On March 8, 2024, Professor Amarante participated in a panel entitled “The Appalachian Justice Research Center: Transdisciplinary Research Advancing Just and Equitable Community Visions in Appalachia and the Mountain South” at the 47th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

In coordination with Project South, Professor Amarante edited An Upward Trend in Jailhouse Cooperation with ICE, a report on ICE detainers and 287(g) agreements in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. This report analyzes information received in response to Freedom of Information Act requests to ICE about 287(g) agreements and detainer requests issued between fiscal year 2016 to 2020 in those states. This report concludes with specific recommendations for local, state, and federal governments to end LLE-ICE collaboration and repeal anti-immigrant policies.

The 2023-24 Master of Science in Management and Human Resources (MS-MHR) Program (Haslam College of Business) students selected Professor Areheart for the program’s Excellence in Teaching Award. The recipient of the award is selected by the current MS-MHR students and “recognizes a faculty member for excellence in the classroom and commitment to academic excellence, innovation in curriculum and delivery, and student engagement and learning.” Students in the program are frequently full-time professionals who obtain their master’s degree while working 40+ hours/week. Students identified Professor Areheart’s enthusiasm, pedagogical variety, and deep expertise in all things employment-related.

The Director of the MS-MHR program, Jackie Jacobs, had this to say of Professor Areheart: “Brad consistently receives exceptional teaching evaluations and is a valued member of the MS-MHR team in the Haslam College of Business. He is well-liked by the students and challenges them to see the business world through a legal lens. Having a professor from the UT College of Law teach our course on employment law is a real differentiator for the MS-MHR program and ensures our students are prepared for the legal and ethical challenges they may face as managers and HR professionals.” 

Earlier this year, Professor Barton presented his book The Credentialed Court to USC Gould Law School’s Center for Law and Social Science (CLASS) Workshop. The CLASS program brings together law professors, statisticians, and political scientists and focuses on empirical legal studies and research methods.

In March, Professor Barton spoke at the Stanford Law School/American Bar Foundation William C. Hubbard Conference on Law and Education. Professor Barton presented on the potential effect of generative AI on access to justice and lawyer regulation.

Professor Baxter was named the recipient of the University of Tennessee L. R. Hesler Award for Excellence in Teaching and Service. This award was established to honor Dr. L. R. Hesler, a man known for his outstanding teaching abilities and his service to the university community. The award recognizes faculty who are excellent professors and demonstrate a genuine interest in student success. The award will be presented at the Provost’s Academic Honors Banquet hosted in May.

Professor Blitt’s most recent article, Justifying Aggression: Russia’s 2020 Constitutional Amendments and the Invasion of Ukraine, has been published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, (Vol. 57, No. 1, 2024). The article explores how certain changes to Russia’s constitution introduced in 2020 have functioned as a central repository that feeds Russia’s justifications for its aggression against Ukraine. Enshrining constitutional supremacy, territorial integrity, and the doctrines of peaceful coexistence and noninterference have served to curtail the impact of international law and to revive Soviet-era legal norms used to dominate neighboring states. Coupled with this, constitutionalizing a new Russian civilizational identity steeped in a heady—if selective—history of imperial entitlement, traditional values, and the protection of compatriots abroad has generated foundational imperatives intended to justify intervention abroad in the name of protecting Russia’s national security and identity from the threat of unbridled Western “ultraliberalism”.

Professor Blitt’s book chapter, “Putin-Phonia”: Harnessing Russian Orthodoxy to Advance Russia’s Secular Foreign Policy, was published in Peter Mandaville, ed., The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power: How States Use Religion in Foreign Policy (Oxford, 2024). The book provides a comprehensive examination of how states across multiple world regions and a diverse range of faith traditions incorporate religion as an aspect of their foreign policy. Professor Blitt’s focus on Russia specifically addresses the energizing effect key constitutional amendments will have on church-state relations and related Kremlin foreign policy objectives. The chapter concludes that policymakers should consider divesting the Russian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate of its veneer as an autonomous religious actor and adopt measures to more closely scrutinize its activities as manifestations of Kremlin influence.

