News 26 - College of Law

Murphy nominated BTAA-ALP Mellon Fellow

Professor Colleen Murphy has been nominated to become a part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Mellon Fellows for the Humanities/Academic Leadership Program. The BTAA-ALP was created by the Provosts of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the academic consortium of the Big Ten Universities, to develop the leadership potential of participating faculty, with particular emphasis on enriching the diversity of leadership in BTAA institutions. The Mellon Fellows program is funded through a grant to the BTAA from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Congratulations to the Professor Murphy on behalf of the College of Law.

ABI quotes Brubaker on asbestos case

The sun rises over the Illini Union. The Illini Union, which was dedicated in 1941, serves students and the campus in many ways, including housing the Illini Union Hotel, a credit union, a convenience store, information services, CITES (Campus IT) instructional facility, quick-service restaurants, a bowling alley and arcade, student performance spaces, and office space for Registered Student Organizations, student government, Student Legal Services, Student Tenant Union, LGBT Resource Center, and Union administration.

Bankruptcy Judge David S. Jones of New York ruled recently on a chapter 11 plan from cosmetics company Revlon regarding asbestos claims arising from products containing talc. In his ruling, Judge Jones noted that future asbestos claims can be discharged without a trust. In the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire, Professor Ralph Brubaker provided a counterpoint to a University of Chicago professor, claiming that “discharging the claim of a future claimant who has not yet been injured or discovered the injury” is unconstitutional and akin to something from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Read his full comments here.

Elder Law Journal publishes new article from Kaplan

Professor Richard Kaplan has a new article in the Elder Law Journal, titled “Analyzing the New Planning Opportunities in SECURE 2.0 for Retirement Plan Participants.” The article examines six major changes enacted by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 pertaining to current plan participants in retirement plans. Kaplan notes that the changes continue the pattern of using pension plans to accommodate social initiatives that are sometimes barely related to providing income when plan participants retire.

Read the full article from SSRN.

Finkin discusses pro-union law with Courthouse News Service

The two figures that stand beside Alma Mater represent

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed the Worker Freedom of Speech Act into law, prohibiting employers from subjecting their employees to mandatory “captive audience” meetings. The law was swiftly challenged by the conservative Illinois Policy Institute, who argue it infringes on free speech rights. Professor Matthew Finkin shared his take on the dispute with Courthouse News Service, explaining “This suit may not be timely until you have an employee that refuses to attend a meeting and gets fired for it.”

Read his full comments online.

Robbennolt elected as APA Fellow

Professor Jennifer Robbennolt has been elected as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, effective January 1, 2025. Fellow status is awarded to those who have demonstrated outstanding contributions in the field of psychology, enhancing the field by their diligent work and commitment. In addition, Fellows are those whose work has had a national impact on the field of psychology beyond a local, state or regional level. On behalf of everyone at the College of Law, we congratulate Professor Robbennolt for this distinguished honor.

Illinois LawCast: Inclusive Excellence with Jolynn Caroline

In this episode we speak with Jolynn Caroline, who was recently named the College of Law’s senior director for inclusive excellence, career planning and professional development. We discussed her lifelong connections to the University of Illinois, her work in the careers office at the College of Law, and her goals working in inclusive excellence.

Listen online.
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If you have any comments or suggestions for the podcast, please email podcast@law.illinois.edu.

Ghiotto speaks to IPM about deputy who killed Sonya Massey

Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy charged with the murder of Sonya Massey, was discharged from the U.S. Army for serious misconduct, according to military records. Professor Anthony Ghiotto, a former Air Force prosecutor, spoke to Illinois Public Media about the case and the relevance of Grayson’s discharge. “A good way of looking at it is, if it would be a misdemeanor in the civilian world, it’s not going to be a ‘serious offense,’” he said.

Read the full article from Illinois Public Media.

Brubaker paper cracks SSRN’s Top Ten download list

Professor Ralph Brubaker’s article, “Mass Torts, The Bankruptcy Power, and Constitutional Limits on Mandatory No-Opt-Outs Settlements,” was recently added to SSRN’s Top Ten Download list. The article, published by the Florida State University Business Review, is an examination of “constitutional tensions produced by aggressive efforts to resolve mass-tort liability through federal bankruptcy proceedings, as illustrated by nonconsensual nondebtor (or third-party) releases and the so-called Texas Two-Step maneuver.”

Download and read the article on SSRN.

Right to Contraception is “valuable” legislation, Wilson says

Professor Robin Fretwell Wilson has spent significant time researching the Right to Contraception Act, put forward by Democratic leaders who want to preserve rights regarding matters of reproductive health care. Drawing upon her work in Utah and other states on laws associated with religious freedom, LGBTQ rights, and adoption, Wilson thinks this bill is a chance for effective bipartisan collaboration. “This is eminently doable,” Wilson said.

Read her full remarks on Deseret News.

Brubaker publishes new article on implications of Purdue Pharma ruling

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, Professor Ralph Brubaker—who submitted an amicus brief in the case—published an article in the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable on the implications of the ruling and issues that remain unsettled after the ruling. “Unless bankruptcy is to become a facile end-run around multiple constitutional protections for both individual tort claimants and state sovereignty,…the ‘subject of Bankruptcies’ (within the meaning of the Constitution’s Bankruptcy Clause) must be limited by a requirement of necessity for bankruptcy relief,” Brubaker writes.

Read full coverage from the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable.