Professor Benjamin McMichael is quoted in Newsweek magazine about his research that shows recreational and medical marijuana access laws reduce the number of opioid prescriptions.
For more, read “Legalizing Cannabis Linked to Less Opioid Prescriptions, Could Help Combat Epidemic, Scientists Say.”
2019 Year-End Charitable Giving
As you consider your charitable giving prior to the end of the year, remember that gifts made now could generate income tax deductions that may help reduce your tax bill for 2019. Here’s how to complete your 2019 gift to the University of Alabama School of Law by year-end.
IMPORTANT: Credit card gifts mailed to The University of Alabama must be received by Tuesday, December 31, 2019, at 4:00 p.m. CST in order to be processed. If you wish to make your credit card gift over the phone, the Office of Advancement Services will be open on from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. CST on Tuesday, December 31. You may also make your gift online anytime at give.ua.edu If you have any questions, please call (205) 348-5370.
Gifts by Check
Mailed via USPS:
The University of Alabama
School of Law
Office of Advancement
Box 870382
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Gifts by Credit Card
Online gifts via credit card:
The most convenient and expedient way to ensure that your year-end gift to The University of Alabama School of Law is received on time is to make it online via the UA giving website. Please consider time zone differences when making your online contribution by December 31. You may give using any major credit card and your receipt is automatically generated and delivered via email.
Credit Card gifts by telephone:
Gifts of Securities
Giving stock that is worth more than you paid for it may result in additional tax savings. Stock transfers received on or before the close of the market on December 31, 2019, will be credited for 2019. To ensure proper gift credit to you, please notify us in advance when you are ready to make a transfer. For more information regarding stock transfers, please visit UA’s Gifts of Securities page.
Gifts via Wire Transfer
Wire transfer instructions are as follows:
Bank: Cadence Bank
Address: 1108 Hwy 82 East
Starkville, MS 39759
Routing number: 062206295
Account Name: The University of Alabama
Account Number: 5700000820
Wire transfers must be received at UA’s bank on or before December 31, 2019, in order to be considered a 2019 contribution. Please contact UA at (205) 348-6718 and provide the name of who is making the wire transfer and for what purpose. You may also email Erica Gambrell.
Gifts via IRA Charitable Rollovers
The charitable IRA rollover, also called a qualified charitable distribution, was made permanent in 2015. Since 2006, many UA donors age 70 ½ or older have used this option to make qualifying charitable gifts that were excluded from taxable income and counted toward their required minimum distribution (RMD). To qualify, gifts must be transferred directly from the IRA provider to The University of Alabama and meet certain other requirements. This provision applies to people age 70 ½ or older at the time the transfer is completed. Please note that an individual taxpayer’s total charitable IRA rollover gifts cannot exceed $100,000 per tax year. We encourage you to check with your financial advisors about the best ways for you to take advantage of this opportunity as you consider gifts to the University and other charitable interests that are important to you.
It is simple to make a transfer. Contact your account administrator to request a check to be delivered to the address below. Envelopes must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2019.
The University of Alabama
Attn: Office of Planned Giving
Box 870123
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
For more information, contact the Office of Planned Giving at (205) 348-0999 or toll-free at (888) 475-4438.
Questions about year-end giving or supporting UA
Please call the Office of Advancement at (205) 348-5370 or toll-free at (888) 875-4438 or visit Giving to UA for additional information.
This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice. Before making your charitable gift, please consult with your financial, legal and other advisors.
Professor Ronald Krotoszynski, Jr. writes an op-ed for The Washington Post about the First Amendment rights of medical doctors. He is the author of The Disappearing First Amendment.
For more, read “The Supreme Court Gives Free Speech to Fake Doctors, But Not Real Ones.”
The Pound Civil Justice Institute has chosen Professor Adam Steinman as one of two recipients of the 2020 Civil Justice Scholarship Award.
