Spring is known for representing new beginnings, and the past month has seen plenty of firsts. At the end of February, the ABF and the University of South Carolina School of Law partnered to present the first William Hubbard Conference on Law and Education, the ABF presented its first Lifetime Achievement Award in Law and Education, and a former ABF Doctoral Fellow was named one of the first recipients of the recently reinvented Dan David Prize. Some things never change, however, specifically the ABF’s commitment to investigating inequalities at every level, from the U.S. federal government’s constructions of identity and citizenship, to the stigmatized renter’s struggle to find a home in an increasingly fragile housing market. Read on to discover which Fellows have made it to the 2022 Lawdragon Hall of Fame, what changes are coming to Whose Law is it Anyway?, and registration details for our upcoming National Fellows Webinar on the critical race theory debate.
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ABF Researchers in the News
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ABF Research Professor Anna Reosti’s Report on Covid-19 vs. Affordable Housing Access Covered in the Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune published an article about the findings in ABF Research Professor Anna Reosti’s December report, The Impact of Covid-19 on Small Rental Property Management: Insights From a Chicago Case Study. In the piece, reporter Sarah Freishtat outlined the financial challenges that landlords have faced, and the resultant effects: that a “sizable minority” of landlords have started to consider more rigid policies regarding background checks, rent increases, and additional fees, with some considering leaving the rental market altogether. Professor Reosti and her University of Illinois at Chicago colleague Allison Helmuth said that the percentage of landlords tightening their management practices has only continued to increase, and that more follow-up research will be necessary to see whether an increase in rental assistance access will change the trajectory.
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Former ABF Doctoral Fellow Kimberly Welch receives Dan David Prize
Vanderbilt Associate History Professor and Former ABF Doctoral Fellow Kimberly Welch is one of nine recipients of the newly reimagined Dan David Prize, which celebrates early and mid-career professionals from a wide range of disciplines who have made important discoveries about human history. Professor Welch was selected due to her research about African-Americans in the antebellum south who filed lawsuits—often successfully—against white people regarding property rights, back pay, and freedom. She plans to use her $300,000 prize to embark on a more ambitious research journey that will likely turn into multiple book projects.
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Former ABF Access to Justice Scholar Emily Ryo’s Recent Study About Racial Disparities in U.S. Citizenship Application Approvals Covered by CNN
CNN recently reported on USC Gould Law and Sociology Professor Emily Ryo’s new study regarding over 2 million citizenship petitions submitted between 2014 and 2018. Professor Ryo, who was a 2020-2021 Access to Justice Scholar at the American Bar Foundation, found that amongst immigrants applying for United States citizenship, Black applicants are denied more than any other racial group. While the research data didn’t include possible reasons for this disparity, Professor Ryo hypothesized that they stem from past patterns of race and gender-based discrimination in federal legislation.
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Nine ABF Fellows Inducted into Lawdragon 2022 Class Hall of Fame
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Placement on any of Lawdragon’s top 500 leading lawyer lists is a milestone for successful and influential attorneys around the globe, which makes selection for their Hall of Fame an even more exceptional accomplishment. When the legal media mainstay released their list of 2022 HOF Honorees in January, they revealed the inclusion of nine American Bar Foundation Fellows:
Kim J. Askew, Texas Life Fellow, State Chair
Rosemary Alito, New Jersey Life Fellow
Steve W. Berman, Washington Life Fellow
Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Massachusetts Life Fellow
Brad D. Brian, California Life Fellow
Evan R. Chesler, New York Life Fellow
Marcia L. Goldstein, New York Life Fellow
Harry M. Reasoner, Texas Patron Fellow
Todd A. Smith, Illinois Life Fellow
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Sahar Aziz, Texas Life Fellow, Interviewed about MENA Identity and the U.S. Census for NPR
Rutgers Law Professor and Texas Life Fellow Sahar Aziz has offered her insights to an NPR article about Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) erasure by the federal government, which requires MENA people to be categorized as “white” in the U.S. Census. The piece highlighted a recent study illustrating that most MENA people do not see themselves as white, and most people who aren’t MENA or Latinx do not perceive them as white either. Professor Aziz shared that even though Middle Eastern and North Africans in the United States have been explicitly and implicitly pressured to align with whiteness due to anti-blackness and discriminatory citizenship requirements from the late 1800s, they still do not receive any of the benefits, especially since September 11th, when anti-MENA prejudice intensified.
