February 2014

February 2014

2014 Farrah Law Alumni Banquet — R.S.V.P Today!

There is still time to R.S.V.P. for the Farrah Law Alumni Banquet. Join us Friday, February 21, at Regions Field. Not a Farrah Member? Click here to join.

NYT v. Sullivan Symposium

The Alabama Law Review will host a symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of New York Times v. Sullivan on February 28, 2014, at the law school.

New York Times v. Sullivan is one of the most important cases in the history of First Amendment jurisprudence. Famously described by a noted First Amendment scholar at the time as “an occasion for dancing in the streets,” the decision in New York Times v. Sullivan constitutionalized the law of libel, recognizing a dramatic breadth of freedom to criticize public officials for their conduct; in so doing, it had a significant impact on both freedom of speech and freedom of the press, one that has been debated ever since. As a historical matter, moreover, the case was intimately connected to the history of the civil rights movement, particularly within the state of Alabama.

Symposium Participants:

Professor David A. Anderson, University of Texas School of Law Judge U.W. Clemon, Northern District of Alabama Professor RonNell Andersen Jones, BYU Law School Judge Robert Sack, Second Circuit Court of Appeals Professor Chris Schmidt, ITT Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School Professor Sonya West, The University of Georgia School of Law.

If you wish to attend, please register by February 14. Go to www.law.ua.edu/register to register for the symposium.

International Comparative Law Lecture Series

The inaugural International Comparative Law Lecture will be given by Sean D. Murphy, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, from George Washington University Law School. Professor Murphy, a member of the International Law Commission, will speak on the subject of crimes against humanity in international criminal law.

The lecture will take place Monday, March 3, at noon in the Judge Seybourne H. Lynne Lecture Hall (A255). Please contact Brenda McPherson (bmcpherson@law.ua.edu) with questions or to attend.

Visiting Research Scholar: Professor JiHong Joo

Professor JiHong Joo, a law professor from Pusan National University School of Law, received a Fulbright award to study at the Law School for a year. Professor Joo teaches contract, property, tort, telecom and health law at the Pusan National University School of Law and will be conducting comparative research in those areas during his time at the Law School.

Admissions Update

The Law School hosted its first of two admitted student open houses on Friday, January 31. Admitted students had the opportunity to visit a first-year class, attend faculty and alumni panel discussions, and learn about Career Services, the Clinical Program, and the Public Interest Institute. They also learned about our International Programs and certificates in Public Interest Law and Governmental Affairs.

The Law School appreciates the support of the following graduates who served on the alumni panel:

• Jennifer Faucett (’05) – Associate, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, Nashville
• Kevin R. Johnson (’11) – Attorney, National Credit Union Administration, Washington, D.C.
• Daniel Murdock (’07) – Special Assistant United States Attorney, N.D. Ala., Birmingham
• Katie Pope (’07) – Associate, Rosen Harwood, Tuscaloosa
• Houston Smith (’05) – Director of Public Relations, Alabama Power, Birmingham

Looking to hire?

Registration for Spring On Campus Interviews is open. The Career Services Office is happy to help you locate students for summer positions along with 3Ls and alumni for post-graduation employment. If you are interested in hiring an Alabama Law student for summer or permanent employment, please contact the Assistant Dean for Career Services, Tom Ksobiech (tksobiech@law.ua.edu). The CSO can arrange an on campus interview, collect resumes, or post a position on its electronic job board. All CSO services are free of charge.

Gifts to the Law School

A gift of $5,000.00 was made on behalf of the American Board of Trial Advocates to the Nat Bryan Memorial Trial Advocacy Scholarship.

Robert Payne Reynolds (’79) gave $5,000.00 to the Class of 1979 in Memoriam Endowed Scholarship.

Juliet Calvin contributed $5,000.00 to the Finis St. John III (’56) Endowed Memorial Scholarship.

The United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama made a gift of $25,000.00 to the Seybourne H. Lynne Endowed Scholarship.

Alumni News

Robert N. Bailey II (’99) has written a novel titled The Professor that will be published in January 2014.

Justin P. Callaham (’12) joined the firm of Clark, Campbell, Lancaster & Munson P.A. in Lakeland, Florida.

FTI Consulting, Inc. named Robert “Bud” Cramer, Jr. (’72) managing director of the firm’s strategic communications segment.

Carole G. Miller (’95) joined the law firm of Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. as the co-chair of the labor and employment group.

Oscar M. Price, IV (’07) was named a partner with Christian & Small LLP.

The lead feature in the December 2013 issue of The Federal Lawyer (The Magazine of the Federal Bar Association) was authored by Joseph Sacher (’97), titled, “Don’t Let It Tell You Otherwise: You Can Depose the SEC … Sometimes (A Lesson for Private and Public Securities Litigators, as Well as the Judiciary).” The article provides a detailed analysis of various precedents for deposing Federal agencies, particularly the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fourteen Alabama Law Alumni were chosen to participate in the Alabama State Bar’s leadership forum. Those selected were evaluated based on leadership qualities and community service. To graduate from the forum, participants must attend five training sessions designed to enhance leadership skills.

