April 2006

Dean Heidi M. Hurd
David C. Baum Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy
Co-Director of the Program in Law and Philosophy
Telephone (217) 333-9857
hhurd@law.uiuc.edu

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Campus Administrators, and Friends,

• Professors Davey, Finkin, and Ribstein are Nominated to Prestigious College Chairs
• Nationally-Renowned Professor Andrew Morriss Comes to Illinois as the Inaugural Ross and Helen Workman Professor of Law and Professor of Business
• Professor Jennifer Robbennolt Needs Your Participation in Her Latest Research Project
• Professor Peter Maggs Broadcasts in Russian on "Voice of America"
• Our Students Make Extraordinary Contributions to the College's Lively Culture
• The College of Law Clinics Celebrate their 10th Anniversary
• The College Hosts "Brain Bender Week:" Three Celebrated Public Lectures in Seven Days
• How to Buy Beachfront Property in Mexico-Legitimately?
• The College Prepares for the Rickert Awards
• Our Moot Court Students Shine in National Competitions
• The Employee Justice Clinic Files a Petition for Leave with the Illinois Supreme Court
• Professor Andrew Leipold Hits the National Press with Commentary on the George Ryan Jury
• The Gala is Only Three Weeks Away, And the Deadline for Ticket Sales is Fast Approaching!

Professors Davey, Finkin, and Ribstein are Nominated to Prestigious College Chairs

Congratulations to Professor William Davey, Professor Matthew Finkin, and Professor Larry Ribstein who have been nominated for the academic equivalent of "lifetime achievement awards"--chaired appointments that represent the highest honors that can be bestowed by the College of Law. These appointments are fitting tributes to the extraordinary scholarly contributions that these three faculty members have made to their respective fields of expertise, and they capture as best as any institutional recognition can, our esteem for their stature within the legal academy and our gratitude for their many contributions to the College community.

Professor William Davey, previously the Edwin M. Adams Professor of Law, has been nominated to the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law. This appointment is a tribute to his distinguished career as a scholar and involved practitioner in the fields of international trade law, European Union law, international business transactions, and corporate/securities law. Having served as Director of the Legal Affairs Division of the World Trade Organization for four years and as an on-going member of the International Trade Committee of the International Law Association, Professor Davey is the author of numerous books and dozens of articles about international trade and European Union law and is the Associate Editor of The Journal of International Economic Law (Oxford), a member of the Board of Advisors for The Columbia Journal of European Law, and a member of the Faculty Editorial Board of the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. In 2005 Professor Davey received the campus-wide Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement--the highest award that the campus can give a faculty member for scholarship and service within the international community.

Professor Matthew Finkin, who previously held the Albert J. Harno Professorship in Law, has been nominated to the Albert J. Harno and Edward W. Cleary Chair in Law. His investiture in this Chair honors his celebrated career as an international scholar of labor and employment law, higher education law, and comparative law. The author of eight books, including the leading single volume treatise on labor law, and an extensive body of periodical publications, Professor Finkin is a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award for internationally acknowledged achievements in the field of labor law and he was recently inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, which celebrates scholars "of the most elite distinction in the field." An active labor arbitrator and the General Editor of the leading peer review journal in his field, the Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal, Professor Finkin has served as General Counsel for the American Association of University Professors and as Chairman of its Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and is a member of the Governing Board of the Institute for Labor Law and Labor Relations in the European Community in Trier, Germany.

Professor Larry Ribstein, the previous holder of the Richard W. and Marie L. Corman Professorship in Law, has been nominated to the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law. A prolific scholar in the areas of unincorporated business entities, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporate and securities law, Professor Ribstein is one of the ten law professors in America whose work is most downloaded from the Social Science Research Network. He is the author of Unincorporated Business Entities and Business Associations, and the co-author of the leading multi-volume treatises on partnership law and on limited liability companies, and he is an official advisor to the Drafting Committee to Revise the Uniform Partnership Act for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Also the author of the popular business law blog site, Ideoblog, which was recently ranked 12th among law professor blog sites based on unique visits, Professor Ribstein is frequently asked to provide expert opinions to the nation's many newspapers, magazines and wire services, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Forbes and Fortune Magazine.

