Heidi Robertson, Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law, was elected Secretary of the Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  In addition, Professor Robertson was elected to the executive board of the Section on Environmental Law.

Professor Chris Sagers

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, wrote in the online magazine Slate to discuss meetings last week between President-Elect Donald Trump and large firms with pending merger matters that will require approval by Trump’s antitrust officials. Such meetings break significantly with traditional practice, and Sagers considers what they might portend for antitrust and white-collar enforcement in the Trump administration. Sagers’ article is available here. 

Professor Karin Mika completed her 4-year appointment to the Teaching Methods Section this year and will continue on with consultation and committee duties as outgoing Chair of this AALS Section.  At the Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Professor Mika also gave the eulogy at the Legal Writing Section luncheon for Professor Marjorie Rombauer, who passed away earlier in the year.  According to Professor Mika, Marjorie was THE first full-time tenured Legal Writing professor in the country (in Seattle, at the University of Washington) and one of the founders of the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research.  In addition, Professor Mika served once again as one of the editors for International Section’s “Year in Review” AALS publication.

Professor Deborah Geier has published the updated 2017 edition of her freely downloadable open textbook: The Federal Income Taxation of Individuals 2017. In addition to updating the textbook for changes in the law, for the first time, Professor Geier added hyperlinks to significant Code sections and Treasury Regulations as they are discussed in the text. She cites to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, an open-access resource. The textbook is available in Word, PDF, iPub (for iPads) and MOBI (for Kindles). Here is the link: https://www.cali.org/books/us-federal-income-taxation-individuals.

Professor Brian Ray is the outgoing Chair of the AALS Africa Section.  He organized and moderated the AALS Africa Section’s panel at the 2017 AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Africa in China. Professor Ray also chaired the Section’s Business meeting and election of new officers for 2017.

The Center for Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection held two successful CLE events in December.  On December 2, Secure Client Communications featured presentations by Center Co-Director Professor Candice Hoke and Center Affiliate Adjunct Professor Bob Eckman and an interactive discussion with Adjunct Professor Deborah Coleman moderated by Center Co-Director Brian Ray.

On December 16, Insurance and Cyber Risk Management featured presentations by experts from the insurance industry and an interactive discussion with those experts, a seasoned attorney and Center Advisory Board Member Tim Opsitnick representing the role of a security firm, moderated by Center Co-Director Brian Ray.

At the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Leon and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law Browne Lewis was elected to the executive boards of the Women and the Law Section and the Aging and the Law Section.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio moderated a panel at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco on January 7th, entitled “Domestic Humanitarian Law.”  Professor Sterio had organized this panel, in her capacity as Chair of the International Human Rights Law section.  In addition, Professor Sterio was elected Chair Elect of the International Law section.

Browne Lewis, Leon and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Law & Policy at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, was interviewed by Refinery29 about Ohio’s new bill banning abortions after 20 weeks. The law makes it a fourth degree felony for physicians to perform abortions after 20 weeks except in cases where the mother’s life in in danger.  The law contains no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.  Ohio became the 18^th state to ban abortions after 20 weeks. The law is scheduled to take effect in 90 days.  Similar laws in Arizona and Idaho have been struck down as unconstitutional.  The proponents of the bill have indicated that it is a step towards getting the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Refinery29 is an online magazine that focuses on issues that are important to women.  It is published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The article is available here.   

Professor Mickey Davis was interviewed in a video entitled “Could you Patent the Sun?,” which was produced by Retro Report for The New York Times.  The video was published on The New York Times website and is available here.  The video addresses the high costs of pharmaceutical drugs, which is in part driven by the fact that pharmaceutical companies hold patents over the development of many drugs.