The University of Tennessee College of Law remains among the nation’s top 30 public schools of law, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 rankings of America’s best graduate schools. UT ranks 26th among the 80 public law schools. Among all 196 accredited public and private law schools, UT ranks 52nd. Last year, UT ranked 53rd among public and private law schools. The College’s clinical programs also increased their national ranking to 16th among all accredited law schools, up from 17th last year.

The Law Women Chili Cook-off will be held Thursday, April 3, beginning at 8 p.m. at Toddy’s. Tickets are $5 each with team registration $25. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries. All proceeds benefit the Victim’s Advocacy Center. Tickets will be on sale on Monday in the Commons and at the door. Teams may register on Monday, May 31, or by contacting Adrienne Gilliam or Sarah White.

Stephanie Burchfield, Jonathan May, and Leslie Shaffer recently represented the University of Tennessee in the Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Moot Court Competition. The team was coached by Prof. Jeff Hirsch and did very well. Hirsch said the team advanced out of an extraordinarily difficult preliminary round despite arguing against a team that ultimately reached the final four and another team that reached the final eight. UT ultimately advanced to the final eight, where the team was barely edged out by the team that ended up winning the national championship. “All three members gave fantastic arguments throughout a 42-team competition that was the most competitive in recent memory,” Hirsch said. “Please congratulate the team members on their fine performance.”

BLSA is celebrating “Spirit Week” this Tuesday through Friday in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Diversity week and the 8th Annual Julian Blackshear Scholarship Banquet. The class that has the most spirit will be dubbed “Most Spirited Class” and carry bragging rights and the trophy for the upcoming year. Faculty and staff are eligible, too. The schedule of events: TUESDAY: Orange Crazy Day -- Show your VOL spirit by wearing your “Big” Orange!; WEDNESDAY: March Madness Day -- Show your spirit and support for your favorite tournament team; THURSDAY: Social Cause Day -- Show us What you are passionate about! Who do you support?; FRIDAY: Represent Your Class Day --1Ls: wear red! 2Ls: wear green! 3Ls: wear blue!!! Faculty and Staff can support your "favorite" class!

In the coming weeks, the College of Law will host two prominent corporate governance speakers. James D. Cox, a prominent corporate and securities law professor at the Duke University School of Law, will speak Friday, April 4, from noon until 1:30 pm in Room 135. Also, Catherine Bromilow, the Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP Partner-in-Charge of the firm's corporate governance practice, will speak Wednesday, April 9, from 12:15 p.m. until 2 p.m. in Room 132. All are invited to attend both presentations, which are co-sponsored by the College of Law's Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law and the UT Corporate Governance Center. Each distinguished visitor is setting aside some time to meet with law and Ph.D. students who may be interested in a one-on-one or group discussion. Contact Prof. Joan Heminway if you are interested in meeting either visitor on this basis.

The entire law school community is invited to attend "Re-Entry and Restoration of Voting Rights: Dismantling Felon Disenfranchisement Laws in Tennessee," a program featuring ACLU attorney Nancy Abudu Tuesday, April 8, at 3:30 p.m. in the Legal Clinic (Room 12). In her presentation Ms. Abudu will discuss the history of felon disenfranchisement in this country, outline current policies in Tennessee, and describe ongoing litigation seeking reform such policies in our state. This program is sponsored by the College of Law Advocacy Center, Legal Clinic, and Criminal Law Society, in conjunction with the Knox County Public Defender's Community Law Office, the Knoxville Defense Lawyers' Association, and ACLU-TN. Light refreshments will be served.

The Black Law Student Association will host the 8th Annual Julian Blackshear, Jr. Scholarship Banquet Friday, April 4, at the Hilton Knoxville. This is the culminating event to our Second Annual Diversity Week, a celebration of UniTy at UT April 1 through 4. Please join BLSA for a free Meet and Greet with speakers and Mr. Blackshear, the third African-American law student to graduate from UT, from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at the Hilton Knoxville. Tickets for the banquet are $20 for students and children under the age of 18 and $35 for general members. All students and faculty should have received invitations to the event and they can be turned in with menu choices to the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs. For more information contact: (865) 974-6691 or (901) 230-1915.

