Research on overindebtedness and household incomes represents “low-hanging fruit,” according to Professor Robert Lawless. In a new article published in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, he and his co-authors review current literature about who files bankruptcy, what causes bankruptcy, what happens in bankruptcy court, and what happens after cases conclude. They also propose a research agenda that will contribute to broader sociological and sociolegal research agendas in various fields.

Professor Richard Kaplan is the recipient of the 2025 AALS Aging and Law Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors his distinguished career of teaching, service, and scholarship in aging and the law. A letter from the AALS Aging and Law Section explained his selection, noting “dedicated service to the profession, to your students, to colleagues in mentorship, and to advancing scholarship in the field with your valuable contributions.”

Professor Kaplan has been teaching since 1979, has seven published books, and over 80 publications. He also has dedicated his career to enabling others to succeed. Under his leadership, the Elder Law Journal has created a forum for scholars from around the world to publish quality articles related to elder law, while simultaneously encouraging new generations of lawyers and law students to pursue work in this area.

Kaplan will be recognized at the Section on Scholarship’s Award Ceremony on Friday, January 10, 2025. 

Professor Sara Gerke was recently featured on the SSRN blog, discussing her extensive research. As part of their “Meet the Author” series, Gerke participated in a question and answer session covering her research on the ethical and legal challenges of artificial intelligence and big data for health care and health law in the United States and Europe. She shared some of her background and much about her research in the interview.

Professor Richard Kaplan presented “Gender Discrimination in Retirement Plan Distributions” at the American Tax Policy Institute Symposium, It’s a Man’s World: Revealing and Addressing Hidden Gender Bias in Tax Law and Policy, in Washington, D.C. His paper will appear next year in an issue of the Pittsburgh Tax Review devoted to the Symposium’s presentations.

Congratulations to Professor Lauren Aronson on being selected by the Sixth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee for the 2024 Community Legal Service Award. She was honored at an event on October 24 for her volunteer work in Champaign-Urbana, including work with the Immigration Law Clinic, the New American Welcome Center, and as the only Spanish-speaking guardian ad litem providing services to community members in Champaign County. On behalf of the entire College of Law, we express our sincere pride to call Professor Aronson one of our own.

New faculty member Sara Gerke has an extensive background in research prior to her time at Illinois Law and she has brought her work on CLASSICA with her to Champaign. CLASSICA is an EU-funded project examining cancer classification via AI technology across several clinics, surgical teams, and countries. Professor Gerke is one of the heads of the study of the legal and ethical implications raised by AI-assisted surgery as part of the project.

In September, Professor Jacob Sherkow delivered a presentation on the legal aspects of DNA sequencing cases to the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. His presentation, titled “Trade Secrets Committee Meeting: Litigating DNA Trade Secrecy,” covered whether DNA sequences are protectable by trade secrecy and if recent advances in DNA sequencing technology might destroy trade secrecy protection for certain kinds data. He reviewed the technology in the field and cases focused on DNA trade secrecy as well as provided practical suggestions for litigating DNA trade secrecy cases.

In a video interview, Professor Richard Kaplan spoke to The Street’s Retirement Daily about the six major changes enacted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The changes, he explained, represent Congressional efforts to address deficiencies in employer-provided retirement savings plans and continue a pattern of pension plans accommodating an array of social initiatives that are not always related to providing income in retirement.

“Over the last few years, the Roberts Court has repeatedly obstructed precedent,” Professor Bill Watson states in his new article, “Obstructing Precedent,” published in the Northwestern University Law Review. Obstructing precedent, he explains, is when a court does not cooperate with its prior self in building a coherent body of law; however, while it is concerning, there is nothing inherently illegitimate about the Court obstructing precedent.

Annual Comparative Law Work-in-Progress Workshop
May 1-3, 2025 
Announcement and Call for Papers