Assistant Professor Adam D. Orford was featured in Grist regarding the proposed Inflation Reduction Act that includes energy security and fighting climate change provisions. The article titled "Here's what's in the Senate's $369 billion climate and energy bill" was written by Julia Kane, Emily Pontecorvo and Zoya Tierstein and was published 7/29/22.
Congratulations to the Class of 2020 for posting an Ultimate Bar Passage rate of 97.7%, meaning close to 98% of these graduates who sat for the bar exam within one year of graduation passed. This high Ultimate Bar Passage rate and the school's pursuit of being the nation's best return on investment in legal education demonstrate that the School of Law is redefining what it means to be a great national public law school - one that offers a world-class, hands-on, purpose-driven educational experience while never surrendering its commitment to accessibility and affordability.
In the moot court system, the University of Georgia is represented by two separate but equally important groups of second- and third-year law students. Georgia Magazine recently shared their story in its summer 2022 issue.
The Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic has been awarded an additional $75,900 under the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council's TANF Grant Program for Minor Human Trafficking Services and Training to provide community-based follow up and aftercare services for survivors.The clinic will use these funds to hire a full-time social work advocate to provide needs assessments, case management, referral services, expert opinion testimony and systems-based advocacy for the clinic's clients.
Appellate Litigation Clinic participant and rising third-year student Roby A. Jernigan argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Jordan v. State of Georgia. The clinic's client was stabbed 11 times by his cellmate while two officers watched from outside his door. The question raised was whether the officers violated Jordan’s Eighth Amendment rights by failing to prevent the attack and by failing to intervene once it started. 2022 graduates Tinsley J. Stokes and Mark L. Bailey helped write the briefs.
Assistant Professor Lindsey Simon and her Yale Law Journal article "Bankruptcy Grifters" were featured in the ABA Journal regarding companies turning to bankruptcy courts to resolve mass tort litigation. The article titled "Gaming the System? Inside the 'Texas Two-step' Strategy Profitable Companies Use to File for Bankruptcy" was written by Matt Reynolds and published in the August/September 2022 issue.
Interim UGA Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University Professor & Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law Usha Rodrigues presented on "Fraud Detection under Federal vs. State Law" as part of UC Berkeley's Fraud Fest 2022: Detecting Fraud during July.
The University of Georgia has announced a new initiative to complete a comprehensive review of staff compensation. Made possible through a partnership with Deloitte Consulting, the Staff Comprehensive Compensation Review initiative will evaluate the university’s current classification and compensation structure, while analyzing job and market salary competitiveness as well as related policies and procedures. The School of Law's Senior Director of Business and Finance Blake Waldrop will serve on the advisory committee.
Assistant Professor Thomas E. Kadri was featured on Gray Television regarding digital device tech abuses and domestic violence. The segment titled "Domestic violence through family phone plans: how lawmakers are stepping up to help tech abuse survivors" was reported by Jacqueline Policastro and aired 7/21/22.
Associate Dean & Hosch Professor Emeritus Paul M. Kurtz published "Tributes to family law scholars who helped us find our path" in 55 Family Law Quarterly 341 (2021-2022) (with co-editor J.T. Oldham).
Summer public interest fellowships provide important hands-on learning opportunities for law students. At the School of Law, financial support for these experiences has been on an upward trajectory since 2017. In fact, funding has significantly grown over the last five years, resulting in a 450% increase in support. During the 2022 summer, 85 students were awarded $305,750 for legal work in nonprofits, state and federal government, legal services and policy/impact organizations in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law Christopher M. Bruner presented as part of a roundtable discussion titled “Present and Future of Corporations in Society” at the Global Meeting on Law & Society, hosted by ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) in July.
Rogers Chair of Law Emerita Camilla E. Watson was featured on NOLA.com regarding the differences between tax evasion and tax avoidance. The article titled "District Attorney Jason Williams' tax fraud trial begins today. Here's what you need to know." was written by Jillian Kramer and published 7/18/22.
A Community Health Law Partnership Clinic client was recently granted asylum. The clinic's client fled to the United States alone as a 16-year-old after facing death threats and physical violence in Guatemala, requesting asylum at the border. In 2022, the Community HeLP Clinic successfully argued that the Guatemalan government was unable or unwilling to control persecution against its client by private actors. As a result, the client no longer faces deportation. Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd handled the initial presentation of the case before the Asylum Office. Navroz N. Tharani (J.D.'22) wrote the 2022 brief, supervised by Shepherd and Assoc. Dean & Clinic Director Jason A. Cade, while Eddy Atallah (J.D.'21) assisted with earlier research.
Associate Dean for International Programs & Post Professor Melissa J. "MJ" Durkee presented “Interpretive Entrepreneurship: How firms use international legal interpretation to modify their compliance obligations” as part of a panel titled “Legal Interpretation and Ambiguity” at the ComplianceNet 2022 Conference hosted by the University of Amsterdam during July.
Interim UGA Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University Professor & Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law Usha Rodrigues was featured on Law360 regarding the special purpose acquisition company Pershing Square Tontine Holdings. The article titled "Ackman To Dissolve Massive $4B SPAC, Refund" was written by Tom Zanki and published 7/12/22.
Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law Christopher M. Bruner presented his new book, The Corporation as Technology: Re-Calibrating Corporate Governance for a Sustainable Future (Oxford University Press, 2022), at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy, during July.
Interim UGA Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University Professor & Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law Usha Rodrigues was featured in a Bloomberg article regarding special purpose acquisition companies. The article titled "Richard Branson Reshapes Fortune with SPACs as Investors Torched" was written by Benjamin Stupples and Tom Maloney and was published 7/11/22.
Associate Dean for International Programs & Post Professor Melissa J. "MJ" Durkee virtually presented "The Pledging World Order" (forthcoming in the Yale Journal of International Law) as part of the "International Law, Global and Communities" panel of the hybrid 2022 Annual Conference of ICON•S, the International Society of Public Law, which was held at the University of Wrocław, Poland, during July.
Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law Christopher M. Bruner presented his new book, The Corporation as Technology: Re-Calibrating Corporate Governance for a Sustainable Future (Oxford University Press, 2022), at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, during July.