VITA is open to prepare taxes for students, professors, and low-income families. Please come by and get your taxes done for free. VITA will be open through April 9, Monday-Wednesday, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. VITA is located in the video viewing room on the 1st floor of the law library.

FACULTY

Prof. Iris Goodwin has joined Profs. Melanie B. Leslie (visiting Prof., Columbia Law), Stewart E. Sterk (Cardozo), James A. Wooten (Buffalo) and Maria Hylton (University of Boston) on an amicus brief on behalf of trust law and ERISA law professors in the Supreme Court case Met Life v. Glenn. The specific questions raised in the case are: 1) whether an insurance company that both determines eligibility for employee benefits and pays those benefits acts under a conflict of interest, and if so, 2) what weight should a court give that conflict when evaluating an employee's claim that the plan administrator abused its discretion in denying the employee's claim. The bulk of the brief addresses trust law issues. The case will be argued April 23.

STUDENTS

The Center for Entrepreneurial Law is seeking one or more Research Associates for the summer to work on a series of case studies involving intellectual property, reorganization, and other business law topics. The case studies are intended to serve as teaching materials for modules of Representing Enterprises and similar courses at The University of Tennessee College of Law and other institutions. A minimum of 20 hours per week for a set number of weeks is required. If interested, please contact Prof. George Kuney with a cover letter (or e-mail) expressing interest in the position and any reasons for that interest and resume.

Prof. George Kuney is seeking applicants for a teaching assistant position for Contracts I in the Fall of 2008. Duties include assisting in the design and evaluation of short student written assignments based upon pre-set guidelines. A rising 3L (i.e., someone that will be a 3L in Fall 2008) preferred. A good showing in Contracts I in the applicant’s first year is helpful but not required. If interested, submit an expression of interest with all pertinent facts to Prof. Kuney in hard copy or e-mail format.

www.adaptibar.com is available to students preparing for the Multistate Bar Exam.

The law school has created an inaugural Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP. The purpose of LRAP is to provide annual loans to graduates of the Law School who obtain employment in the field of public interest law and who need assistance in repaying loans for their legal education. Many types of jobs may qualify as public interest. These include working for the public defender, district attorney, legal aid organizations, government agencies, and most nonprofit organizations. This year, the Law School will be offering two $3,600 awards to graduating 3Ls. Applications must be submitted to the Student Records Office no later than noon on Monday, April 14. The recipients of the awards will be announced on Monday, April 21. If you have any further questions about this program there will be an informational meeting Monday, March 31, during the free hour in Room 136.

The UT College of Law has joined a wide consortium of other academic departments, colleges, and centers to present a three-day conference at the Hilton in downtown Knoxville April 10-12, entitled “Energy & Responsibility: A Conference on Ethics and the Environment.” This conference invites ethicists, legal theorists, energy policy makers, energy enterprises, and environmental activists to engage in a conversation about ethics and responsibility in the contested terrain of energy and the environment. In addition to well-known international speakers from The Natural Resources Defense Council, Merton College (Oxford), Princeton, Yale, and New York University, there will be panels addressing Environmental Ethics, Ethics of Planning Processes, and Irreversibility and Environmental Damage. The conference will also include a student caucus, addressing topics such as the responsibility of higher education in addressing energy issues and the role of students in addressing energy issues with respect to current generations, our future, and our prosperity. The planning committee is looking for UT Law students to help with the student caucus by providing housing (e.g., extra beds, couches, floor space) to students attending the caucus. If you are able to host any of these student attendants, please contact 2L Corinne Martin at cmarti34@utk.edu.

The College of Law and the ABA Section on International Law will co-sponsor a panel discussion on careers in international law Monday, April 7, from 12:20 until 1:10 p.m. in Room 135. UT Prof. Robert Blitt will be among those on the panel.

CAREER SERVICES

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CONTACT PERSONS

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