A monthly update of the scholarly activities of the Pitt Law faculty
A monthly update of the scholarly activities of the Pitt Law faculty
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Faculty Impact                                                          Summer 2015

PUBLICATIONS

University of Pittsburgh Law Review Releases Derrick Bell Symposium Issue

The University of Pittsburgh Law Review has published its symposium issue, Vol. 75, No. 4, containing the written contributions to last year's Challenging Authority: A Symposium Honoring Derrick Bell, hosted by Pitt Law.
The issue features an introduction by Assistant Professor Jasmine Gonzales Rose and articles from Professors George Taylor and Pat K. Chew, former Pitt Law professors (now with the University of Alabama School of Law) Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, as well as from Patience Crowder, Stacey Marlise Gahagan, Alfred L. Brophy, Juan Perea, SpearIt, and Montré Carodine.
In the issue's introduction, Gonzales Rose writes, "Not only is Critical Race Theory alive and more relevant than ever, Derrick Bell’s scholarship, teaching, and example continue to be a driving force in the field." The review celebrates and seeks to continue Bell’s critical inquiry into and fight against racial injustice.
In her article, "Challenging Authority," Chew writes, "Derrick Bell was right when he predicted in 1985 that his life and my life would be interconnected. How ironic it is, for instance, that I ended up teaching at the very law school that Derrick attended—that this law school faculty had the same vote of confidence in my abilities that Derrick had." Read more

NYU Journal Publishes Dean Carter's Article, 'The Thirteenth Amendment and Constitutional Change' 

Dean William M. Carter Jr.’s article, “The Thirteenth Amendment and Constitutional Change,” has been published in Volume 38 of NYU Review of Law & Social Change (2015). Partially drawn from his Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society at NYU Law School in November 2014, the article explores the history, context, and purposes of the Thirteenth Amendment; argues that the Thirteenth Amendment provides a constitutional remedy for the modern-day legacies of American slavery; and discusses why the Thirteenth Amendment nonetheless remains an underenforced constitutional provision. Read more

OTHER FACULTY PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles
Jasmine Gonzales Rose, Race Inequity Fifty Years Later: Language Rights Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 6 Alabama Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review (forthcoming, 2015). (SSRN)
Michael Madison, with Stephanie Dangel, Innovators, Esq.: Training the Next Generation of Lawyer Social Entrepreneurs, 83 University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review 967 (2015). (SSRN)  
Mary Crossley, Normalizing Disability in Families, 43 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 224 (2015). (SSRN)
Vivian Curran, Les nouveaux défis de la globalisation pour le droit comparé: baliser entre contre-courants (Globalization’s New Challenges to Comparative Law: Finding a Path between Crosscurrents), Sociéte de Législation Comparée (forthcoming). (SSRN)
Books and Book Chapters
David Garrow, Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (paperback edition) Yale University Press, 2015 (forthcoming). (Website)
Vivian Curran, <<Le juge national Américain et le droit de l’environnement>> ("The United States Judge and Environmental Law") in Prendre la responsabilité au sérieux, Mireille Delmas-Marty and Alain Supiot, eds., Presses universitaires de France, 2015 (forthcoming). (SSRN)
Other
Ben Bratman, Why More States Should Not Jump on the Uniform Bar Exam Bandwagon, JD Journal (June 17, 2015). (SSRN)
Larry Frolik, with Bernard A. Krooks, Planning for Later Life: Beyond the Traditional Documents, Trusts & Estates magazine (July 2015). (Website
John Burkoff and Nancy Burkoff, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Thomson Reuters/West, 2015. Also available in the Westlaw treatises database, identifier: INASCNSL. (Website)

PRESENTATIONS

Pitt Law Faculty Ranked 50th in Scholarly Impact

The Pitt Law faculty ranks 50th in the nation in scholarly impact, according to the recently released study by Professor Gregory Sisk et al., at the University of Saint Thomas School of Law. Pitt Law’s scholarly impact ranking places it second in Pennsylvania, behind only the University of Pennsylvania. Utilizing the methodology of previous studies produced by Professor Brian Leiter, the study ranked the top third of ABA-accredited law schools by scholarly impact, looking at the mean and median of total law journal citations over the past five years as well as the work of tenured members of that law faculty. In addition to a school-by-school ranking, the study reported the mean, median, and weighted score, along with a list of the tenured faculty members at each ranked law school with the 10 highest individual citation counts (see below). 
As the study’s authors note, “a healthy debate has continued about how best to evaluate the scholarly strengths of law faculties. Among those measures that have been proposed and regularly tested, the Scholarly Impact Scores . . . continue to be the most prominent.”

FACULTY FEATURE

In this latest installment of Faculty Features, a series of monthly videos highlighting Pitt Law faculty members on items of current legal interest within their areas of expertise, Professor Mary Crossley discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision in King v. Burwell concerning the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. Crossley contextualizes this case, which involved a question of statutory interpretation, with the earlier challenge to the Act, which was constitutional in nature. She points out that statutory interpretation is a narrow and less ideologically driven exercise than constitutional interpretation, which helped explain the Court’s 6-3 result, with Justice Roberts voting with the faction of the Court normally described as “liberal.” At the same time, she provides context on why the narrow statutory question was so immensely important to the survival of the Act. Crossley concludes with some thoughts on the future of the Act, particularly in light of the fact that the Court did not defer to any agency in interpreting the statutory text but rather supplied its own interpretation, which is not subject to overrule by a subsequent agency in a subsequent presidential administration. View video

AWARDS

Harry Gruener Honored With Eric Turner Award 

Professor Harry J. Gruener, who retired August 31, received the Eric Turner Memorial Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Family Law Section during the Family Law Section Summer Meeting, July 9-11, 2015. According to the PBA, the Eric Turner Memorial Award honors a lawyer who is dedicated to the practice of family law and who serves as a mentor and teacher to fellow lawyers. The PBA noted Gruener for participating in drafting amendments to the Pennsylvania Divorce Code, which became effective in 2005, and other significant family law legislation. About Eric Turner, Gruener told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Eric Turner was a fine lawyer and had mastered his field. But more important, Eric spent a lot of his time mentoring lawyers. He was notorious for it. He helped a zillion young lawyers." Read more

IN THE NEWS 

Alan Meisel is Quoted in U.S. News Article Highlighting Pitt Law's MSL Degree

In an article on the merits of pursuing a Master of Legal Studies degree, U.S. News & World Report highlighted Pitt Law's MSL degree program, noting how Pitt Law's program offers more than 20 concentrations that students can choose from, such as education law, family law, and health law.
Professor Alan Meisel, director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, Pitt Law's Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program and Health Law Certificate Program and Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote Professor of Bioethics, told U.S. News, "It helps to be focused because you only have 30 credits, which is roughly 10 courses." He also cautions prospective students against using the MSL as a pathway to acceptance to a JD program. "I think it's an extremely expensive and time-consuming way to prepare for law school," he says. Read more

OTHER FACULTY IN THE NEWS

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