Nationally-Renowned Professor Andrew Morriss Comes to Illinois as the Inaugural Ross and Helen Workman Professor of Law and Professor of Business

The College of Law wrapped up a tremendous year of lateral faculty hiring by clinching the appointment of Professor Andrew Morriss as the new Ross and Helen Workman Professor of Law and Professor of Business. Professor Morriss's appointment is the fourth high-profile lateral tenured/tenure-track hire that the College has made this year, and as he joins incoming Professors Amitai Aviram (from Florida State), Christine Hurt (from Marquette), and Robert Lawless '89 (from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas), this fall, the College will join the elite group of national law schools that can accurately boast of both depth and breadth in the field of business and corporate law.

Professor Andrew Morriss joins the Illinois faculty from Case Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland, Ohio, where he has served as the Galen J. Roush Professor of Business Law and Regulation, Associate Professor of Economics, and Director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation. He earned his A.B. from Princeton University in 1981, his J.D. and M.A. in Public Affairs from the University of Texas in 1984, and his Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1994. He joined the Case Western faculty in 1992 and served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2000 to 2003. Prior to entering the academy he clerked with U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders (Northern District, Texas) and practiced with the Texas Rural Legal Aid Society.

To pick just one strand of his diverse portfolio, Professor Morriss has studied the history of codification in the U.S. legal system and when it comes to the environment, he has concluded that we made a wrong turn in the early 1970s. Since then, "gaining permits to operate and negotiating penalties for regulatory violations have become the primary focus of environmental lawyers," says Morriss. Pursuing his interest in the common law, Morriss co-edited The Common Law and the Environment, which examines the virtues of common law in comparison to statutory law when protecting environmental amenities. As Morriss writes, "The size and complexity of the regulatory regime created by these statutes stands in stark contrast to the simplicity of common law principles. A common law system for environmental issues would significantly change the structure of interest groups on all sides of environmental issues for the better."

Professor Morriss is a prolific writer whose work has appeared in a great many scholarly journals including recently the New York University Law Review, Texas Law Review, Supreme Court Economic Review, Administrative Law Review, NYU Journal of Law & Liberty, and William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. Professor Morriss will hold a joint appointment in the College of Business where he will teach a large class each year in the Department of Business Administration. Within the law school, Professor Morriss will teach Property, Administrative Law, Employment Law, Business Associations, and seminars on topics from corporate governance to gun control.

Professor Jennifer Robbennolt Needs Your Participation in Her Latest Research Project

You are encouraged to contribute your perspective to a study conducted by Professor Jennifer Robbennolt that explores how attorneys advise clients in settlement negotiations. Spend 10-15 minutes online responding to the confidential survey and help one of our most talented faculty members advance the cutting edge of research on the topic of legal settlements. Then receive a brief report of the aggregate results of the study to learn how a large sample of attorneys responded. All graduates of the College and friends in the profession are encouraged to participate. Just log onto: http://survey.law.uiuc.edu.

Professor Peter Maggs Broadcasts in Russian on "Voice of America"

Professor Peter Maggs, the Clifford M. and Bette A. Carney Chair in Law, was on an hour-long "Voice of America" program on March 6th that was broadcast throughout Europe and Russia. As part of a three-member panel on the Russian-language call-in program "Talk With America" ("Govorite c Amerikoi"), Professor Maggs engaged listeners about topics concerning American-Russian relations. Listeners called in from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Germany, Latvia, and Sweden to hear Professor Maggs' answers to their questions--in Russian!

Our Students Make Extraordinary Contributions to the College's Lively Culture

With nearly 700 students and 50 student-run organizations, the College is constantly abuzz with public debates and lectures, bake sales, clothing drives, community-service initiatives, and social events. And while we are accustomed to a steady din of energy and activity, it never ceases to amaze me just how many significant and socially-relevant events our students host at the College during the course of a semester. Within the last month, the Black Law Students Association hosted a keynote lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winner Leon Dash, a professor of law, journalism and Afro-American studies, as part of Black History Month; the Jewish Law Students hosted a presentation on "Global Perspectives on Counter-Terrorism" by former Israeli Army Lieutenant Colonel Amos N. Guiora; the Asian American Law Students Association hosted a three-day conference entitled "Asian Americans and the Law;" the American Constitutional Society, the ACLU, the Military Law Society, and the Federalist Society co-hosted a lecture moderated by Professor Richard McAdams about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Fair v. Rumsfeld regarding the ban on gays in the military; and this week, the Women's Law Society will host its 10th Annual Symposium, "Poised for the Presidency?: Women and Politics in 21st Century America," which is focused on the emerging role of women in U.S. government, including the cultural and societal changes that have been and will be necessary to permit the possibility of a woman president. Kudos to our students for their many contributions to the intellectual vitality that has become the signature characteristic of the University of Illinois College of Law.