Professor Adam Steinman
Professor Steinman is receiving the award for his article “Access to Justice, Rationality, and Personal Jurisdiction,” 71 Vand. L. Rev. 1401 (2018). He analyzed the United States Supreme Court’s recent decisions on personal jurisdiction in civil litigation, examined the situations where personal jurisdiction doctrine is most likely to threaten access to justice and the enforcement of substantive law, and proposed ways to work within the Court’s case law to preserve meaningful access and enforcement. Professor Steinman shares the award with Professor Zachary D. Clopton, Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, who wrote “Procedural Retrenchment and the States,” 106 Calif. L. Rev. 411 (2018).
Professor Steinman said he was “profoundly honored” to receive the award.
“I’ve spent my career studying the procedural rules and doctrines that affect our ability to enforce the substantive rights and protections that the law gives us,” said Steinman, an expert on civil procedure, complex litigation, and federal courts whose scholarly articles have been published in numerous top law reviews. “Personal jurisdiction is a topic that has a huge impact on whether we can have robust access to justice through the courts, and it has gotten a lot of attention from the Supreme Court over the past few years.”
The Pound Institute established the Civil Justice Scholarship Award in 2018 to recognize current scholarly legal research and writing focused on topics in civil justice, including access to justice and the benefits of the U.S. civil justice system, as well as the right to trial by jury in civil cases.
The 2020 Award deliberation committee consisted of two legal academics, a former judge, and four of the Institute’s Trustees. The committee reviewed 24 nominations for scholarly books and articles submitted for this second annual cycle of the Award and was impressed by the high quality and breadth of the work submitted.
The awards will be presented during the Pound Fellows reception on Sunday, February 9, 2020, in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the winter convention of the American Association for Justice.
Booker T. Forte, Jr. has passed away at the age of 71.
He grew up in Tuscaloosa, took his bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama in 1969, and earned his law degree from Alabama Law in 1972. He was a member of the very first graduating class of the Law School to include African American students.
Booker T. Forte, Jr.
Mr. Forte established his private law practice in several West Alabama cities, where he handled cases in criminal law, domestic relations, civil rights, personal injury, torts, workers’ compensation, insurance fraud, and probate.
Circuit Judge John England, who attended Law School with Mr. Forte, said his friend and colleague was “courageous and committed in his own quiet and modest way.” After Judge England graduated from Alabama Law in 1974, he practiced with Mr. Forte and Law School classmate Sue Thompson in the firm of Forte, Thompson, and England in downtown Tuscaloosa. “We didn’t make a lot of money,” Judge England said, “but we did provide what I would say is a good bit of service.”
In 1980, on behalf of Legal Service Corporation of Alabama, Mr. Forte represented a class of plaintiffs incarcerated in the Choctaw County Jail. This suit contained 15 different causes of action based on inadequate or substandard conditions in the jail. The court ordered various forms of injunctive relief, finding that the conditions in the jail violated the right of inmates to be free of cruel and unusual punishment and the right of pretrial detainees to be free from punishment.
Mr. Forte loved law, and practiced until the time of his death. A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 7, at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Pickensville, Alabama.
Professor Courtney Cross is quoted in Al.com about Geneva Cooley’s case.
For more, read “Free at last: Geneva Cooley Eyes Her First Thanksgiving Free in 17 Years.”
Professor Jenny Carroll is quoted in the AJC about recusals in the murder trial of an Alabama police officer who shot an unarmed man.
For more, read “Murder Trial of Alabama Officer Begins after Tying Courts in Knots.”
Professor Julie Hill is featured in a documentary about medical marijuana and money laundering. The documentary was filmed by The Federalist Society.
Professor Jenny Carroll comments on Shelby v. Holder in an Al.com story about proposed city annexations in Alabama.
For more, read “Intense Racial Polarization Remains ‘Elephant in the Room’ over Alabama Annexations.”
Professor Joyce White Vance is quoted in The Washington Post about President Trump’s actions during the impeachment investigation.
For more, read “As Trump Moves to Bully Witnesses and Derail Impeachment, Democrats See Obstruction.”
