Faculty News
for January, 2011
January 31, 2011
The West Virginia University College of Law recently invited Professor Michele Goodwin to give the 2011 endowed John W. Fisher II Lecture in Law and Medicine, created in honor of its 15th dean. The lecture is part of the Clark Family Lecture Series in ten fields of study throughout West Virginia University.
Read Michele Goodwin's Faculty Profile
January 31, 2011
Professor Michele Goodwin was recently invited to deliver the 2011-12 Alan Ross Hawley Distinguished Lecture by the Law, Health Policy and Disability Center of the University of Iowa College of Law. The Center is dedicated to improving the quality of life for persons with disabilities through law, education, technology, and research. The Hawley lecture series champions leaders who are committed to educating future professionals striving to influence national public policies.
Read Michele Goodwin's Faculty Profile
January 28, 2011
Professor Thomas Cotter's article entitled "Optimal Fines for False Patent Marking," published in the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review (Vol. 17, 2010), has been selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of Patent Law Review, published by Thomas Reuters. The annual anthology compiles the best review articles on patent law by leading professionals from various fields to enhance awareness and understanding of patent trends, changes, and court decisions.
Read Tom Cotter's Faculty Profile
January 28, 2011
Professor Susan Wolf will speak at the National Human Genome Research Institute's (NHGRI) 2011 Congress on Ethical, Legal & Social Implications, April 12-14 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolf will deliver a plenary address on the implications for research governance of returning to research participants their individual research results.
Read Susan M. Wolf's Faculty Profile
January 28, 2011
Professor Susan Wolf will speak on neuroscience in the courts on Wednesday, March 2 at a meeting jointly sponsored by the National Academies of Science and U.K.'s Royal Society. This meeting, The Second Raymond and Beverly Sackler U.S.A.-U.K. Scientific Forum: Neuroscience and the Law, will be held at the National Academies' Beckman Center in Irvine, CA.
Read Susan M. Wolf's Faculty Profile
January 27, 2011
January 27, 2011
Professor Ralph Hall was quoted in an Indianapolis Star article entitled, "Many claims on food labels may mislead rather than inform." In response to the debate over food labeling requirements and the implementation of the recent Food Safety Modernization Act, Hall stated, "the FDA needs to strike a balance between avoiding drug-like claims and providing product data."
Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile
January 25, 2011
Professor Richard Painter was a guest on an episode of Patt Morrison on Southern California Public Radio. He debated with Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, on Supreme Court justices attending the State of the Union address. Painter and Whelan also discussed and disagreed on Justice Antonin Scalia's appearance at the Tea Party Caucus.
Read Richard W. Painter's Faculty Profile
January 23, 2011
Professor Richard Painter was quoted extensively in a Star Tribune article entitled "Does Scalia belong at Bachmann sessions?" Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, gave his criticisms on Justice Antonin Scalia's appearance before the Congressional Tea Party caucus.
Read Richard W. Painter's Faculty Profile
January 21, 2011
Professor Richard Painter's reaction to President Obama's decision to move his Office of Political Affairs out of the White House and to Chicago was covered by Politico. Painter said, "The President has made a courageous decision, apparently against the advice of some political strategists who would like to keep [the Office of Political Affairs] in the White House. Lets hope this new arrangement works better than what has been done in the past."
Read Richard W. Painter's Faculty Profile
January 20, 2011
Professor Ralph Hall was quoted in a Star Tribune editorial entitled, "Cutting red tape for medical devices." The report commented on major proposed changes to a key regulatory process used to approve medical devices. Hall's research into this regulatory system has been widely used throughout the debate over these proposed changes.
Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile
January 20, 2011
January 14, 2011
Professor Carl Warren has been chosen to serve as a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Clinical Section's Nomination Committee for a two-year term. His appointment to the committee received wide-spread support from the Clinical Section's Executive Committee. The Nominations Committee is responsible for recommending the Clinical Law Section's new leaders and for advancing the section's diversity goals.
Read Carl Warren's Faculty Profile
January 13, 2011
Prof. Jane Kirtley was a panelist for "A FOIA in the House?: Two Critical Supreme Court Cases for the Environmental and Energy Lawyer," a "Quick Teleconference" sponsored by the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources." She described the legislative and jurisprudential background for FCC v. AT&T, to be argued January 19, when the high court will be asked to decide whether the 7(c) personal privacy exemption to the federal Freedom of Information Act applies to corporations.
Read Jane Kirtley's Faculty Profile
January 12, 2011
In A Return To Judging: Genetics and Biotechnologies in the Courts (published in the Winter Edition of GeneWatch), Professor Michele Goodwin argues against judicial minimalism in biotech cases. Goodwin's invited submission critiques judicial formalism in contemporary cases that, as she argues, represent a new era of legal challenges. Goodwin suggests that social justice norms in the biotech age may be undermined by strict fidelity to precedent arising from cases that ultimately do not fit the dynamics of contemporary cases. Her article is particularly timely given the case involving whether Myriad's patent on a mutant breast cancer gene should survive judicial scrutiny. Goodwin argues that the socio-legal questions and problems emanating from new technologies demand focused attention from the judiciary in the biotech age.
Read Michele Goodwin's Faculty Profile
January 12, 2011
Professor Greg Shaffer's new edited volume, Dispute Settlement at the WTO: The Developing Country Experience, was published by Cambridge University Press in November 2010. He edited the book along with Ricardo Melndez-Ortiz, Chief Executive of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in Geneva, Switzerland. Shaffer was also interviewed about the book's background, which can be found at http://ictsd.org/i/publications/98179/.
Read Gregory Shaffer's Faculty Profile
January 11, 2011
In an opinion handed down today, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed with the conclusion and many of the arguments in an amicus brief authored by Prof. Kristin Hickman. In Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States, the Supreme Court considered the substantive validity of Treasury Regulation 31.3121(b)(10)-2, which requires medical residency programs to withhold FICA taxes from annual stipends paid to medical residents. Professor Hickman's brief addressed the standard of review used by the Court to evaluate the regulation. Specifically, Professor Hickman's brief urged the Court to resolve a longstanding circuit split over the standard of review for Treasury regulations issued under the general authority of Internal Revenue Code 7805(a) and argued specifically in favor of employing the broadly-applicable standard for agency legal interpretations articulated in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), instead of an alternative, tax-specific standard of review expressed in National Muffler Dealers Assn, Inc. v. United States, 440 U.S. 472 (1979). Employing many of Professor Hickman's arguments, a unanimous Court held that Chevron rather than National Muffler provides the appropriate evaluative standard for general authority Treasury regulations.
Read Kristin Hickman's Faculty Profile
January 11, 2011
The widely-read TaxProf Blog has published Professor Kristin Hickman's reaction to the Supreme Court's decision in Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. United States, No. 09-837, issued earlier today. The Supreme Court agreed with and relied heavily in its analysis upon arguments raised in an amicus brief filed by Prof. Hickman in the case.
Read Kristin Hickman's Faculty Profile
January 10, 2011
Professor Ralph Hall was quoted in an InsideHealthPolicy.com article entitled "Device Industry Seeks Common Ground On User Fees As Negotiations Begin." The article states that medical device industry trade groups have begun to collaborate to create a common position on medical device user fee reauthorization, as negotiations begin this year. Furthermore, the article says the industry will emphasize the FDA's failure to meet its performance goals when seeking common ground. Hall said the negative opinion of the FDA's performance could also link user fee negotiations to additional FDA reforms, including 510(k) process reforms.
Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile
January 10, 2011
Professor William McGeveran wrote a column in Capital New York strongly criticizing a recent copyright claim by the famous artist Jeff Koons against the sale of bookends in the shape of balloon dogs. Koons is famous for giant sculptures of balloon dogs, but McGeveran writes, "He wants somehow to leverage his limited rights in a particular sculpture of a balloon dog into control over the object that gives his sculpture its meaning."
Read William McGeveran's Faculty Profile
January 6, 2011
Professor Bernard Levinson's essay entitled, "The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding" was published in a special supplement to the November issue of History Channel Magazine. Levinson and co-author, Joshua Berman, discuss how the King James Bible was used by the American Founders to shape early American politics and construct the Constitution.
Read Bernard M. Levinson's Faculty Profile
January 5, 2011
Professor Prentiss Cox was quoted in the Star Tribune in a story about the appointment of a new Commissioner of Commerce, attorney and DFL activist Michael Rothman, by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. Cox said in the article, "It would be good for consumers if there was a significant change in direction in the department."
Read Prentiss Cox's Faculty Profile
January 5, 2011
Professor Richard Painter was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article on Justice Scalia's planned appearance before Congresswoman Bachmann's Tea Party Coalition. "I don't think it is appropriate for justices to meet with members of Congress, particularly in this highly partisan environment," said Painter, who served as a chief ethics officer in the George W. Bush administration. "Michele Bachmann wants the healthcare law to be struck down by the courts. This is not about a particular ethics rule, but rather about common sense. This creates the appearance of partiality and undermines the credibility of the court."
Read Richard W. Painter's Faculty Profile
January 4, 2011
Professor Ralph Hall will be a panelist at the 4th Annual OneMedForum conference at the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco. Hall's session, "Improving the 510 (k) Process: Lessons Learned from Recent Benchmarking Studies," will be held from 2:30-4:30, Tuesday, January 11, 2011. The program is being held in conjunction with the J. P. Morgan 28th Annual Healthcare Conference.
Read Ralph Hall's Faculty Profile
