C|M|LAW Professor Emeritus Alan Miles Ruben (Advisory Professor of Law, Fu Dan University, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China) moderated a panel on new decisions and regulations affecting labor arbitration practice at the National Academy of Arbitrators’ Fall Education Conference at Charleston, SC on October 13, 2012. He lectured on advocacy in labor arbitration at the Labor Law Seminar sponsored by Teamsters Joint Council Number 41 and the Fraternal Order of Police/Ohio Labor Council, Cleveland, Ohio on October 19, 2012, and he spoke on “Resolving Ambiguities in Collective Bargaining Agreements” at the Labor Arbitration Institute, Cleveland, Ohio on November 20, 2012.
Author Archives: CSU|LAW
Weinstein Appears on ABA Real Property Section’s “Professor’s Corner” Teleconference on Development Exactions
On Wednesday, December 12, C|M|LAW Professor Alan Weinstein was the featured speaker on “Professor’s Corner,” a 60-minute national teleconference presented each month by the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estates Section’s Legal Education Committee. He discussed Koontz v. St. John’s River Waste Management District, a case involving development exactions that the Supreme Court has agreed to review this term, and several recent state supreme court cases dealing with various forms of development exactions, including the Ohio Supreme Court’s Drees v. Hamilton Township decision from May 2012 invalidating development impact fees imposed by an Ohio township.
In addition, Professor Weinstein's paper, titled "The Association of Adult Businesses With Secondary Effects: Legal Doctrine, Social Theory, and Empirical Evidence," that he co-authored with Prof. Richard McCleary (UC-Irvine Criminology) and presented at the American Association of Geographers Conference in New York in February 2012, will be published by Routledge in late 2013 as a chapter in a book titled "(Sub)Urban Sexscapes: Geographies and Regulation of the ‘Sex Industry’.“
Sterio Travels to Mauritius for Forum on Somali Piracy
C|M|LAW Professor Milena Sterio traveled to Mauritius, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, last week to participate in an international forum on Somali piracy. Mauritius is one of a group of nations that are prosecuting Somali pirates under transfer agreements with the United Kingdom and the European Union. Professor Sterio is involved in the Piracy Working Group, which is advising and assisting the governments of these nations. Professor Sterio, along with her students, researches legal issues at the request of the prosecuting nations.
To read about Professor Sterio’s work in Mauritius, please read her blog post on IntLawGrrls.com at: http://www.intlawgrrls.com/2012/12/mauritius-new-forum-for-somali-piracy.html
Keating Speaks to Cleveland Civil War Roundtable on The Irish in the Civil War
On Wednesday, December 12, 2012, Dr. Dennis Keating (joint C|M|LAW/Levin College of Urban Affairs appointee) will speak to the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable. In his lecture, The Irish in the Civil War,” Keating will be discussing predominantly Irish military units (north and south) like the Irish Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac and the Louisiana Tigers of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He will focus on three Irish-American commanders – Thomas Francis Meagher of the Irish Brigade, Union general Phil Sheridan, and Confederate General Patrick Cleburne. He will also cover the 1863 New York City Draft Riots and the 1866 invasion of Upper Canada by the Fenian Brotherhood.
Dr. Keating is a past president of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable. The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable meets at Judson Manor (Chester and 107th). The lecture will begin at about 8 PM.
Ray Posts ‘In Memoriam’ to South Africa’s Chief Justice Chaskalson
C|M|LAW Professor Brian Ray posted an ‘in memoriam’ to Arthur Chaskalson, the first President and Chief Justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court who died on December 1, 2012. Ray highlights the critical leadership role Chaskalson played in the South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement and in the creation and building of South Africa’s Constitutional Court. Ray compares Chaskalson’s role on South Africa’s Constitutional Court to Chief Justice John Marshall’s role in transforming the U.S. Supreme Court.
