Professors Avalos and Bryner recommended for tenure and promotion to Professor of Law; Professor Chandler for Associate Professor of Law | |
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LSU Law Dean Alena Allen and the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Faculty Committee have recommended that Professors Lisa Avalos and Nick Bryner receive tenure and promotion to Professor of Law, and that Professor Summer Chandler be promoted to Associate Professor of Law. LSU administrators are expected to give final review and approval of the moves next spring.
“Tenure is a huge career milestone. Professors Avalos and Bryner are highly empathetic and effective teachers who have already positively shaped and influenced their respective fields of study, and they will continue to do so,” said Allen. “Professor Chandler is an outstanding colleague and professor, and I’m excited to watch her continued growth as a scholar.”
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LSU Law welcomes delegation of 10 Bangladeshi attorneys general for appellate advocacy training | |
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A delegation of 10 senior lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General of Bangladesh arrived in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Nov. 11, for a weeklong training session on appellate advocacy led by LSU Law faculty that concluded on Friday, Nov. 17.
“The LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center is a global destination for law students and legal scholars, and we were honored to welcome and host the Bangladeshi delegation as they learned from our world class faculty members,” said Dean Alena Allen.
Professor Jeff Brooks, who serves as director of field placements and the moot court/trial advocacy program, helped bring the delegation to LSU Law through his work with the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which is the world’s largest moot court competition. Drawing on LSU Law faculty strengths in courtroom advocacy and legal writing, Brooks created a specialized appellate advocacy training program for the delegation that focused on oral arguments and provided individualized feedback.
Training sessions took place in courtrooms at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center throughout the week. Reference Librarian Aimee Pittman led the training session on legal research tools, while Professor Heidi Thompson taught the delegation how to handle appellate oral argument questions. The delegation also learned about best practices for oral arguments from Professor Marlene Krousel, presenting facts using legal storytelling from Professor Tracy Norton, and the role of oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court from Professor John Devlin.
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‘Personal Genome Medicine’ by Professor Michael Malinowski honored with 2023 Best in Law award from American Book Fest | |
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LSU Law Professor Michael J. Malinowski’s recently released book, “Personal Genome Medicine: The Legal and Regulatory Transformation of US Medicine,” has been honored with the 2023 Best in Law award from the American Book Fest.
Published by Cambridge University Press in August, “Personal Genome Medicine” is a groundbreaking examination of the ethical, legal, and social implications of direct-to-consumer genetic health risk testing services such as 23andMe’s Personal Genome Health Service.
“I am honored to receive the award, and hopeful that the recognition raises awareness about the book and my research,” said Malinowski, who joined the LSU Law faculty in 2002. “The American Book Fest Best Book Awards provides me with some assurance that ‘Personal Genome Medicine’ is both readable and accessible to a potentially broad audience.”
The American Book Fest’s annual BBA is one of the world’s largest international book award programs for mainstream, indie, and self-published titles. Malinowski and the approximately 60 winners of this year’s awards join a prestigious group of past laureates that includes Pope Francis, Amy Tan, Anne Lamott, George Sanders, Julie Andrews, Clive Barker, Vanessa Williams, and others.
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Professor Scott Sullivan honored with 2023 Excellence in Legal Scholarship Award, helps secure $1.5M award to create LSU Cybersecurity Clinic | |
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LSU Law Professor Scott Sullivan’s article, “Unpacking Cyber Neutrality,” has been selected for the prestigious 2023 Excellence in Legal Scholarship Award.
In the article, which was published by NATO, Sullivan discusses how to reconcile the U.S. and European allies engaging in robust cyber operations in support of Ukraine with their publicly espoused stance of neutrality, and addresses the long-term implications for traditional principles of neutrality.
“Scholarship feels most fulfilling when it reaches academics as well as judges, practitioners, and policymakers. The Law Center’s practice of connecting with these constituencies through the Excellence in Legal Scholarship award is part of what makes our scholarly community so strong,” said Sullivan. “‘Unpacking Cyber Neutrality’ dissects the thorny intersection of international law doctrines of neutrality with the proliferation of military cyber operations as a standing feature of armed conflict and statecraft.”