The College of Law Clinics Celebrate their 10th Anniversary

College faculty and alumni celebrated ten years of clinical education on March 10th at a reception in Chicago. During the past ten years, 406 students have participated in the College's four clinics, 1,423 individuals and organizational clients have been served by those students, and many members of the public have received invaluable education about their legal rights and remedies. The clinic alumni who attended the anniversary celebration are now working in a wide range of fields and settings including large law firms, small practices, multi-national corporations, and public service organizations. As part of the celebration, many alumni recounted the importance of the hands-on experiences that they had within the College's clinics as they described the significance of their Illinois education to the very successful careers that they now enjoy. Happy anniversary to our Clinics, and congratulations to our innovative clinical faculty for providing students and alumni with ten years of rewarding experiences!

The College Hosts "Brain Bender Week": Three Celebrated Public Lectures in Seven Days

As if the extraordinarily rich array of events organized by our students isn't enough, the College will provide a sumptuous feast of food for thought during the second week of April, hosting "Brain Bender Week"--a collection of three named lectures within seven days that is open to all! "Brain Bender Week" begins on Monday, April 10th, at 3:00 p.m. with the Paul M. Van Arsdell Memorial Lecture entitled "Places of Power: From Renaissance Town Halls to Guantanamo Bay" presented by the Arthur Liman Professor of Law Judith Resnik of the Yale Law School. On Wednesday, April 12th at 4 p.m., Associate Professor Robin Wilson of the University of Maryland School of Law will present "Nanotechnology: The Challenges of Regulating Known Unknowns" as part of the John David and Elizabeth A. Epstein Health Care Law and Policy Program. And our intellectual binge will wrap up on Monday, April 17th at 4 p.m. with the David C. Baum Memorial Lecture, "Enforcing Sex Roles in South Dakota: An Equality Analysis of Abortion Restrictions Under Casey and Hibbs" delivered by Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law and Professor of American Studies Reva Siegel of the Yale Law School. So join us for this week-long festival of thought as we welcome to the College three famed scholars, writers, and lecturers on topics of substantial national significance.

How to Buy Beachfront Property in Mexico-Legitimately?

As part of its initiative to recognize the quality of work contributed by its staff writers, The Journal of the Business Law Society will be selecting an article at the end of each of its publication cycles to be featured in the weekly Law Bulletin. This time around, the editors have selected Alicia Filter's article, "Purchasing Beachfront Property in Mexico: How Americans Circumvent Mexico's Constitutional Prohibition," which was published by the journal in March of 2006. Alicia is a member of the Class of 2008 and is a staff writer for the Journal's section on Real Estate. I thought you would enjoy a brief encapsulation of the legal "loophole" that motivates Alicia's article:

"Many Americans are purchasing beachfront vacation homes and primary residences in Mexico as an alternative to pricey homes in the United States, especially Southern California. However, Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution prohibits foreigners from owning land in what is deemed the 'Restricted Zone,' which includes areas within 31 miles of the ocean and 62 miles of Mexico's border. In recent years, Mexican law has evolved to allow foreigners to acquire beachfront property without actually holding title to that property. This is accomplished through a loophole in the law which allows foreign buyers to establish a trust called a 'Fideicomiso' in which a Mexican bank serves as the trustee and title holder, and the foreign buyer of the property becomes the beneficiary, gaining unrestricted use of the property for up to 100 years."

You may read Alicia's article at The Journal of the Business Law Society's website at http://iblsjournal.typepad.com/illinois_business_law_soc/2006/03/purchasing_beac.html.

The College Prepares for the Rickert Awards

Many of our graduating students' achievements will be commemorated at this month's Rickert Awards Ceremony, and many of our alumni fondly remember the thrill of receiving such an award at the close of their College experience. The Rickert Awards Program is the most prestigious and extensive awards program at the College of Law. It was established in 1971 by Marguerite L. Rickert to honor outstanding third year law students who demonstrate excellence within a variety of academic, advocacy, and community-building activities at the College of Law, and every year for the past 30 years, the Rickert Awards have been bestowed on new graduates by our generous benefactor's cousin, Ms. Marguerite Proctor. It is always with great pride that I join Ms. Proctor and fellow-faculty in presiding over this ceremony and in offering my thanks for the hard work and driving determination with which so many of our students have pursued their studies at the College of Law. Please join us for this joyful occasion on April 21st at 3:30 p.m. in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium.

