The Informant
March 3, 2009
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Attorney James F. Neal first Orr Distinguished Lecturer Friday
James F. Neal of Neal & Harwell in Nashville will be the inaugural speaker in the Wyc and Lyn Orr Distinguished Lecture Series this Friday, March 6, beginning at 12 p.m. in Room 132. Pizza will be served following the lecture.
College ranks high in SSRN downloads
As of Feb. 13, the UT College of Law ranked 23rd on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) list of “Top U.S. Law Schools” on the basis of “total new downloads for all papers during the past 12 months.” UT law papers were downloaded 15,334 times during that period. “Because UT is small faculty, we have only 23 faculty authors registered with SSRN,” said Associate Dean Greg Stein. “To put that in perspective, the 22 schools that are ranked above us range from 37 to 165 registered faculty, and only six of the top 100 schools have fewer registered faculty members than we do.” When sorted by “new downloads per paper for all papers during the past 12 months,” which adjusts for faculty size, UT ranks first among U.S. law schools.
"Mountain Removal Road Show" program
During the Free Hour on Wednesday, March 4, the Environmental Law Organization will host Dave Cooper, who will present his "Mountaintop Removal Road Show" featuring a slide show about the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on coalfield residents, communities, and the environment. Tomato Head lunch will be provided. The presentation will be in Room 242.
Incoming Tennessee Law Review Editorial Board
The 2009-2010 Tennessee Law Review Editorial Board: Managing Editor, Melissa Carrasco; Executive Editors, George Green, Emily Lay, and Jeff Swett; Publication Editor, Cristina Minter; Research Editors, Jamey Ayers, Lesley Foglia, Ryan Lacey, Sara Anne Thomas, and Tom Whitworth; Acquisitions Editors, Bryan Hathorn, Craig Meredith, and LeAnne Summer; Articles Editors, Katie Atkins, Natalie Burton, Summer Carr, Eliot Kerner, Grant Lewallen, Rachel Lokitz, Hannah Lowe, Walter Machnicki, Norene Napper, Amit Patel, Bill Payne, Alex Rieger, and Stehpanie Swing; Lead Student Materials Editor, Jennifer Milam; Student Materials Editors, Allison Jackson, Regina Koho, Josh Lee, Allison Malone, Morgan Manning, John McGehee, Philip Meyer, Meredith Rambo, Lindsay Schenk, Scott Simmons, Rachel Stevens, Meg Sutton, Katie Waldrop, and Malaka Watson; Third-Year Editors, Anthony Bills, Christopher Call, Kathlyn Castilla, Emily Foster, Charles Hartman, Drew Justham, Julianna Loden, Marisa Mar-Jones, Nathan Mauer, Alan Moore, Kathryn Parham, Trenton Poynter, Phylinda Ramsey, Jared Renfroe, Eric Shen, Paul Singleton, Katie Tolliver, and S-K Wright.
Summer-Wyatt Symposium March 27
The University of Tennessee College of Law Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution and the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy are hosting the Summers-Wyatt Symposium, which focuses on issues related to the right to jury trial and the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, March 27. MORE
Environmental Law program March 11
On Wednesday, March 11, from noon until 1 p.m. in Room 136, the Environmental Law Organization will present the "Careers in Environmental Law Panel Discussion." Five environmental attorneys will answer questions and talk about what they do and how they got there. Speakers are: Charles Gault, U.S. Department of the Interior; Christopher Irwin, Lewis & Irwin; Becky Kaman, Gary A. Davis & Associates; Stephanie Kodish, National Parks Conservation Association; and LeAnn Mynatt, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz. Tomato Head lunch will be provided.
Law Women Chili Cook-Off March 26
The Law Women’s Annual Chili Cook-Off will be held at Toddy’s Back Door Tavern March 26. Please contact Jamey Ayers (jayers5@utk.edu) if you are interested in forming a team. All funds raised by the Date Auction and Chili Cook-off will be donated to the YWCA Victim’s Advocacy Program, a nonprofit organization that works with the YWCA and the State of Tennessee to promote the safety and rehabilitation of domestic violence victims in Knoxville.
VITA program swinging into action
Tax season is here, and that means it's time for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. VITA is a program, sponsored by both the IRS and UT Pro Bono, whose mission is to provide free tax services for UT students, faculty, and staff, as well as low- to moderate- income individuals and families. This year, VITA will be taking place Monday-Wednesday, 4-7 p.m., in the Student Organization Office on the third floor (Room 302). VITA will also be hosting a special International Night on Tuesdays for international students and friends (U.S. citizens can come on any night). Please be sure to bring a valid photo ID, your Social Security card, and all relevant tax documents (W-2, 1099, etc.). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Roman Hankins (rhankins@utk.edu) or Rachel Levinson (rlevinso@utk.edu).
FACULTY
From the Associate Dean for Faculty Development
The Board of Directors of the American Antitrust Institute has named Prof. Maurice Stucke to be a Senior Fellow. Senior Fellows of the AAI are appointed to a term of two years, during which time they constitute an "inner circle" of advisors and undertake specific projects for the AAI. The AAI depends on its Senior Fellows as a sounding board and resource.
Profs. Robert Blitt and Otis Stephens both gave presentations at last week’s conference and workshop on campus addressing religious freedom. The conference, entitled "Lost in Translation? Comparing Local and Global Interpretations of Religious Freedom," was jointly sponsored by the College of Law, The Baker Center, the Department of Religious Studies, and others. Prof. Blitt offered a response to the remarks of keynote presenter Jeremy Gunn, and Prof. Stephens moderated this panel.