Sullivan is also a part of the team at LSU that recently won a $1.5 million award from the National Security Agency to establish the LSU Cybersecurity Clinic. While LSU students and faculty will collaborate to provide training, counseling, and risk assessment for Louisiana small businesses through the LCC, Sullivan and other experts at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center will provide legal advising to protect both the companies and the students who participate in clinic activities.
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Two new organizations created in support of non-traditional and first-generation students at LSU Law | |
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A pair of new student organizations have been created at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center to support non-traditional and first-generation students. The Older Wiser Law Students—or OWLS—student organization will provide a network for law students with unique life experiences, including those with families, spouses, prior careers, or other non-traditional backgrounds, said OWLS President Jaymie Wright.
“Our hope is to be a group for fellowship and support—academically and otherwise—and to have specific outreach during orientation for incoming students,” said Wright, a first-year law student. “We want to host group activities that include our families and reach out to our community of alumni for support and information about entering the workplace with our unique challenges, such as raising children or being older.”
In a parallel effort to support first-generation law students, the FirstGen Legal Society aims to ease first-generation students’ transition into law school by providing a supportive community and fostering personal and professional connections.
“I started the FirstGen Legal Society to help present and future first-generation students like me deal with integrating into law school and help them make friends who come from similar backgrounds,” said second-year law student and FirstGen Legal Society President Hannah Hummel. “We want to foster cohesion and understanding between LSU Law’s student body and with lawyers in the Baton Rouge community.”
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The emerging and evolving field of space law remains an unfamiliar specialty to many law students. As president of the LSU Law Space Law Society, Val Dykes wants to change that by bringing guest speakers to the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center who can shed some light on the career opportunities and pathways available to those interested in the exciting area of practice.
“Our plan is to host as many space law professionals as we can,” said Dykes, a third-year law student.
On Nov. 9, the society welcomed LSU Law Class of 2019 alumnus Zach Miller back to his alma mater for one such event. Miller, who serves as senior counsel at Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, was a founding member of the Space Law Society during his time at LSU Law. He and teammate Max Roberts also represented LSU Law at the 2018 World Finals of the Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition in Bremen, Germany, where they placed as international semifinalists.
As more attorneys practicing in space law visit LSU Law and share their experiences, Dykes believes more students at the Law Center will begin to explore potential careers in the field, particularly those interested in international law.
“Space law hinges on the international treaties and regulatory law that govern space-related activities between nations,” he explained. “It ties into the comparative law presence here at LSU because lots of people who enjoy international law also find space law exciting.”
Read the full Student Organization Spotlight.
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LSU Law Dean Alena Allen presents on impacts of US Supreme Court decision to end race-conscious college admissions at BRBA luncheon | |
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Before a capacity crowd of roughly 75 members and guests of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, LSU Law Dean Alena Allen presented on the impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end race-conscious college admissions during a luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 30.
In her presentation, “The Impact of SFFA v. UNC and SFFA v. Harvard College on Legal Education,” Allen reviewed how the legal landscape has shifted with respect to admissions in higher education since the the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard College this summer, overturning 45 years of legal precedent. She also touched on opportunities for innovation and implications for the future, particularly as it relates to legal education and the legal profession. Allen is pictured above with BRBA President Melanie Newkome Jones and President-elect Luke Williamson.
On Nov. 8, Allen was a featured guest on the “Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster” radio show, during which she discussed returning home to Louisiana in July to lead the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, her upbringing in New Orleans, her experiences at Yale Law School, and more. Listen to the interview.
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Cuisine and color: Real estate attorney Laura Cotaya Carroll (’12) releases ‘Rainbow Rodney,’ a New Orleans-inspired children’s book | |
As a full-time real estate attorney with three small children and a side hustle writing children’s books, LSU Law alumna Laura Cotaya Carroll (’12) splits her time between her family, career, and the vibrant world of Rodney, a colorful flamingo who serves as the star of her debut children’s book, “Rainbow Rodney.”