Our Moot Court Students Shine in National Competitions

Congratulations to Matthew McDonald, Patrick Muench, and Dionne Padilla, members of the College of Law Environmental Moot Court Team, who won the David Sive Award for Best Brief Overall at the 2006 National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace Law School. And, congratulations to Brian Pondenis, Nawshaba Siddiquee, and John Simmons, members of the Intellectual Property Moot Court Team who won the award for Best Brief in the Midwest Regional 2005-2006 Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition in Chicago.

The Employee Justice Law Clinic Files a Petition for Leave with the Illinois Supreme Court

Under the supervision of Professor Nina W. Tarr, students in the Employee Justice Clinic filed a Petition for Leave to Appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of an unemployment claimant who has been represented for three semesters by Kevin Berrill ('05), Annie Kim ('06), Kimberly Janas ('06), and Maureen Wurfel ('07). The case involves a woman, Pamela J. Cribbett, who was denied unemployment benefits and is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to resolve an appellate court split over which standard of review should be used to assess her claim. Ms. Cribbett contends that the issue of whether she engaged in "misconduct" is a question of law to be reviewed de novo, but the 4th District Appellate Court saw it as a mixed question of law and fact and instead used what students contend is an erroneous standard of review.

Ms. Cribbett was a 19-year employee of Collins & Aikman Products Co., who informed her supervisor she could not come to work one day in 2004 because her 12-year-old daughter had run away. The supervisor informed Ms. Cribbett that she could not use vacation time because the request was not made 24 hours in advance and that she would be fired if she did not come to work. Six days later, after a frantic search, Ms. Cribbett called in to work to report that her daughter had been found. At that point, the union steward informed her that there was nothing she could do to save her job and that a letter of termination was being sent in the mail. Despite the news, Ms. Cribbett called in over the next two days to say that she was staying home to care for her daughter, who was traumatized and in need of intensive counseling. During the following week, believing that she had been fired, Ms. Cribbett did not call in or return to the office. Collins & Aikman terminated her in a letter dated at the end of the next week, citing her failure to call in for three days during this last week as the reason for her termination.

The Department of Employment Security Board of Review determined that she had voluntarily left Collins & Aikman and was ineligible for benefits. Two months later, a Department referee set aside the initial ruling but found that Cribbett was ineligible for benefits because she had been discharged for misconduct--namely, for failing to call to report her absence for three days of the week before her official termination. The Ford County Circuit Court and later the 4th District Appellate Court, in a divided ruling, upheld the Board of Review's interpretation.

The case, Cribbett v. Russell, is an excellent example of the kind of case handled by the College's innovative new Employee Justice Clinic, which combines theory with practice in ways that take our students from contested workplaces to the state's highest court.

Professor Andrew Leipold Hits the National Press with Commentary on the George Ryan Jury

Professor Andrew Leipold, the Co-Director of the Illinois Program in Criminal Law and Procedure, was thrust into the national limelight last week with extensive quotations in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Associate Press stories that appeared in newspapers around the country, addressing jury behavior and judicial action in the federal trial of former Illinois Governor George Ryan. The lead story in the March 24th edition of the Chicago Tribune, which relied on Professor Leipold's opinion, led to an investigation and subsequent dismissal of one of the jurors in this much-publicized case.

The Gala is Only Three Weeks Away, And the Deadline for Ticket Sales is Fast Approaching!

The fourth annual College of Law Gala will be held on Friday, April 21st, at the elegant Champaign Country Club, and will feature the award-winning dance band "The Gordy Wilson Trio". The Gala is our year-end celebration of accomplishments by students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and this year we are delighted that the campus's new Provost, Dr. Linda Katehi, will deliver short after-diner remarks before joining us all on the dance floor! It's not too late to buy tickets, but the ticket deadline for this highly anticipated event is fast approaching and, as in past years, seats are sure to sell out quickly. Join us for an evening of toasts, celebratory tributes, wonderful food, and swirling dance (black tie recommended, but optional) as we honor all of you for your many contributions to the College community. For more information and for tickets/reservations, contact Beth Erwin in our Development and Alumni Relations Office at (217) 333-2628.

In closing, I'd like to welcome students and faculty back from what I hope was a rejuvenating Spring Break, I'd like to invite everyone to join us for the April events that are listed below, and I'd like to convey my hope to all of you that this year's strain of Spring Fever is resistant to the pressures that inevitably attend tax season and the end of the academic year!

