On November 26, 2025, Laura Kotelman was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners by the Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Author: Krista Gaedtke
Ronald Franklin Coplan ’65
Ronald Franklin Coplan, 88, of Valparaiso, Indiana, formerly of Morrison, Illinois, passed away Tuesday, November 18, 2025.
New paper from Sherkow: “Intellectual Property, New Genomic Technologies And Plant Innovation: Clearing Innovation Pathways”
Professor Jacob Sherkow has co-authored a new paper with Laura Valtere (University of Copenhagen – CeBIL) and Timo Minssen (University of Copenhagen – CeBIL) titled “Intellectual Property, New Genomic Technologies And Plant Innovation: Clearing Innovation Pathways.” The abstract follows:
New genomic technologies (NGTs), such as genome editing-the modification of DNA in living cells-promises to revolutionize agriculture. Beyond simply yielding new, commercially viable crop varieties, NGTs also hold out promise of using novel crops as a “biosolution”-methods to improve sustainability practices by reducing pesticide usage, improving drought tolerance, increasing yield, and minimizing food and fertilizer waste. At the same time, the complex global system of intellectual property (IP) protection for crops has largely been unchanged for decades. There is accordingly some concern that the current crop IP system will not bring the promise of agricultural biosolutions to fruition. This Article reviews NGTs as biosolution and explores how they fit into the current international IP system for crops. Against this backdrop, this Article also reviews several current proposals to crop IP regime, before tentatively suggesting recommendations for rebalancing the incentive structures in crop IP.
Lawless and co-authors discuss their book “Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy” in 2-part series with Law360
Professor Robert Lawless, along with co-authors Pamela Foohey and Deborah Thorne, recently sat down with Law360 for an in-depth interview on their book “Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy.” The book is the latest to come out of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term interdisciplinary research project on consumer bankruptcies in the U.S. that began in 1981. The authors discussed what they were hoping to learn (and what surprised them), how the data on who is filing for bankruptcy has changed over time, and what they want lawmakers to take away from the book.
Pahre publishes paper in Texas A&M Journal of Property Law
Professor Jennifer Pahre recently published “A Comparison of Inadequate Doctrines: The Canadian “honour of the Crown” and the U.S. Federal Trust Responsibility” in the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law. The paper, written as a result of a grant from the Indigenous Politics Program at the American Political Science Association, compares key policies of the U.S. and Canada towards their Indigenous populations.
Mazzone discusses constitutionality of a proposed “billionaire’s tax” in Illinois
Although it was ultimately not included in the recently approved Chicago area transit bailout measure, Professor Jason Mazzone told the Cook County Record in late October that the proposed “billionaire’s tax” would face a stiff uphill battle in court.
“The sponsors of the (legislation), which would impose a tax on unrealized gains on assets owned by state residents with net assets exceeding $1 billion in value, contend that the proposed new tax is not a tax on personal property but on income,” Mazzone wrote in an email answer to questions from The Record.
“The Illinois courts will be very skeptical of this claim for the simple reason that a gain on paper, without any money ever being exchanged, does not obviously count as income within the ordinary meaning of the word or in the world of financial management or taxation,” Mazzone said.
“An increase in wealth is quite different from an increase in income. The state constitution distinguishes between the two. Courts will be inclined to keep the line between them sharp.”
R. Ross joins Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness podcast as a guest
Professor Richard Ross was recently a featured guest on the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness podcast. He and fellow guest Professor Steven Wilf (UConn) discussed the creation of the legal concept of the people with the right to overthrow their government. The podcast is created by the Amerikazentrum research center in Germany, highlighting the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
George C. Lackey ’61
George C. Lackey, Lackey & Stevenson PC, Centralia, Illinois, has retired at the age of 89.
Mark Wanda ‘86
Mark Wanda has been named Senior Vice President, Legal & Chief Compliance Officer at Verastem, Inc.
Matt Gold ’16
Matt Gold joined MoloLamken LLP as Counsel. Matt joins from the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, where he most recently served on the Google (ad tech) antitrust trial teams.
MoloLamken LLP’s founding partner, Steven Molo ‘82 is a University of Illinois College of Law alumnus.