In a unanimous decision upholding the right to freedom of the press, the Supreme Court of the Philippines positively cited to Professor Blitt’s article, Human Rights and Disinformation Under the Trump Administration: The Commission on Unalienable Rights. The Court affirmed that unregulated internet-based speech “where truth suffers from decay, where facts and objective analysis are inundated by false information” posed “a huge threat to democracy as it hampers the ability of citizens to make informed decisions based on facts.”

Professor Boles’ article Promoting Technological Competency Through Microlearning and Incentivization was published in Volume 20 Issue 1 of the St. Thomas Law Review. The paper was part of a symposium that took place in November 2022 titled “A Roadmap for Law School Modernity: Teaching Technology Competence.” Both the symposium and Professor Boles’ article examine MRPC Rule 1.1 Comment 8, the legal professions' only explicit guidance on the use of technology in practice. Added to the Model Rules in 2012, Comment 8 has since been adopted by 40 states, including Tennessee, but any practical implications of this addition have been few and far between. In Boles’ article, she posits that the professional obligation of attorneys to use technology responsibly will only grow in the future, and that law schools should be doing more to advise students on technologies they may encounter post-graduation. Using adult learning theory as a guidepost, Professor Boles offers recommendations to law schools that would ensure graduates can meet the requirement of technological competency.

In March, Dean Brown participated as a commentator in a Cornell Law School program celebrating the publication of Professor Brad Wendel’s new book titled Cancelling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration and Regret (Oxford University Press 2024).

Professor Buck was selected to present a draft article at the Eighth Annual Health Law Works-In-Progress Retreat at Seton Hall Law School in Newark, NJ on Jan. 12, 2024.

Professor Buck’s newest article, Patients Versus Profits, in which he documents the challenges involved in using the health care fraud and abuse statutes to prevent the worst excesses of private equity’s involvement in the U.S. health care system, is forthcoming in the 97th edition of the Temple Law Review.

Professor Cornett’s chapter, “Ensnared by Custom: Mary Astell and the American Bar Association on Female Autonomy,” will be published in a collection of essays edited by Brian Larson and Elizabeth Britt, Rhetorical Traditions and Contemporary Law, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.

Professor Cornett’s article, ‘The Most Natural State’ and Personal Jurisdiction After Ford Motor Company v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, will be published in volume 62 of the Houston Law Review.

Professor Cruz has been selected to serve on the University of Tennessee’s Carnegie Leadership Team. The Team will be working with the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach to renew the University’s Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for Institutions of Higher Education. This classification recognizes UT’s commitment to community engagement that promotes partnership, reciprocity, and mutually beneficial collaborations.

Professor Cruz was a guest lecturer for the University of Tennessee's Community Engagement Seminar Series.  In her interactive presentation on Ethical and Practical Consideration in Community Engagement, she shared practice tips and advice from her movement lawyering and clinical teaching experiences. 

Professor Cruz was also a guest lecturer for Boston University School of Law's (BUSL) Access to Justice Clinic.  Her lecture highlighted the current fight for justice and dignity by low-wage workers and her experiences as a workers' rights attorney.  

Professor Cruz's article, ABA Standard 303(c) and Divisive Concepts Legislation and Policies: Challenges and Opportunities, was published in the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy. She co-authored this article with the College of Law's Becky Jacobs and other clinical professors following their presentation at the AALS Clinical Conference. Professor Cruz's contribution to the article described the impact of divisive concepts laws on junior "Crit" scholars. 

On February 9-10, 2024, Professor Jewel participated in the Fourteenth Annual ClassCrits Conference held at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, CA. Professor Jewel, the President of ClassCrits, delivered opening remarks at the conference, participated in a roundtable discussion about Barbrara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, and presented her forthcoming article See That in a Small Town, which addresses visual legal rhetoric in Tennessee.

On February 19, 2024, Professor Jewel spent the day in Nashville speaking with Tennessee legislators about proposed amendments to Tennessee’s Right of Publicity/Appropriation statute. Because of her expertise on this Tennessee law, attorneys at the Motion Picture Association invited Professor Jewel to share her thoughts on the law’s consequences for entertainment law issues within Tennessee.

