News featuring a faculty member
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.
As artificial intelligence technology becomes more commonplace, questions about its ethical use are of more salience. In the AMA Journal of Ethics, Professor Sara Gerke examines one area of interest in this field: how ambient listening and transcription technology influences medical doctors’ documentation practices and clinical encounters. In her article, Gerke and her co-author seek to answer questions and provide best-practice recommendations for informed consent processes and patient-clinician relationships.
“Infringement by label” is when a court treats drug labels as if they were patent claims, assessing whether their text merely “contains” a patented method of use, and it is also the subject of the latest scholarly research from Professor Jacob Sherkow. Writing in the Stanford Law Review, Sherkow explains how infringement by label threatens the ability of generic drugs to enter the market and how this creates a lack of clarity in the about patent infringement.
“The weight of society’s expectations of working moms on a normal day is crushing,” Professor Lauren Aronson writes in a new editorial published by Ms. Magazine. “With the added obligation that moms ensure our families experience a quintessential holiday season, this weight feels insurmountable.” From her role as an immigration lawyer as well as a mother of two, Aronson examines the obligations and expectations of mothers during the holiday season and concludes that every mom truly deserves a day off.
Association of American Law Schools’ (AALS) Section on Jurisprudence has selected Professor Bill Watson as the 2026 recipient of its Future Promise Award. The award is given annually to recognize the research accomplishments of junior scholars working in the area of jurisprudence whose work reflects future promise in both philosophy and law. Watson was be honored at the AALS annual meeting in early January. The College of Law offers its sincere congratulations to Professor Watson for this honor.
In terms of impact, the biggest case before the United States Supreme Court in its current term is Trump v. Barbara, Professor Jason Mazzone predicted in the News-Gazette. The case, which will consider the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship to individuals born in the United States, is “plainly unconstitutional,” he states. “I expect that when the court rules in Trump v. Barbara, it will issue a strongly originalist decision that deploys constitutional text, structure and history to reject the president’s attempt to evade the plain words of the Fourteenth Amendment. That will be a fitting outcome in the year in which we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” he concludes.
Writing in The George Washington Law Review, Professor Suja Thomas contrasts the ways in which employment cases are adjudicated in United Kingdom and the United States. Though the United States modeled its system on that of the United Kingdom, “the U.K. has more heavily circumscribed the right to a jury trial in both criminal and civil cases,” she writes. One main difference, Thomas concludes, is that the U.S. is more prone to dismissal of employment discrimination cases, whereas U.K. is wary of such outcomes.
Working with an interdisciplinary team of nuclear engineers, Professor Arden Rowell coauthored a public comment submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in response to its proposed “Sunset Rule.” The rule had proposed “sunsetting” ten regulatory rules addressing nuclear safety.
The comment addressed foundational administrative law issues, including statutory authority, the agency’s current mission, and the requirements of reasoned decision-making under the Administrative Procedure Act. Following the close of the public comment period, the NRC partially withdrew the proposed rule.
The episode highlights the importance of expert participation in the administrative process. It also reflects the College of Law’s strong engagement with national policy questions at the intersection of law, technology, and public governance.
Learning the law isn’t solely the province of graduate students. The University of Illinois offers undergraduates the chance to enroll in the Legal Studies minor for those interested in pursuing a JD after graduating or those who would just like to broaden their understanding of the law within their field. The Legal Studies minor is a novel program because of its tracks, where students can choose to focus on law & politics, law & cultures, or law & economics of food security and sustainability. In this episode, Professors Jennie Pahre, director of undergraduate studies, and Meghan Brinson, associate director of undergraduate studies and academic advisor for undergraduate studies, share their expertise on the Legal Studies minor, why they enjoy working with undergrads, and ideas for the future of the program.
Professor Jennifer Pahre joined the College of Law in 2001. She oversaw the Legal Externship Program for 15 years before became the director of undergraduate studies. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and JD degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. Professor Pahre is admitted to the state bars of California, Michigan, and Illinois and has practiced law in all three states as well as several district courts. She served on the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and she has served as the president of the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association.
Professor Meghan Brinson earned her JD at University of North Carolina School of Law, and holds a Master of Arts in English Studies from Georgetown University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. She has experience teaching undergraduate composition, business writing, and creative writing, including as a Piper International Writing Fellow at the National University of Singapore and with Park University’s program on Marine Corp Air Station Cherry Point. Professor Brinson is a poet and nonfiction essayist with three published chapbooks and several journal publications.
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To help residents with the high cost of insulin, a necessary drug for patients with diabetes, the state of California decided to develop its own generic brand of the medicine. The project will begin distributing “CalRx” insulin to consumers in January, and the San Jose Mercury News spoke to Professor Jacob Sherkow about how this plan is affecting insulin more broadly. The plan, he explained, is putting “downward pressure” on prices across the market.