When the book was released by New Orleans-based Pelican Publishing Company in mid-September, it represented the completion of a goal that Carroll had dedicated herself to more than a decade ago.
“When my husband and I were flying to Belize for our honeymoon 12 years ago, we wrote our bucket lists of things we wanted to accomplish in our life together,” the New Orleans native explained. “Writing a children’s book was at the very top of mine.”
The protagonist of her 32-page book is a flamingo named Rodney who lives at the Audubon Zoo and decides to spice up his usual shrimp-only diet with New Orleans favorites—resulting in a brilliant coat of muti-colored feathers. From beignets and gumbo to king cake and snowballs, Carroll said readers who aren’t hungry before picking up “Rainbow Rodney” will be craving New Orleans’ famous cuisine by the book’s end.
The inspiration for “Rainbow Rodney” came to Carroll about four years ago, while she was admiring the flamingos at the Audubon Zoo with her daughter, Quinn.
“I was explaining to my daughter, who was 3 at the time, that flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp, which eat algae, which contain beta carotene,” Carroll recalled. “She was eating Froot Loops and said, ‘I’ll feed the flamingo these Froot Loops to make him rainbow.’ Just like that, ‘Rainbow Rodney’ was born, and the book seemed to write itself.”
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LSU Law alumni gather for Les Avocats Holiday Luncheon | |
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LSU Law alumni, faculty, and staff gathered at the Club at Union Square on Wednesday, Dec. 13, for the Les Avocats Holiday Luncheon. The luncheon honors LSU Law graduating classes of 50 years or more, and serves an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with their former classmates as well as current faculty and staff.
The roughly 30 LSU Law alumni on hand for the luncheon represented graduating classes spanning from 1958 to 1973, which is the newest class added to this distinguished group of alumni.
John M. Madison Jr. (’69) served as emcee and introduced Dean Alena Allen during the luncheon.
See a photo gallery from the luncheon.
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2009 alumni Miller and Anderson return to LSU Law to speak with students about growing career opportunities in cyberlaw, cybersecurity | |
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As LSU Law alumni Darrell Miller (’09) and Sarah Anderson (’09) began their presentation for the “What is Cyberlaw/Cybersecurity?” event held at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center on Nov. 7, multiple neon-colored lines whizzed across an “attack map” displayed on the screen behind them.
“Each line on the map represents someone trying to hack one of the fake businesses I created,” Miller said of the faux profiles he created to research trends in cyberattacks.
Miller and Anderson returned to the Law Center to discuss opportunities in the fields of cyberlaw and cybersecurity. “What is Cyberlaw/Cybersecurity?” was one of many area-specific events held by the LSU Law Career Services Office during the fall semester, and the first to focus on cyberlaw and cybersecurity.
Read the full story.
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When third-year LSU Law student Erica Bayles decided to shift career paths and pursue a law degree, she had already accomplished two of her life goals—starting a family and becoming a teacher. Despite being a busy mother of five with an established career in education, Bayles didn’t want to deny her longtime dream of becoming an attorney, so she enrolled at LSU Law, where her husband, Blase Inzina, had earned his law degree in 2002.
Bayles began her studies at LSU Law with the primary intention of developing the skills necessary to join her husband’s Lafayette-based firm. But along the way, she discovered a keen interest in advocating for pro-life policy, particularly within the areas of adoption and foster care.
Bayles joined the Public Interest Law Society at LSU Law and served on the leadership team for Street Law, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing practical and participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights. Through her work with the groups, she was able to leverage her teaching experience to help educate young students at local schools about the importance of leadership and becoming a source of positive change in their community.
“My experience in law school has made me realize the impact I want to have. I feel that the education I’ve received from LSU Law has opened doors and will make it possible for me to be an effective advocate for those who need a voice,” Bayles said. “Professor (Ray) Diamond told me once that some people go to law school with a purpose and lose it, and others go to law school without one and find it.”