See: http://www.iconnectblog.com/2012/12/in-memoriam-chief-justice-arthur-chaskalson/
Crain’s Quotes Dean Boise on Tomorrow’s Lawyers and Challenges in the Legal Field
On November 27, 2012, Crain’s Cleveland Business quoted C|M|LAW Dean Craig Boise in What the legal community is saying. The piece posed two questions to five leaders in the Cleveland legal community. What attributes will be needed for tomorrow’s attorneys? What are some of the significant challenges in the legal field going forward?
In response to those questions, Dean Boise said:
“The legal sector leaders of tomorrow will above all need to be prepared to lead dramatic change. Traditionally, change within the legal sector — for both law firms and law schools —has been glacial. We now face unprecedented challenges that will require us to learn quickly the adaptability and innovation that have long characterized the business sector.
Downward pressure on costs is the greatest challenge the legal field faces over the next five years. Technology and outsourcing have transformed the way companies In virtually every other industry do business, and those companies are now demanding substantial cost concessions from their lawyers. This has led to a reduction In law firm hiring and lower associate wages, which in turn have forced law schools to examine their cost structures in light of a shrinking pool of prospective students.”
Teresa Metcalf Beasley (Senior Counsel, Calfee, Halter & Griswold, LLP), indicated that integrity and professionalism, along with a creative approach to problems, and networking/strong-reputation, would be critical attributes in future lawyers, and that in the future, there must be an emphasis on being flexible andcreative when approaching businesses with ever changing technology.
C|M|LAW alum, CMBA President, and Tucker Ellis partner, Carter Strang said that new lawyers will need the ability to use new technology and adapt to changes, and that they will need to be open to alternative work arrangements. He also noted that we must find a way to attract best and brightest to our state and local judiciaries.
Jean Robertson (General Counsel, Beck Aluminum) said that the legal sector needs transparent leadership pipelines, and an emphasis on anticipating trends, and that the recession has had a negative impact on job availability.
Finally, Judge Dan Polster (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio) suggests that future lawyers need to be creative problem solvers, with an ability to work collaboratively. He noted that equal access to services, the high cost of education, and making sure courts receive sufficient resources are significant challenges going forward.
C|M|LAW Solo Practice Incubator Featured in Crain’s Cleveland Business, and Cleveland Plain Dealer
C|M|LAW’s plans to support our graduates entering solo practice by creating a solo practice incubator was featured in this morning’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. Quoting numbers from the Wall Street Journal and the ABA on the high numbers of law graduates going into solo practice, the article, Solo incubator at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law to help new grads hang out a shingle, by Allison Grant, hails C|M|’s partnership in this project with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. In the article, C|M|LAW Dean Craig M. Boise, notes that C|M|LAW has, for many years, seen approximately 15% of its graduates entering solo practice, by choice. This incubator is an effort, in part, to better support that choice.
Please see: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/solo_incubator_at_cleveland-ma.html#incart_river
An article on the same subject appeared in Crain’s Cleveland Business on Tuesday, November 27, in an article titled, Cleveland-Marshall will assist solo lawyers – Incubator eventually will offer them office space, by Michelle Park.
C|M|LAW plans to open a solo practice incubator in the fall of 2013 to support new graduates of the law school who choose a solo practice career. Only a few other law schools across the country have opened an incubator, ten of fewer nationally. The C|M|LAW incubator will be the first and only such effort in Ohio. The estimated cost of construction will be between 1.2-1.5 million and the solo incubator will built in newly constructed office space within the walls of the C|M|LAW Library, although the library will not be directly accessible from the law office space. Leases will be for 18-months and, at completion, there will be approximately 15 spaces available. Some spaces will be available for 2013 graduates, and additional space will be reserved for 2014 graduates.
Moody Named One of 25 Finalists for National Jurist’s Most Influential in Legal Education
Long-time former C|M|LAW Professor and Interim Dean Lizabeth Moody (Dean, Stetson) was recently named one of 25 finalists for National Jurist’s 25 Most Influential in Legal Education. The list also includes Brian Tamanaha (Professor, Washington University), Erwin Chemerinsky (UC-Irvine), and Kyle McEntee,( Co-founder, Law School Transparency).
