Law School News

Nine wonderfully gifted law students from the Australian National University College of Law arrived in Tuscaloosa on January 7 for a five-week visit at the Law School.

The ANU students are taking a class on Comparative Approaches to Counter-Terrorism Law and a Survey on U.S. Law, said Professor William Andreen, Director of the UA-ANU Exchange Program. The comparative class, which is also being offered to Alabama law students, is being team-taught by Professor Jenny Carroll and Dr. Mark Nolan from the ANU College of Law.

During their stay in Tuscaloosa, the students will visit the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Tuscaloosa County Jail, the Rosa Parks Museum and Bryant-Denny Stadium.

For five weeks this summer, a group of 10 Alabama students will, in turn, travel to the ANU in Canberra where they will take a Survey of Australian Law as well as the Comparative Counter-Terrorism class.  During their trip, the UA students will visit the Australian High Court, the local Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Parliament, and a local legal aid office – in addition, of course, to kangaroos, koalas, and emus at the nearby Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

Professor Ronald Krotoszynski is quoted in the ABA Journal about privacy and technology.

For more, read “For Sale: Your Personal Data.”

Nic Carlisle (’06) is using his appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS to tell the story about how the disease is affecting Alabama and the South.

Carlisle was honored to receive the three-year appointment in 2016 and wants to make sure Alabama and other southern states are well represented on the council. While the majority of the funding for HIV and AIDS has been directed to California and New York, the majority of the new infections have occurred in the South.

“It’s a constant battle to make sure we get our fair share of attention and resources,” Carlisle said.

As part of the council, Carlisle helps provide advice, information and recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The council is charged with focusing on how to reduce HIV incidence, advance research, improve health outcomes, address HIV-related health disparities and provide leadership in responding to the HIV pandemic around the world.

Advocates in the South say Carlisle’s appointment to the council will help others understand the country cannot end AIDS without addressing the epidemic in southern states. For example, more than 12,000 Alabama residents are living with HIV and 5,500, or 45 percent, are living with AIDS. At the same time, an estimated one in six people living with HIV in Alabama are unaware of their infection, meaning more than 14,400 Alabama residents may be infected with HIV, according to a State of Alabama HIV Surveillance Report.

“If you’re talking about ending AIDS, you don’t do it without dealing with the epidemic in the South,” said Carolyn McAllaster, Clinical Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law and Director of the HIV/AIDS Policy Clinic. “Nic will be an effective voice on the council. He will roll up his sleeves and make the case that we need to have made there.”

Carlisle has been an advocate for those living with HIV and AIDS, both nationally and internationally, for more than a decade. While at the University of Alabama School of Law, he founded Aiding Alabama, the state’s first legal program for people living with HIV and AIDS. Over the course of four years, Carlisle provided free legal services to more than 300 Alabama residents.

In 2010, Carlisle joined the United States Peace Corps, where he designed programs to empower women, youth and disenfranchised ethnic minorities affected by HIV in Eastern Europe. When he returned home, he continued his passion for grassroots advocacy as Director of Policy and Advocacy at AIDS Alabama.

Carlisle was appointed as the Executive Director of the Southern AIDS Coalition, a regional nonprofit serving 16 southern states and Washington, D.C., in March 2015. The coalition engages with about 2,000 members about how they can be effective advocates, develop a strong message and meet with legislators.

“We really are trying to push for those high level policies that will ultimately accomplish the goal of ending the epidemic,” Carlisle said.

In Alabama, he and other leaders of HIV and AIDS organizations work together to ensure the entire state receives resources.

“When you look at Alabama compared to some of our neighboring states, we’re actually better off than a lot of the other states around us,” Carlisle said. “We are really committed to what we do and committed to working together. Our rate of infection is high compared to the rest of the country but lower than all of the southern states around us.”

In November, the coalition held an inaugural HIV/AIDS Networks of the Deep South, or HANDS, conference in Birmingham, where about 20 advocates from eight states discussed policy priorities and shared best practices for two days.

“We want to make the pie larger, obviously, but until that happens we’re very strategic and smart about how we slice the pie in Alabama – and that’s unique,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle learned how to think strategically and analytically while in law school. While at Alabama Law, he quickly developed an interest in public interest and forged strong relationships with students who shared a passion for helping others.

While he completed an undergraduate degree in finance at the University of Alabama Birmingham without working too hard, law school tested him in ways he had not considered when he applied. In law school, he was immersed in a competitive environment where everyone is bright.

