Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, will present as part of a conference this weekend at the NYU School of Law’s Classical Liberal Institute, entitled “Understanding the Visible: The Undisputed Facts and Disputed Law of Platform Antitrust.” Also presenting will be NYU presenters Richard Epstein, Eleanor Fox, Harry First, Mario Rizzo, and several other leading scholars of antitrust and economics.

His paper, “Platforms, American Express, and the Problem of Complexity in Antitrust,” asks whether it was wise for the Supreme Court in last year’s Ohio v. American Express to adopt the so-called “platform” or “two-sided markets” theory as a way of analyzing antitrust issues in credit cards and other payment systems.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio published a blogpost on Intlawgrrls, entitled “The Legality of President Trump’s National Emergency Declaration.” In this post, Professor Sterio discusses the legality of President Trump’s recent national emergency declaration under the Constitution as well as under federal law.  The post is available here.

Professor Deborah A. Geier was a guest on WCPN’s “Sound of Ideas” program on Thursday, February 14, where she discussed why some taxpayers may be unhappily surprised this year when they file their Federal income tax return for 2018 and find that they owe much more than they anticipated or will receive a substantially reduced refund. You can listen to the discussion here.

Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson published a Letter to the Editor in the Plain Dealer on February 5, on Toledo’s Lake Erie Bill of Rights.  The Letter is available here.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented on February 2 at the CSU Alumni Reunion in Naples, Florida, on the topic of “Khashoggi Murder, International law and State Sovereignty.”

In addition, Professor Sterio presented at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association on February 12, as part of the CMBA’s “Hot Talks” series, on the topic of “Government Shutdown and Border Wall.”

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented her paper, entitled “The Role of Women at International Criminal Tribunals,” at the American Society of International Law, International Courts and Tribunals Interest Group workshop.  The workshop was held on January 25th, at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.  A detailed description of the workshop is available here.

Professor Joe Mead (on the right) at Oral Argument on Jan. 23

The ACLU of Ohio presented oral arguments on January 23 at the First District Court of Appeals to argue that the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas lacked the jurisdiction to issue an improper, sweeping ban on homeless encampments across Hamilton County. Professor Joe Mead argued for the ACLU of Ohio on behalf of New Prospect Baptist Church, a religious organization harmed by the August 16 ruling.  An ACLU press release about the oral argument is available here.

Moot/Practice Oral Argument at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law on Jan. 22

In preparation of the oral argument, Professor Joe Mead held a moot/practice argument at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law on January 22.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, this week wrote  in the ProMarket blog of the University of Chicago’s Stigler Center, about a remarkable private merger challenge. He argues that the case could hold promise for future enforcement directions in American antitrust law.

Separately, he was quoted in a story for Bloomberg Law about likely trends in antitrust during the coming year.

And he spoke twice with the subscription trade journal Policy and Regulation Reporter, about deals pending merger review before the Federal Trade Commission–the massive merger of pharmaceutical firms Bristol Myers and Celgene, and the tie-up of gene-sequencing firms Illumina and Pacific Biosciences.

Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, C|M|LAW’s Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law, attended the Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting in New Orleans in January 2019.  She was elected Chair of the AALS Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law, and a member of Executive Committee of the Section on Environmental Law.  In addition, Professor Robertson moderated the Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law’s program, Developments in Offshore Oil and Gas: Regulatory Pullbacks and Drilling Expansion.  The program explored changes in offshore oil and gas policy, such as opening up new areas for development and rolling back safeguards. It explored the implications of these changes, including likely impacts on natural resources.

Speakers included:

Moderator: Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University

Speaker: Robert R.M. Verchick, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Speaker: Jacqueline L. Weaver, University of Houston Law Center

Speaker: Mr. Stephen W Wiegand, Liskow and Lewis

Speaker: Mr. Robert Wiygul, Waltzer Wiygul & Garside LLC

An additional highlight of the conference for Professor Robertson was a joint field trip, Climate Change Resiliency in Southern Louisiana, co–sponsored by the Sections on Environmental Law, and Natural Resources and Energy Law. The field trip included a visit to the Barataria Preserve in the Jean Lafitte Natural Historic Preserve to learn about bayou ecosystems and offered a concrete look at the challenges that climate change poses to the coastal ecosystems and communities in Louisiana, which are some of the most climate-vulnerable in the United States. The field trip also visited portions of New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina, such as the Ninth Ward and provided an opportunity to see observe both progress and remaining damage in these communities. The field trip allowed professors to gain insight into the practical responses that local communities have taken in light of climate change threat and into the legal challenges and opportunities involved in these responses.