Faculty book authors should be aware of the settlement of the Authors Guild v. Google class action. If approved by the court, the settlement will result in the payment of millions of dollars by Google to book authors. Further details are available here.
Prof. Cornett article published in Dicta
Prof. Judy Cornett's article, "Byrd Still Has Wings: The Tennessee Supreme Court Reaffirms its Summary Judgment Standard in Hannan v. Alltel Publishing Co.," appeared as the cover article in the March 2009 issue of Dicta, published by the Knoxville Bar Association.
Prof. Plank makes presentation at '09 AALS meeting
On January 10, Prof. Tom Plank presented a proposed article, “The Mortgage Market, Securitization and The Bankruptcy Code: A Proposal For Reform,” at the Joint Program of the Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights and the Section on Real Estate Transactions, “Real Estate Transactions In Troubled Times,” at the 2009 annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in San Diego, Calif.. This paper explains that the separation of ownership of mortgage loans from both the origination of the loans and the servicing of the loans required by securitization, a source of criticism of securitization, is a direct result of the structure of the Bankruptcy Code. The paper proposes a revision of the Bankruptcy Code that permits the issuance of long term debt secured by mortgage loans that would not be subject to acceleration upon the commencement of a bankruptcy case or to the automatic stay of investor remedies in the event of default.
Prof. White is symposium participant
Prof. Penny J. White participated in a symposium at the University of Missouri School of Law Feb. 28 entitled "Mulling over the Missouri Plan." The symposium featured a keynote address by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Prof. White presented a paper entitled "Using Judicial Performance Evaluations to Supplement Inappropriate Voter Cues and Enhance Judicial Legitimacy," which will be published in the University of Missouri Law Review this Spring. Also, Prof. White recently published an article in the Denver Law Review entitled "'The Appeal' To The Masses." The article uses aspects of John Grisham's book The Appeal as a backdrop to explore current trends in the politicalization of state courts.
STUDENTS
Judges Score Final Round of 2008 First Annual 1L Advocacy Competition
Second Annual 1L Advocacy Competition
John Meagher, Class of 2008, had so much fun serving as Chief Bailiff in last year's Advocacy Idol contest that he has donated the funds to host this year's competition. The Second Annual 1L Advocacy Competition will be held March 25 beginning at 5 p.m. in Room 132. Judge Camille McMullen, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, will preside over a panel of federal and state judges who will determine which first-year law student should be awarded the second Annual 1L Advocacy Idol Award. First-year law students, coached by second- and third-year students, will compete by presenting brief opening statements to the panel of judges. No advance preparation is required. Following the competition, the participants and judges will have dinner together and discuss ways to improve advocacy skills. Interested first-year students should sign up by emailing nnapper@utk.edu. The competition is limited to the first twenty-four first-year students who sign up. Students with questions about the competition may contact either Norene Napper at nnapper@utk.edu or Prof. Penny White at pwhite@utk.edu.
Spoon Business Competition accepting submissions
The Journal of Business & Securities Law is accepting submissions through March 14 for the Elliot A. Spoon Business Law Writing Competition, which is designed to encourage business law scholarship among law students. MORE See https://www.msu.edu/~jbsl/pdfs/spoon_writing_competition.pdf.
Interest meeting for Asian student group Thursday
All students interested in learning more about the start up of the Asian Law Students Association (ALSA) are invited to its first meeting. The interest meeting will be held Thursday, March 5, at 12 p.m. in Room 338. Feel free to bring any ideas or suggestions. If you cannot attend, but are still interested, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Mili Shah at milishah@utk.edu.
Prof. Kuney seeks teaching assistant for Fall '09
Prof. George Kuney seeks a teaching assistant for Fall 2009 Contracts I. Successful applicants will have done well in Contracts I and Legal Process I and II. Job duties include pre-processing exams and writing assignments along designated guidelines. Compensation is at prevailing law school student assistant rates, currently $8/hr. To apply for the position, submit an e-mail expression of interest with attached resume evidencing qualifications.
National student writing competition
The Journal of Business & Securities Law is accepting submissions for the Elliot A. Spoon Business Law Writing Competition. The winning article will be published and a cash prize awarded. MORE
Student Bankruptcy Law Writing Competition
The Bankruptcy Litigation Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute has announced its first annual ABI Bankruptcy Law Student Writing Competition. For details, click here. Prof. George Kuney is happy to meet with students wishing to discuss topics relating to section 363 sales and plans of reorganization.
FCBA Student writing competition
The Federal Circuit Bar Association announces the 2009 George Hutchinson Writing Competition on a topic directed to a subject within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Deadline for submissions is June 26, 2009. MORE
STAFF
Director Britton faculty member at NALP Forum
Director of Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Services Karen Britton was a faculty member at NALP's "Newer Professionals Forum" in Denver last week. The conference was widely attended by law firm recruitment and law school career professionals across the nation. Britton led the keynote workshop "Management Foundations for Career Services Professionals," as well as a session on "Using NALP Research and Career Ladders in the Profession." NALP, the National Association for Law Placement, is the professional association in the legal recruitment field. Britton is a past president of the association.
LEWIS CAREER CENTER
-- "What Do Lawyers Do? Small Firm and Solo Practice Panel" for 1, 2 and 3Ls, Wednesday, March 4, 12-12:50 p.m., Room 135.