Faculty News
for October, 2009
October 21, 2009
Professor Steve Meili was interviewed for a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune concerning MoneyGram International's agreement to pay $18 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it allowed its system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers in Canada who bilked U.S. cosumers out of over $84 million. Professor Meili noted that while the settlement would send a message to other wire transfer companies, it does not address the underlying problem of how these international scams are able to operate with little or no regulation.
Read Steve Meili's Faculty Profile
October 21, 2009
Professor Myron Orfield was quoted in a New York Times article "Another Squeeze on Small Business: Rising Property Taxes." Property tax relief is more apparently available for homeowners and big business. Small business owners faced with rising taxes often find less assistance according to Orfield. Location may also play a critical role for businesses facing tax increases, especially those located in central cities and older "inner-ring" suburubs.
Read Myron Orfield's Faculty Profile
October 12, 2009
University of Minnesota Professor Susan M. Wolf, JD, has been elected to the National Academys Institute of Medicine (IOM). Prof. Wolf is McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; Faegre & Benson Professor of Law; Professor of Medicine; and a Faculty Member in the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. She chairs the Universitys Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences.
Election to the IOM is among the highest honors in the health and medicine fields and is a highly selective process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. The IOM charter requires that at least one-fourth of the membership is selected from fields outside the health professions, such as law, engineering, and the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social and behavioral sciences.
Read Susan M. Wolf's Faculty Profile
October 9, 2009
Professor David Stras was interviewed on the Bill Handel show, a syndicated talk radio show based in Los Angeles. During the interview, Professor Stras explained how the Supreme Court works, described the upcoming cases for the October 2009 Term, and discussed various aspects of the Court's workload.
Read David Stras's Faculty Profile
October 9, 2009
Professor David Stras was interviewed by New Hampshire Public Radio about the Supreme Court's Declining Plenary Docket. During the interview, Professor Stras explained the various theories that might account for the decline in the docket, including his own cert pool and membership-based theories discussed in his scholarship.
Read David Stras's Faculty Profile
October 9, 2009
Professor Prentiss Cox was quoted in an October 9, 2009 story in The Hill, a newspaper based in Washington, D.C. that covers policy matters of interest in Congress. The story concerned federal preemption of state laws. Cox was quoted about the history of federal preemption of state consumer financial protections.
Read Prentiss Cox's Faculty Profile
Cotter's Article Cited in Federal District Court Opinion
October 7, 2009
A federal district court extensively cited Professor Thomas Cotter's article, "Toward a Functional Definition of Publication in Copyright Law," 92 Minnesota Law Review 1724 (2008), in Moberg v. 33T LLC, __ F. Supp. 2d __, 2009 WL 3182606 (D.N.J. Oct. 6, 2009). At issue was whether, under U.S. copyright law, posting a work of authorship on the Internet constitutes a publication of the work; and if so whether the publication should be deemed to occur only in the country in which the work is uploaded or, simultaneously, everywhere in the world. Cotter's article discusses the complexities of resolving these issues, and the practical consequences of different possible resolutions, under U.S. law and the Berne Convention, an international copyright treaty.
Read Tom Cotter's Faculty Profile
Professor Shaffer speaks at WTO in Geneva and at ASIL-ESIL Helsinki conference
October 6, 2009
October 5, 2009
Professor Kristin Hickman was quoted in an article in Tax Notes, "IRS Strikes Back Against Judicial Losses in Overstated Basis Cases," discussing the validity of recent temporary tax regulations issued by the Treasury Department in which the government adopted interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code previously rejected by the Ninth and Federal Circuits.
Read Kristin Hickman's Faculty Profile
October 4, 2009
In the Opening Ceremony of the International Bar Association in Madrid, Professor Stein will give an address on professional and public interest work by lawyers worldwide. Over 4,500 lawyers from more than 175 countries will be in attendance. King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, will also deliver remarks at the Opening Ceremony.
Read Robert Stein's Faculty Profile