Read the full Your Gifts at Work profile to learn more about Bayles, and find out how you can support outstanding students like her through LSU Law scholarships.
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After a terrific event earlier this year, LSU Law will host the American Moot Court Association Pre-National Tournament at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center on Jan. 13-14, 2024. We want to make this tournament just as successful, and we need your help to do it!
LSU Law is currently seeking attorneys who are interested in volunteering to serve as judges in all rounds of the AMCA Pre-National Tournament. Judges will observe the undergraduate students as they present oral arguments in a fictional U.S. Supreme Court case and evaluate the students’ arguments. Volunteers are needed for the following dates and times:
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Saturday, Jan. 13 — 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and 4 to 5:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Jan. 14 — 12 to 3 p.m.
Judges must commit to volunteering for at least three hours on either of the tournament days, but are welcome to judge for as many hours as they are available throughout the weekend.
Contact Professor Jeff Brooks at jeffbrooks@lsu.edu with your availability to volunteer, or for additional questions and information about the tournament.
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Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John Weimer (’80) named to National Conference of Chief Justices Board | |
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Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice and LSU Law alumnus John Weimer (’80) has been named a Board Member to the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), a national organization for the highest judicial officers of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and multiple territories.
Founded in 1949, the CCJ provides an opportunity for chief justices to discuss and make recommendations on improvements to the administration of justice, rules and methods of procedure, and the organization and operation of state courts and judicial systems. Each year the CCJ hosts a midyear and annual meeting, and in 2025 the midyear meeting will be held in New Orleans.
Read the full story.
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LSU Law 2024 Apprenticeship Week to feature 20 visiting professors, including USEA and SoCalGas presidents | |
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Nearly two-dozen visiting professors from across the United States will converge at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center for LSU Law’s annual Apprenticeship Week on Jan. 2-6, 2024.
Among the visiting faculty are LSU Law alumni Mark Menezes (’81), president and CEO of the United States Energy Association (USEA), and Maryam Brown (’00), president of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), who will team up to teach a course on Energy Policy and Climate Change.
Apprenticeship Week is held each year during the week before the start of the spring semester. Master lawyers and judges from across the nation volunteer to lead abbreviated courses in a variety of specialized topics, such as Sports Law and Video Game Law. The program is offered free for participating students to gain focus, task-oriented training.
Read the full story.
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Our 2024 calendar is already jam-packed, and we hope you’ll be able to join us for one or more of the upcoming events:
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Tuesday, Feb. 6: Professor Frédérique Ferrand of the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France, will present the 43rd John H. Tucker Jr. Lecture in Civil Law at 12:30 p.m. in the McKernan Auditorium.
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Professor Nick Bryner served as a panelist at the “Dialogue on the Latest Scientific and Legal Developments in Climate Change Law,” which was held Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 9. The event was organized by the UN Environmental Programme, International Association of Judges, World Commission on Environmental Law, International Council of Environmental Law, and the European Forum of Judges for the Environment. | | |
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Professor Tracy Norton presented “Look What You Made Me Do: Teaching in My Generative AI Era” at a one-day workshop at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law on Dec. 2. She discussed how she has embraced generative AI to enhance her teaching methods and why she decided to incorporate AI in the classroom. | | |
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Professor Keith Hall is quoted by Energywire in an article on court fights over proposed Gulf Coast gas export facilities that are exerting new pressure on federal energy regulators to reevaluate whether it is in the public’s best interest to ship fossil fuels to foreign countries as the world confronts climate change. | | |
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Professor Tom Galligan's article, "There Are More Things to Punitive Damages in Admiralty Than the 1:1 Ratio Set Forth in Exxon’s Legal Philosophy" (81 La. L. Rev. 395, 420-21 [2021]), is cited and quoted by Judge John deGravelles of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in Kenai Ironclad Corporation v. CP Marine Services LLC, 84 F. 4th 460 (5th Cir. 2023). | | | | |