Sincerely,

Heidi M. Hurd

Calendar of College of Law Events

April 2006

April 4, 4:00 pm, Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Frederick Green Moot Court Honorary Round, with The Honorable Douglas H. Ginsburg, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; The Honorable Susan H. Black, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; and William Binchy, Regius Professor of Laws, Trinity College Dublin. For more information contact Sally Cook at 217-333-9851 or scook@law.uiuc.edu.

April 5, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Room H: Theatre for Lawyers Workshop II. Come to a workshop on dealing with stage fright offered as part of our continuing series of "Theatre for Lawyers" workshop offered by the experiential learning faculty at the College of Law. The workshop will be presented by our collaborators from the Department of Theatre. Attendance is limited; spaces will be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information contact Carol Robison at 217-333-9848 or crobison@law.uiuc.edu.

April 6, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: "Poised for the Presidency?: Women and Politics in 21st Century America." The symposium will focus on the changing social and political status of women and will center on the acceptance and popularity of potential female presidential candidates. Panelists are former Illinois State Senator (and current candidate) Judy Myers, Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake, co-authors of the book, "What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class, and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live." Moderator: Professor Kit Kinports. For more information contact wls@law.uiuc.edu.

April 6, 6:00-8:00 p.m., Admitted Student-Alumni Reception, hosted by Winston & Strawn LLP, 35 West Wacker Drive, 47th Floor, Chicago: Complimentary. RSVP by April 3 to Beth Erwin at (217) 333-2628 or eerwin@law.uiuc.edu.

April 6, 6:30-9:00 p.m., Room B: Social Justice Film Festival: "Milagro Beanfield Wars." All are invited to join the College of Law community to view a film and discuss various social justice issues. Professor Eric Freyfogle to facilitate the discussion.

April 10, 3:00-4:15 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Paul M. Van Arsdell Memorial Lecture. Yale Professor Judith Resnick will present "Places of Power: From Renaissance Town Halls to Guantanamo Bay." A reception will follow in the Pedersen Pavilion.

April 12, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: The Jon David and Elizabeth A. Epstein Health Care Law and Policy Program Lecture. Professor Robin Wilson from the University of Maryland School of Law will present "Nanotechnology: The Challenges of Regulating Known Unknowns." The lecture is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by the College of Law, College of Engineering and the IGPA.

April 13, 6:30-9:00 p.m., Room B: Social Justice Film Festival: "Maria Full of Grace." All are invited to join the College of Law community to view a film and discuss various social justice issues. LLSA to facilitate the discussion.

April 17, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: David C. Baum Memorial Lecture. The 2006 David C. Baum Memorial Lecture on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights features guest speaker Reva Siegel, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law at Yale Law School. For more information contact Sally Cook at 217-333-9851 or scook@law.uiuc.edu.

April 20, 6:30-9:00 p.m., Room B: Social Justice Film Festival: "Breaker Morant." All are invited to join the College of Law community to view a film and discuss various social justice issues. Professor Richard McAdams to facilitate the discussion.

April 21, 6:00 pm, Champaign Country Club: Spring Gala Dinner Dance. (Black tie optional): All are encouraged to attend! For more information contact Beth Erwin at 217-333-2628 or eerwin@law.uiuc.edu.

April 25, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Room 202D: Student Lunch with Dean Hurd. Students are welcome to stop by Room 202E to sign up to have lunch with Dean Hurd.

April 25, 2:00-3:00 p.m., Room 200: Deans' Open Forum. Students are invited to join Dean Hurd and Assistant Dean Vermillion for an open discussion of College matters.

April 27, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Illini Center, Orange and Blue Room (Adams & Wacker Drive, Chicago). UILA Event features Professor Andrew Leipold. Professor Andrew Leipold will deliver the lecture, "Incapacitation, Recidivism, and Criminal Sentencing Policy" on the latest developments on Federal Criminal Sentencing Guidelines (and we are hoping Professor Leipold will also field some questions on the Ryan Jury controversies we have been hearing about these past few weeks!). A box lunch will be served. Admission is free for UILA members and is $10 for non UILA members and any guests. UILA will be sending out an evite to UILA membership next week.

Looking ahead to May

May 26-27: European Alumni Association Reunion - Berlin, Germany. For more information contact Carolyn Pribble at cpribble@law.uiuc.edu.

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