• Evans Bailey (’08)
• Bonnie Branum (’04)
• Craig Cargile (’04)
• Anita Kay Head (’06)
• Brandon Hughey (’04)
• Latasha McCrary (’08)
• Jeremy McIntire (’02)
• Hughston Nichols (’06)
• Zachary Peagler (’06)
• Oscar Price (’07)
• Michael Vercher (’99)
• Tripp Vickers (’02)
• Denise Welch (’07)
• Ellenann Yelverton (’02)

Faculty Notes

Professor Bill Andreen continues to direct the Joint Summer School Program, now in its 14th year, with the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law. Professor Vivien Holmes and nine students from the ANU’s College of Law are visiting UA for five weeks. The students are studying Comparative Approaches to the Practice of Law taught by Professor Holmes and UA Professor Steven Hobbs. The students are also taking a Survey of US Law, generously taught by numerous members of the Alabama law faculty. As part of the ABA’s oversight of study abroad programs, the UA Summer Program in Canberra was re-evaluated, including a site visit last year, and approved for continuation.

Professor Andreen presented a paper at the Cumberland Law Review symposium in November entitled “The Clean Water Act: Setting an Agenda for a New Era”. Professor Andreen also recently co-authored a CPR Case Brief, Alt v. EPA: District Court Ruling Opens Gap in Clean Water Protections, Invites CAFOs to Ignore Pollution Standards.

Professor Tanya Asim Cooper presented, “Diminished Access to Public Domain Art” or “Corbis & Copyright? Is Bill Gates Trying to Corner the Market on Public Domain Art” at the panel on Access to Art and Intellectual Property during the AALS Annual Meeting in New York City, January, 2014. The presentation was based on her 2011 article of the same title. In January, Professor Cooper also participated as a moderator/commentator in a symposium organized by Austin Sarat, “A World Without Privacy? What Can/Should Law Do?”

Professor Richard Delgado and Professor Jean Stefancic accepted positions on the National Advisory Board of Critical Race Studies in Education Association, which advances scholarship and innovative teaching in that field.

Professor Heather Elliott spoke at the Federal Courts Section panel of the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting in New York in January. The panel, Standing in the Roberts Court, also included Professors Richard Fallon (Harvard), Ann Woolhandler (Virginia), and Steve Calabresi (Northwestern), and was moderated by Professor Gillian Metzger (Columbia). Professor Elliott’s paper, “Does the Supreme Court Ignore Standing to Reach the Merits? Evidence (or Lack Thereof) from the Roberts Court,” will be published in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal later this year.

Professor Susan Hamill, currently Professor of Law and Honors Professor, was awarded a joint appointment in the Honors College where she will teach a seminar for seniors focusing on Alabama public policy issues beginning spring 2015. Her scholarship has taken a new, interdisciplinary direction within the English department, harnessing the power of literature to portray injustice embedded in the law. This semester she is workshopping her debut literary piece, Pretty Hair: From the Ivory Tower to Emancipation on the Campaign Trail, a memoir about her campaign for the Alabama State legislature, in the MFA program.

Professor Paul Horwitz published “Fisher, Academic Freedom, and Distrust,” 59 Loyola Law Review 489 (2013) and “Freedom of the Church Without Romance,” 21 Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 59 (2013). His review of Ronald Dworkin’s posthumous book Religion Without God was published in a recent issue of Commonweal Magazine.

Professor Pamela Pierson’s 200 page supplement to her treatise, “Health Care Fraud: Enforcement and Compliance” (LJP), was published in January, 2014. She is finalizing the manuscript for her book, The Business of Being a Lawyer, which will be submitted to West Publishing Company in March 2014 and published in June 2014.

Professor Jean Stefancic submitted an article to Pittsburgh Law Review for a symposium honoring Derrick Bell entitled “Discerning Critical Moments”. The article posits that critical theory enables you to recognize decisive moments in your personal and professional life, and be able to take action, as Bell did on several occasions.

Professor Gary E. Sullivan was appointed to the ALI Uniform Asset Freezing Orders Act Committee in January. The Act, which was completed by the Uniform Law Commission in 2012, creates a uniform process for the issuance of asset freezing orders, which are in personam orders freezing the assets of a defendant, thereby preventing the dissipation of assets prior to judgment.

Professor Fredrick Vars presented two of his recent papers on guns and mental illness to the Law & Mental Disability section at the AALS annual meeting in New York.

CLE Alabama Training Opportunities

February 7: Banking Law Update- Birmingham

February 20: Basics of AlaFile- Tuscaloosa February 28: Hot Topics in Elder Law: Medicaid and Other Issues- Tuscaloosa March 14: Law Office Practice: How to Prepare Documents- Tuscaloosa April 25: Legal Issues Facing City and County Governments- Orange Beach May 9: Mandatory Professionalism Seminar for New Admittees- Tuscaloosa May 9: BRIDGE THE GAP: Criminal Defense Law, Legal Counseling and Interviewing, Discovery and E-Discovery- Tuscaloosa