Read more about Professor Aziz here.
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William C. Martucci, Life Fellow, Selected as KCMBA’s 2022-2023 President
ABF Life Fellow and Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP partner Bill Martucci has been elected to the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s 2022-2023 presidency. Mr. Martucci will bring to the role over 20 years of experience as an international business law litigator, honed by working with Fortune 500 companies and other organizations to manage class action, whistleblower, business litigation, employment policy, complex litigation, and executive dispute cases.
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Lucian T. Pera, Tennessee Life Fellow, Receives 2022 Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award
Tennessee Life Fellow and Adams and Reese partner Lucian T. Pera will be presented with the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility’s 2022 Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award at a June 2, 2022 ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland. The award was created to celebrate innovative and influential practitioners in the field of legal ethics, who have dedicated their careers to ensuring that the legal profession continues to maintain high standards of honesty and community care.
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Register Now:
National Fellows Webinar
"Critical Race Theory: Fact, Fiction, and Future"
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ABF Neukom Chair and UC Berkeley Law Professor Ian Haney López, Georgetown Law Professor K-Sue Park, IU Maurer Law Professor & Kinsey Institute Senior Scientist I. India Thusi, ABF Fellow and Southern Education Foundation President & CEO Raymond C. Pierce
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Professor Ian Haney López, ABF William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law, will lead a panel discussion centered on defining critical race theory and exploring the current media controversy surrounding it for our next free virtual National Fellows Webinar on Thursday, March 31, 11am PT/12pm MT/1pm CT/2pm ET.
Joining him will be Georgetown Law Professor K-Sue Park and IU Maurer Law Professor I. India Thusi, with moderation by Southern Education Foundation President and CEO Raymond C. Pierce.
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Fellows Event Spotlight:
Hubbard Conference on Law and Education
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ABF Board President Tom Sullivan, Richard W. Riley, Dean William C. Hubbard, Interim President Harris Pastides, ABF Board Past-President David Houghton
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On February, 25, 2022, the American Bar Foundation held its much anticipated inaugural William Hubbard Conference on Law and Education at the University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia, South Carolina. The conference took place as a part of the South Carolina Law Review’s annual symposium, and carried the theme “law, education, and democracy.”
The conference, which was rich with panel discussions and research presentations about the most cutting-edge sociolegal research, was preceded by a dinner honoring former South Carolina governor and former Clinton Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley with the ABF’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in Law and Education, presented by the Interim President of the University of South Carolina, Harris Pastides.
The event was the first made possible by the William C. Hubbard Law & Education Conference Endowment established by ABF Philanthropist Fellow William H. Neukom in honor of Dean Hubbard, whose commitment to sociolegal education and advancement has been a focus of his career, both as a past-president of the American Bar Foundation and current Dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law. Other top donors include David and Debra Houghton and the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Foundation at the “Champion” level, as well as Michael Byowitz and Ruth Holzer, William and Kappy Hubbard, Nelson Mullins Riley Scarborough LLP, and the University of South Carolina School of Law at the the "Leader" level of support.
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Season 1 Finale: When Law Meets Society
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ABF Executive Director and Research Professor Ajay Mehrotra, Whose Law is it Anyway? Host Devin Johnson
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It's the end of an era at Whose Law is it Anyway?, but the passing of one season portends the beginning of a new one. In this season 1 finale, new host Devin Johnson sits down with ABF Executive Director and Research Professor Ajay Mehrotra to reflect on the lessons of the past seven episodes. What potential impact can the ABF's empirical sociolegal research have on society, and how can a podcast be used to realize that potential? What can listeners take away as individual citizens of a changing world?
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Welcome New Fellows!
We have had the pleasure of welcoming over 100 New Fellows to the ABF community since December 23, 2021. Click here to see a list of our newest members.
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Support the ABF
We are grateful for your generosity and continued support. Please click here to make your contribution for this fiscal year which began on September 1, 2021.
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Primary funding for the ABF is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
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The American Bar Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organization. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in publications or presentations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Bar Foundation, nor the policy positions of the American Bar Association or its affiliates. The AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION, ABF and related seal trademarks as used by the American Bar Foundation are owned by the American Bar Association and used under license.
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