Blumstein featured in “Making the Case” podcast produced by Tennessee Attorney General’s office

Mar. 3, 2022—Constitutional law James F. Blumstein discusses Dunn v. Blumstein, the case brought in 1970 challenging Tennessee's residency requirements for voter registration, in a March 1 podcast produced by the Tennessee Attorney General's office. Blumstein ultimately argued the case before the Supreme Court.

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Chris Slobogin to moderate criminal justice reform panel featuring Cyntoia Brown Long and former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam March 15

Mar. 2, 2022—The event, “Reform for Redemption: Cyntoia Brown Long and Gov. Bill Haslam on Criminal Justice Reform and the Power of Mercy,” will be held in Langford Auditorium and livestreamed at 6 p.m. March 15. Now an author and advocate, Brown was a trafficking victim when she was convicted of murder at 16. She was later granted clemency by Gov. Haslam. Professor Slogobin will moderate a discussion about criminal justice reform. The public is invited to attend in person or virtually.

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Ingrid Wuerth discusses “International Law and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine” in Lawfare

Feb. 25, 2022—Wuerth is a leading scholar of foreign affairs and serves on the State Department's Advisory Committee on the American Law Institute's Restatement (Fourth) on U.S. Foreign Relations Law. In this Lawfare post, she states: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine violates Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity of another state."

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Paul Edelman retires from Vanderbilt faculty, takes emeritus status

Feb. 17, 2022—Edelman was a professor of mathematics and a professor of law. His legal scholarship focused on law and public choice, addressing systems for shareholder voting, apportionment of Congressional seats, judicial decision-making, and distributing attorneys’ fees in complex litigation.

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Suzanna Sherry retires from Vanderbilt Law faculty, takes emerita status

Feb. 16, 2022—Sherry held the Herman O. Loewenstein Chair in Law. An expert in constitutional law and federal courts and procedure, Sherry is the author of more than 100 books, book chapters and articles.

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Julie Su, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, to deliver Barrett Social Justice Lecture Feb. 24

Feb. 11, 2022—Su is a nationally recognized expert on workers’ rights and civil rights who served as secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency before her appointment as deputy secretary of labor. Her talk, "Fulfilling the Unfulfilled Promise of Racial and Economic Justice," will draw on her trailblazing career as a civil rights and workers' rights attorney.

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Rebecca Ehrhardt ’23 and William Lawler ’23 win 2022 Bass Berry & Sims Moot Court Competition

Feb. 10, 2022—Kristen Smith ’23 and Ryan Jones ’23 were finalists. Judges Corey T. Wilson of the Fifth Circuit, Andrew Brasher of the Eleventh Circuit and Chief Judge Waverly T. Crenshaw ’81 (BA’78) of the Middle District of Tennessee presided over the final round Feb. 4.

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VLS Housing Law Clinic students, faculty support national call to action to address eviction crisis

Jan. 28, 2022—Students in the Housing Law Clinic directed by Jennifer Prusak represented Nashville tenants facing eviction and advocated for changes in housing policy during the COVID=10 pandemic.

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Mike Vandenbergh, research team explore how carbon labels can aid in the fight against climate change

Jan. 27, 2022—"Revisiting the Promise of Carbon Labelling," published in the journal Nature Climate Change, reveals that one benefit of carbon labeling is that businesses that produced labels for their products often reduced their own carbon footprints.

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Rebecca Haw discusses the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook on NPR’s The Takeaway

Jan. 20, 2022—Facebook has been fighting the claim that they are a monopolized business that abuses their power over their competition for years. Antitrust scholar Rebecca Allensworth discusses the Facebook/Meta antitrust lawsuit on WNYC's radio program The Takeaway.

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Lonnie T. Brown ’89 named dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law

Jan. 19, 2022—Brown currently serves as the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and holds the A. Gus Cleveland Distinguished Chair in Legal Ethics and Professionalism at the University of Geogia School of Law. He will join the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as dean on July 1.

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Terry Maroney named to 2022 cohort of Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholars

Jan. 18, 2022—Maroney will work in residence at the RSF in New York City during the 2022-23 academic year. Visiting scholars pursue research and writing projects in the social, economic and behavioral sciences.

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Judge Gilbert S. Merritt Jr. ’60, who served for 44 years on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, dead at 86

Jan. 17, 2022—Judge Merritt was appointed to the Sixth Circuit by President Jimmy Carter and assumed senior status in 2001. He remained active on the court until shortly before his death Jan. 17.

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D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine to deliver the 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture Jan. 31 via Zoom

Jan. 15, 2022—Racine was sworn in as the District of Columbia's first elected attorney general in 2015 and re-elected for a second term in 2018. His lecture is free and open to the public.

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