Professor Krumm was interviewed by the Daily Beacon and PBS radio concerning the legal action taken by the State of Tennessee against the NCAA alleging that the Association’s restrictions on college athletes discussing Name, Image and Likeness deals with “Collectives” “violates federal antitrust law, thwarts the free market, and harms student athletes.”  Professor Krumm also participated as a panelist in the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation’s “Bridging Research & Practice” community forum entitled “Taking Smart Risks.”  The panel was comprised of university professors and entrepreneurs to discuss how to analyze risk and optimize upside potential of a business venture.

Professor Kuney’s and former Adjunct Professor Donna Looper’s newest book, Mastering Legal Analysis and Drafting (2nd edition, Carolina Academic Press), was published in March of this year.  The authors’ second edition of Mastering Appellate Advocacy and Procedure (Carolina Academic Press) is being published later this month.  These are the 31st and 32nd published books authored or co-authored by Kuney during his time at UT Law.

Professor Long recently spoke at the “All About Accommodations” Symposium at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.  The symposium brough together scholars to discuss the current state and future development of accommodations in the workplace.  Professor Long presented his paper, ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) and the ADA’s Reasonable Accommodation Requirement.  The paper will be published in an upcoming volume of the Chicago-Kent Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal.

Professor Long also recently did a continuing legal education presentation for the Knoxville Bar Association entitled “The Robot Lawyers are Coming.”  The presentation focused on the legal ethics issues involving the use of artificial intelligence in the practice of law.

Professor Long’s article Discrimination, Model Rule 8.4(g), and the ABA’s Quixotic Quest for Uniformity will be published in a forthcoming volume of the Washington & Lee Law Review.

Professor Nugent’s article, The Unpropertied Internet, was accepted for publication in Volume 110 of the Cornell Law Review.

Professor Nugent presented a talk on Artificial Intelligence and the Law at the inaugural Symposium on AI Technologies and Their Implications, sponsored by Planet+AI.

Professor Nugent participated in a panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence and Existential Risk at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Artificial Intelligence Security Research (CAISER).

Professor Nugent was selected to write entries on the AI Dimensions of Cybersecurity and the AI Dimensions of Telecommunications for the new Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence and the Law.

Professor Joy Radice was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to serve as the Chair of the Access to Justice Commission for a two-year term beginning on April 1, 2024. The mission of the commission is to provide collaborative leadership to create solutions and resources that address and eliminate barriers to justice for all. 

Professor Glenn Reynolds spoke at Georgetown Law Center's Salmon P. Chase Colloquium on private threats to liberty.  His topic was antitrust law, free speech, and big tech firms.

Professor Schaefer presented Integrating Attorney Well-Being Into the Professional Responsibility Curriculum at the Conference on Professional Responsibility and Professional Identity Formation. The conference was hosted by the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in April 2024. Also in April, she presented “Professional Conduct Issues in Succession Planning” at the Hamilton Burnett Chapter of the American Inns of Court.

Professor Schaefer presented a continuing legal education program titled “The Motherhood Myth” to the East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women in January 2024. The program considered how law firms’ reliance on a narrative of motherhood provides an excuse—but not a legitimate reason—for the underrepresentation of women in law firms. The program addressed the evidence supporting an alternative narrative and explained that understanding that evidence can provide firms a blueprint for meaningful change.

Professor Gregory Stein’s op-ed piece, “Could Alabama IVF decision have embryos owning property, newborns on Medicare?” was published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.  In the piece, Professor Stein points out some of the unintended consequences caused by the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the legal status of frozen embryos.

Professor Tomer Stein was selected as one of the Research Fellows for the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ACEI). The ACEI Fellows Program seeks to create a community of faculty members across UTK who are conducting academic research and/or teaching classes focused on entrepreneurship and/or innovation from a business development perspective.

Professor Lawrence Solum of the Legal Theory Blog named Professor Stein’s article, Judicial Review in Public and Private Governance (forthcoming in Washington University Law Review), as the Download of the Week on March 30.

The Legal Theory Blog highlighted and “Highly Recommended” another of Professor Stein’s articles, The Constitutional Meaning of Financial Terms (with Shelby Ponton (Stetson University, College of Law,  forthcoming in Utah Law Review).

Professor Stucke was interviewed on CNBC regarding the Department of Justice’s monopolization case against Apple. The video is available here.

Prof. Maurice Stucke contributed to a University of Chicago symposium on the recent monopolization complaint by the United States and bi-partisan coalition of states (including Tennessee) against Apple.