“I thought I knew hard work,” he said. “I had no idea until I got to law school. That work ethic you develop in law school really serves you well if you’re going to be successful.”

Carlisle’s peers say he has been quite successful because he knows every facet of the HIV and AIDS community. He has worked in virtually every position available to an advocate – from volunteer to executive – giving him a perspective very few possess.

“The main thing to know about him is that No. 1 he’s brilliant, and he applies that brilliance to helping people,’’ said Kathie M. Hiers, Chief Executive Officer of AIDS Alabama, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to low-income individuals living with HIV and AIDS. “We’ve been lucky in the HIV community to have someone of his caliber, someone who is committed to the cause.”

Professor Stephen Rushin is quoted in Voice of OC about the U.S. Department of Justice’s use of the Rodney King Law to investigate Orange County’s district attorney and sheriff.

For more, read “Feds Test Rodney King Law With Jail Informants Investigation.”

The University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal are now accepting submissions for the 2017 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.

The Prize, authorized by Ms. Lee, is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.  Past winners include “Sycamore Row” by John Grisham, “The Secret of Magic” by Deborah Johnson and “Pleasantville” by Attica Locke.

The work must be:

• A published book-length work of fiction.
• Published originally in 2016.
• Readily available to readers via commercial sources (retail or online bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or iTunes).

An electronically published work with an ISBN may be submitted but unpublished manuscripts may not. All entries must be submitted by Friday, March 31. There is no entry fee.

The winning title will be honored at a ceremony and panel discussion. The winning author will receive a signed special edition of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a $3,000 cash award and a feature article in the ABA Journal.

For more information, visit HarperLeePrize.com.

The Law School announces a new program to support the work of The Office of Diversity & Inclusion.

The Office of Diversity & Inclusion hosts numerous academic, cultural, and celebratory events throughout the academic year aimed at broadening participants’ understanding and appreciation of diversity. The ODI works closely with students and student organizations on programs that are focused on ensuring a welcoming and inclusive environment. The ODI activities include, but are not limited to, educating the community, coordinating support for diverse constituencies, facilitating compliance with nondiscrimination policies, helping recruit students and faculty, and serving as an institutional liaison for addressing issues that may arise from time to time.

The ODI sponsored several programs during the fall semester, including a “First in my Family to go to Law School” program that targeted first year law students and an LGBTQ+ issues forum. In the spring, the ODI will celebrate the 45^th Anniversary of the Law School’s first African-American graduates.

For more information on the Law School’s Diversity & Inclusion initiatives, please visit law.ua.edu/diversity or its giving page.

The Thomas L. Jones Reception Area of the Alabama Law Institute is nearing completion.

Alumni, friends and family donated nearly $165,000 to the project, and a portion of the funds was used to create the Thomas L. Jones Endowed Scholarship.

Professor Jones was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law in 1962. Since then, he has served in virtually every position available to a member of the UA Law faculty, including Dean and Vice Dean. He was an integral part of the Alabama Law Institute, serving as the Acting Director from 1972 to 1974. He was on numerous ALI committees, both as a reporter and a member, from 1980 to 2013.

The Thomas L. Jones Reception Area will be dedicated at 4:30 p.m., January 18, in Room 326 at the Law School.

The Law School invites all alumni to register for its Diverse Experts Directory.

The Diverse Experts Directory is a clearinghouse of University of Alabama School of Law’s alumni and friends who have expertise in various fields. The purpose of the Directory is to provide the Law School’s students, student organizations, faculty, and staff with a resource for finding potential speakers and authors for programs, publications, and other initiatives.

One goal is to have a Directory that includes individuals of different races, ethnicities, genders, disability statuses, sexual orientations, practice areas, practice settings, and experience levels.

Participants are encouraged to create a complete profile with detailed information about their legal and professional expertise, as well as demographic data. This will help program organizers identify and include panelists and authors who are representative of the constituencies the Law School serves, as well as the legal profession.

Should you have questions or comments about the directory, please send an email to Daiquiri J. Steele, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence, at dsteele@law.ua.edu, call (205) 348-4541 or visit law.ua.edu/diversity.

Professor Stephen Rushin is quoted in AL.com about how Sen. Jeff Sessions, as U.S. Attorney General, would oversee an ongoing federal investigation into overcrowding in Alabama prisons.

For more, read “How Jeff Sessions, as U.S. Attorney General, Would Oversee the Federal Probe of Alabama Prisons.”