To see the rest of this, click here: http://www.nationaljurist.com/content/25-finalists-named-most-influential-legal-education
Sagers and Kalir File “Professors’ Amicus Brief” Urging U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Antitrust Matter, Secure Support of Preeminent Group of Antitrust Scholars
C|M|Law Professors Chris Sagers and Doron Kalir filed a brief in support of certiorari in an important antitrust matter, and were joined by sixteen preeminent professors of antitrust law from around the country, including law and economics faculty members from Harvard, Stanford, NYU, Berkeley, Fordham, Notre Dame, the University of Iowa, the University of Wisconsin, and others. In the decision below, McCray v. Fidelity National Insurance Company, [http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/103576p.pdf] the Third Circuit held that antitrust plaintiffs could not challenge a price-fixing conspiracy among title insurance companies in Delaware, because that state had set up a regulatory system to oversee title insurance rates. But plaintiffs alleged that the Delaware regulator engaged in no actual review of those rates, and that it had neither authority nor resources to provide any relief to injured rate payers. The Third Circuit found those facts irrelevant, believing it appropriate to apply the so-called “filed rate” doctrine–a rule originating in the early 20th century and reflecting the policy concerns of Progressive-era economic regulatory regimes. The Professors’ Amicus Brief argues that, while this now disfavored doctrine has been applied down to the latter day in various contexts, the Supreme Court has never found it to bar federal remedies with respect to state-filed rates, and that so to hold creates a serious theoretical conflict with certain other of the Supreme Court’s antitrust case law.
Sagers organized the group of amici and drafted the brief, and Kalir joined him in signing. The brief was also signed by a prominent public policy advocacy group, the American Antitrust Institute.
The full brief is available here [http://antitrustinstitute.org/~antitrust/sites/default/files/McCray%20Final%20File%20Copy%20as%20Filed.pdf].
C|M|LAW Professor Witmer-Rich and Law Student Brendan Heil Argue that DNA Profiles Should Get Greater Privacy Protection
C|M|LAW Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich and C|M|LAW student Brendan Heil published a Op-Ed piece in today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. Titled Keep DNA evidence private, their article appears in a written pro/con debate in the Sunday opinion pages responding to the Ohio Supreme Court’s recent decision in State v. Emerson. According to Witmer-Rich and Heil, in Emerson, the Court held that ‘the Fourth Amendment does not protect an individual’s personal DNA profile.’ In the Court’s words, “[a] person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her DNA profile extracted from a lawfully obtained DNA sample.” Witmer-Rich and Heil argue that the Court unnecessarily eroded DNA privacy for Ohio citizens. The Plain Dealer, upon receiving the piece, solicited a response from Jacob S. Sherkow (a fellow at the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford Law School), linked below. Although the Plain Dealer will not be publishing responses, Witmer-Rich and Heil respond below to Sherkow’s piece.
To read Witmer-Rich and Heil’s article, please click here: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/12/keep_dna_evidence_private_jona.html
To read the other side of the debate, written by Jacob Sherkow (Stanford), please click here: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/12/dna_profiles_vs_sequences_jaco.html
In response to Sherkow, Witmer-Rich and Heil offer the following:
First: Had the Ohio Supreme Court reasoned the way Sherkow did–clearly distinguishing between a limited “DNA profile” and broader types of DNA information, and making clear it was only the former that enjoyed no Fourth Amendment protection–it would have been more plausible and less alarming. The decision used much broader logic than Sherkow does, and thus has potentially broader implications than his (more reasonable) opinion. That’s partly why we called the opinion not only “startling” but “unnecessary,” i.e. the case could have been affirmed on much narrower grounds.
Second: Sherkow’s argument is that we need not worry about the government using our DNA profile, which “only” identifies us and does not represent the entire DNA sequence. This suggests that there should be no objection to the government requiring everyone in the country to submit a sample to a national DNA database, so long as only the profile is used and not the sequence. If you find this troubling, you should find something troubling about Sherkow’s view.
CSU Law Faculty 