Faculty News

An article by Professor Bruce Shnider outlining 10 common mistakes made in executive compensation and some suggestions for avoiding them has been published by a national tax publication, Tax Notes.

Read Bruce Shnider's Faculty Profile

An interview with Professor Amy Kristin Sanders entitled "The FCC's Effort to Regulate Indecency and Internet Neutrality," was featured on Access Minnesota, a public affairs program produced by the Minnesota Boradcasters Association in collaboration with the University of Minnesota's College of Libert Arts and the University of Minnesota Alumni Association's quarterly magazine, Minnesota.

Read Amy Sanders's Faculty Profile

Professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain and Professor Hari Osofsky were involved in an international law conference drawing together the leading female scholars of international law that established an international law women's network. The conference, entitled "The Creation of International Law: An Exploration of Normative Innovation, Contextual Application, and Interpretation in a Time of Flux," was held in Oslo August 6-7, 2010. More information can also be found on the IntLawGrrls Blog.

Read Fionnuala Ni Aolain's Faculty Profile

Read Hari Osofsky's Faculty Profile

At a recent meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Professor Schwarcz presented preliminary results from his research to insurance regulators, media and insurance industry representatives. That research suggests that insurance regulators are taking inadequate measures to inform and protect consumers from variability in insurance policy contract terms.

Read Daniel Schwarcz's Faculty Profile

An article on Portfolio.com discussed Professor Hill and Professor Painter's proposal that bankers be personally liable for their banks' losses. The article describes the proposal and its benefits: "If, as Hill and Painter suggest, any banker making more than $3 million a year works under a joint venture or partnership agreement with their financial institution making them liable for any losses, those bankers are going to have a vested interest in making sure that there aren’t any losses—not just in their part of the business, but firmwide."

Read Claire Hill's Faculty Profile

Read Richard W. Painter's Faculty Profile

Professor Prentiss Cox was quoted in a Minnesota Public Radio news story about a California ruling on overdraft fees that could generate lawsuits in Minnesota. Cox commented on the bank's practice of processing checks and debits.

Read Prentiss Cox's Faculty Profile

Professor William McGeveran, a specialist in internet, intellectual property and privacy law, recently delivered one of the plenary presentations at the annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference at the University of California at Berkeley. He discussed his work in progress about legal responses to online impersonation such as "twitterjacking" -- when an impostor deceptively uses another person's name on the popular online microblogging service. Video of the presentation is available on the conference web site.

Read William McGeveran's Faculty Profile

Professor Hill was quoted on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on rating agency regulatory reform. The Dodd-Frank bill requires Federal agencies to develop alternatives to using rating agency ratings; Hill opined that doing so would be exceedingly difficult.

Read Claire Hill's Faculty Profile

Professor Hall and his study on FDA product recalls of medical devices were covered by the Star Tribune in an article titled "U prof: Tests on humans won't ensure device safety."

Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile

Professor Prentiss Cox was quoted in two Minnesota Public Radio news stories about the recent increase in the number of home foreclosures in Minnesota. The stories were broadcast on August 6, 2010 and August 13, 2010. Cox commented that the recent increases were not substantial enough to change the basic outlook on the foreclosure problem and urged a long-term view. He also advocated for a more assertive federal policy to create mandatory, transparent and enforceable loan modifications for distressed homeowners.

Read Prentiss Cox's Faculty Profile

Professor Hill was quoted in the American Banker on credit rating agencies. The Dodd-Frank bill requires regulators to seek alternatives to the use of rating agency ratings. Noting that the task would be difficult, Hill was quoted as saying, "If it were easy to develop other ways to measure credit quality, people would have done it a long time ago."

Read Claire Hill's Faculty Profile

Professor Jane Kirtley organized and moderated a panel, "Criminal Libel: A 15th Century Crime for the 21st Century," at the 93rd Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Denver on August 4, 2010. She also appeared on two other panels: "Grappling with Legal Risks and Other Challenges" at a workshop, "Journalism Schools as News Providers: Challenges and Opportunities" on August 3, 2010, and "Is the Communications Decency Act Protecting Indecency?" on August 5, 2010.

Read Jane Kirtley's Faculty Profile

Professor Prentiss Cox was quoted in an article, "EXCLUSIVE: Fannie and Freddie's Foreclosure Barons," in Mother Jones magazine about abusive practices by law firm "mills" that specialize in mortgage foreclosures. The article focused on the practices of a Florida law firm, and Cox stated that the practices of some law firms specializing in foreclosure included making charges that are improper.

Cox also was quoted in a story in Market Watch, a Wall Street Journal." on-line publication, related to business opportunity scams focusing on the unemployed.

Read Prentiss Cox's Faculty Profile

Professor Brad Karkkainen was quoted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota DNR to overturn a rural township's issuance of a lakefront zoning variance. The variance would permit a landowner to build closer to the shoreline than is generally allowed under the state's Shoreland Management Act and local zoning rules. Karkkainen pointed out that the Minnesota Supreme Court has construed the "undue hardship" standard for zoning variances to require a showing that no other reasonable use can be made of the property. A Star Tribune investigative series revealed that some local governments routinely grant variances under inconsistent standards, threatening Minnesota's lakes with excessive development.

Read Brad Karkkainen's Faculty Profile

Professor Ralph Hall's study presented to the Institute of Medicine on July 28 was referenced in a press release from the Advanced Medical Technology Association on the proposed changes to the 510(k) process.

Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile