Faculty News
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Prof. Schwarcz Testifies to Congress on Bill to Reform Federal Role in Insurance Regulation
March 9, 2018Professor Daniel Schwarcz testified to a subcommittee of the United States House Financial Services Committee regarding a Bill that would exempt a new category of savings and loan holding companies—those with a focus on insurance—from federal supervision. Professor Schwarcz testified that the Bill violates the core principle that owners of federally-insured banks must be subject to effective consolidated oversight at the federal level and creates the prospect for the same type of regulatory arbitrage that helped cause the 2008 financial crisis. This was Professor Schwarcz’s seventh time testifying to Congress in the last seven years.
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Prof. Soper Discusses Twin Cities Archdiocese Bankruptcy in Star Tribune
March 8, 2018As the St. Paul Archdiocese bankruptcy drags into its fourth year, Professor Christoper Soper spoke with the Star Tribune about recent developments in the case. Soper, who represented many insurance carriers in archdiocese bankruptcies when he was in practice, noticed that, “This is a long time for any bankruptcy case, it’s an especially long time for an archdiocese bankruptcy case.” The most notable development in the case is the recent resignation of the mediator, and the appointment of a new mediator. According to Soper, “There’s so much entrenchment now. To get a new person could give the parties a chance for a reset, a chance to drop some of the baggage that they’ve been dragging.”
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Prof. McGeveran Discusses Uber Data Breach Settlement in Wired
March 6, 2018Professor William McGeveran, an expert in data privacy regulation, commented in Wired about an action brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General seeking over $13 million in penalties against Uber for failure to notify victims of a data breach. Because almost every state has a law requiring data breach notification, McGeveran said, the company may face many more regulatory actions if other states follow Pennsylvania’s lead.
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Prof. Rozenshtein Quoted in BuzzFeed About Indictments of Russian Nationals in Special-Counsel Investigation
March 2, 2018Professor Alan Rozenshtein was quoted in a BuzzFeed article on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russian nationals for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Professor Rozenshtein explained the effect of these indictments on individuals connected to the Trump campagin and administration: “[The indictments] should scare the bejesus out of anybody connected to the Trump campaign who committed malfeasance or is considering being anything other than 110% truthful when they talk to investigators.”
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Prof. Kitrosser Quoted in Washington Post About Executive Privilege
February 28, 2018Professor Kitrosser was quoted at length in a Washington Post article about the Trump Administration’s use of executive privilege. Kitrosser was quoted as saying, among other things, that “This is not the first administration to try to get the benefits of executive privilege without formally invoking it,” but that “[w]hat is new and really troubling … is that we’ve seen it quickly become routine that the administration sends out a witness who says, ‘I categorically can’t discuss this whole set of really important issues because I want to preserve the ability of the president to assert executive privilege.’ And then there’s no follow up by either the administration or Congress.”
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Prof. Klass Interviewed by MPR and WCCO Regarding $850 Million Settlement of Minnesota Lawsuit Against 3M
February 21, 2018Professor Alexandra Klass was interviewed by Minnesota Public Radio and WCCO News on the implications of the $850 million settlement resolving the State of Minnesota’s lawsuit against 3M Corporation for PFC chemical contamination in the east Twin Cities metro area. The case sought $5 billion in damages to groundwater and other natural resources.
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Prof. Meili Presents Research on the Constitutional Right to Asylum at the University of Newcastle
February 17, 2018Professor Steve Meili discussed his research on the constitutionalization of the right to asylum at a seminar sponsored by the Newcastle Law School in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Meili argued that a more robust use of the constitutional right to asylum may be particularly appropriate at a time of increasing nationalism and anti-globalization. An increasing number of countries have included a right to asylum in their national constitutions over the past two decades (notably in Latin America and other parts of the Global South), and in many such cases that constitutional right provides broader protection to asylum-seekers than the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Meili’s research on this topic was recently published in the Fordham International Law Journal.
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Prof. Cotter Cited in Arizona Court of Appeals Defamation Case
February 11, 2018On February 6, 2018, the Arizona Court of Appeals handed down its opinion in Doe v. Mahoney, a case involving the question of whether an internet service provider was required to disclose the identity of a blogger who published statements that the complaining party contended were defamatory. In the course of granting relief from an order denying the blogger’s motion to quash the subpoena, the court cited an article co-authored by Thomas Cotter and Lyrissa Lidsky, Authorship, Audiences, and Anonymous Speech, 82 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1537, 1594-1602 (2007), for the proposition that “[i]f all it takes is an allegation of defamation to uncover a defendant’s identity, the right to speak anonymously is very fragile indeed … [o]n the other hand, anonymity should not immunize the defendant’s tortious conduct.”
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Prof. Kritzer Interviewed About the Forthcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court Election
February 9, 2018Professor Herbert Kritzer was interviewed about the forthcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election in an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Professor Kritzer said that he does not think that one of the candidates identifying himself as a Democrat would have much of an effect on the race because Wisconsin Supreme Court races have been politicized for so long that voters usually have a sense of the partisan support candidates are receiving. Kritzer went on to say, “Wisconsin until 25 years ago had an extremely strong nonpartisan tradition and that has been dissipated, to put it mildly.”
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Prof. Rozenshtein Interviewed on MSNBC About Russian Interference in U.S. Elections
February 7, 2018Professor Alan Rozenshtein was interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” about the prospects of future Russian interference in U.S. elections, and what steps if any the United States can take to prevent it. Professor Rozenshtein argued that “the best defense against Russian meddling is going to be a skeptical American public” and that “what’s really getting in the way of a powerful response is that every time President Trump talks about it, he dismisses it.”