On February 10, 2026, Verity Winship was invested as the Edwin M. Adams Professor of Law in a ceremony honoring her commitment to scholarship, teaching, and public engagement.

Professors Ralph Brubaker and Robert Lawless were both featured in the commentary featured on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s blog, Rochelle’s Daily Wire. Their commentary discussed the most recent decision in the ongoing controversy over the propriety and legitimacy of so-called “Texas Two-Step” mass-tort bankruptcies. The decision, from the Fourth Circuit, continues to stoke opinion and Lawless writes that it sets up “a Supreme Court decision in the coming years.”

Professor Bob Lawless and co-authors Pamela Foohey and Deborah Thorne recently joined the well-regarded Ballard Spahr podcast Consumer Finance Monitor to discuss their book “Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy.”

Leading bankruptcy law expert and professor Bob Lawless recently sat down with the students behind the independent, student-run production The UIUC Talkshow. Lawless discussed the student debt crisis, the history of bankruptcy law, and some proposed solutions.

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.

A new paper from Professor Ralph Brubaker, “Assessing the Legitimacy of the ‘Texas Two-Step’ Mass-Tort Bankruptcy,” was recently featured on the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable. Brubaker’s article analyzes the “Texas Two-Step” maneuver as courts grapple with legal challenges to the fundamental legitimacy of it. The paper was also listed on SSRN’s Top Downloads for Bankruptcy, Reorganization & Creditors eJournal and for Law & Society: Private Law-Financial Law eJournal.

On October 17, Professor Sarah Lawsky was part of a panel discussion at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law covering “AI in Tax Law: Tax Administration &
Educating the Next Generation.” She was one of eight panelists from academia, industry, government sharing expertise on the role of artificial intelligence in tax administration, legal practice, and tax law education.

In the most recent issue of the Yale Journal on Regulation, Professor Sarah Lawsky has published a note as part of the symposium on Joshua D. Blank and Leigh Osofsky’s “Automated Agencies: The Transformation of Government Guidance.” In her article, she concludes, “Automated guidance thus might exacerbate the access to justice gap. Unlike publications, automated guidance may fool people into thinking that they have received individualized guidance, when they actually have not.”

Speaking about his new book, “Debt’s Grip,” Professor Robert Lawless sat down with WBGL’s Community Matters program. He discussed the research that went into the work, how bankruptcy affects the lives of everyday Americans, and common misconceptions about the bankruptcy process. He concluded with advice for how to support those going through financial hardships.

Professor Richard Kaplan recently presented his paper, entitled “The Law and Economics of Financing Long-Term Care: An Unrecognized Impediment to Wealth Transmission,” at a symposium on The Law and Economics of Wealth Management and Transmission sponsored by the George Mason University Law School. The paper will be published in the George Mason Law Review.