Section Highlights

Submitted by Michael Green In one of the final sessions held at the conference, experienced workplace law professors discussed potential developments under employment discrimination law in light of the most recent appointments to the Supreme Court.  Moderated by Nicole Porter (Toledo), the discussion group presenters including Richard Carlson (South Texas),  Michael Green (Texas A&M), Wendy Greene (Drexel), Marcia McCormick (Saint Louis) and Kerri Stone (Florida International) discussed issues related to proof elements; disparate impact and affirmative action;  racism based upon hair; transgender, orientation, stereotyping and harassment all based on sex; and retaliation concerns that the Court will likely have to address. There was also robust participation from audience participants from workplace law professors from Memphis, North Carolina, and NYU.

Submitted by Rishi Batra On Monday, July 29th, several law professors from around the country who teach alternative dispute resolution met at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) conference in Boca Raton, FL for a wide ranging discussion entitled “Using Dispute Resolution Skills to Teach Current Events.” Among those present were Cynthia Alkon (Texas A&M), Andrea Schneider (Marquette), Kelly Browe Olsen (Arkansas Little Rock), Sarah Cole (Ohio State), Debra Berman (South Texas), Nancy Welsh (Texas A&M), Debra Eisenberg (Baltimore), Noam Ebner (Creighton), Rishi Batra (US Air Force Academy), Lynn Cohn (Northwestern), and Richard Reuben (Missouri). The discussion was inspired by a class exercise (and subsequent blog post) by Andrea Schneider during the Kavanaugh hearings. Professor Schneider described an exercise

Submitted by Michael Z. Green Participants met and discussed the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision, Janus v. AFSCME, which held that fair share fees (mandatory union dues for collective bargaining and grievance processing) were unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s free speech clause.  Key discussants and presenters Scott Bauries (Kentucky), Richard Carlson (South Texas), Michael Green (Texas A&M), Marcia McCormick (Saint Louis), and Luke Norris (Richmond) discussed the Janus implications including looking for new incentives to foster public sector labor relations, new First Amendment constitutional challenges, some state reactions to Janus, and pending court actions to exclusive representation and past payment of fair share fees.  There were also other participants NYU, North Carolina, and Memphis law schools who added to

Submitted by W. Keith Robinson On Friday morning, August 2nd, the SEALS annual meeting featured a panel titles “The Law and Policy of the Internet of Things.” The panel was moderated by Fazal Kahn, Professor at the University of Georgia Law School. The panel featured presentations from Professors Elif Kauvusturan, Esq. and Michael Lee Rustad, both from Suffolk University Law School, Professor Thomas H. Koenig from Northeastern University School of Law and Professor W. Keith Robinson from the SMU Dedman School of Law. Professor Koenig’s presentation explored the Internet of Things through a sociological lens. Specifically, professor Koenig discussed how his research on the sociology of tort reform could be applied to the IoT ecosystem. He argued that IoT providers

Submitted by Louis Virelli A discussion group titled “New and Established Voices in Constitutional Law” met at the SEALS annual meeting on Monday, July 29th. The discussion was moderated by Professor Akram Faizer (Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law). It featured the work of nine discussants and was attended by several other conference attendees. The session focused on several of the discussants’ ongoing scholarly projects. Professor Eric Segall (Georgia State University College of Law) began by summarizing two of his ongoing projects, one challenging the role of personal injury in the courts’ standing, ripeness, and mootness doctrines, and another focused on showing that constitutional meaning cannot be, as some originalists and others suggest, fixed. Professor Segall was followed by