Fall 2000 Advanced Torts Seminar:
Negligent Omissions and Tort Law and the Impact of Human Rights Acts
The Washburn University School of Law Fall 2000 Advanced Torts Seminar will be conducted over two one-week periods during the semester. The seminar provides students and faculty to interact with world-renown guest scholars. The first fall session from September 11-16, 2000 is titled Negligent Omissions: Duty to Act (tortious liability for Failing to Prevent or Detect Child Abuse). Faculty include:
- Lawrence G. Albrecht is President of First, Blondis, Albrecht, Bangert & Novotnatz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also served as the Director of the Clinical Program at Valparaiso University School of Law. He has published numerous articles on child abuse. Mr. Albrecht has been the attorney on many post DeShaney cases including Sinthasomphone.
- Kevin Diehl, Ralston, Diehl & Pope, Topeka, Kansas, specializes in medical malpractice, products liability and general personal injury. Mr. Diehl served as the attorney for P. W & P.W. v. Dept. of SRS. He is currently handling a case concerning a day care provider and whether the Kansas Department of Health & Education had the obligation to act. He is a Washburn University School of Law graduate.
- Laura Hoyano has three degrees from the University of Alberta, Canada, two in medieval history and one in law. She practiced commercial, insurance and catastrophic personal injury law at the Alberta Bar for ten years, interrupted by a sabbatical in 1990 to take a postgraduate law degree at Balliol College, Oxford. She is currently a Fellow & Tutor in Law at Wadham College, Oxford where she teaches tort, contracts, criminal law and evidence. She is currently writing a book with Caroline Keenan on litigating allegations of child abuse in criminal, family, tort and fiduciary law, comparing the approaches of several common law jurisdictions.
- Caroline Keenan, professor at Bristol University, has her doctorate in family law from the University of Sheffield, England. She has undertaken studies that examine the investigation and prosecution of assaults on children for both the Economic & Social Research Council and the UK Governors. Most recently she has advised the UK Government on reform of the current legal framework of sexual offenses against children. She has published widely in the area of child protection law and on professional practice in the investigation and litigation of cases of child abuse.
- Nancy Levit is a professor of law at UMKC where she has received awards for teaching and scholarship. She is the author of a jurisprudence textbook and numerous articles that examine the cutting edge of legal theory. She worked on the Dalkon Shield multi-district litigation and was a trial attorney for Stinson, Mag in Kansas City. In addition to other subjects, she teaches torts. She also provides direct pro bono representation in death penalty cases and is a Director of the Public Interest Litigation Clinic.
- Allan Levy is a Queen's Counsel (Senior Barrister) in London, England where he specializes in child law, torts, and human rights law. He has appeared as lead counsel in many landmark cases. He is the author and editor of books as well as articles on child law and child abuse. He has been a member of a number of Commission of inquiry and was the chair of an inquiry into abuse in Children's Homes.
- Mary Kate Kearney is a professor at Widener University School of Law's Harrisburg campus where she teaches Torts, Contracts, Family Law and Children and the Law. Professor Kearney has written extensively about legal issues affecting children, particularly in the areas of child abuse and neglect. Professor Kearney received a B.A. from Yale University, a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.
(Left to right): Allan Levy, Laura Hoyano, Charlene Smith,Nancy Levit, Caroline Keenan.
(Left to right): Kevin Diehl, Mary Kate Kearney, Lawrence Albrecht.
The second fall session from October 23-28, 2000 is titled Tort Law and the Impact of Human Rights Acts. Faculty include:
- Anita Bernstein is Sam Nunn Professor of Law at Emory University. Her research examines the relationship between tort law and social change. She has written extensively on both accident law (chiefly products liability) and intentional wrongs (focusing on sexual harassment), working from comparative, sociological, and feminist perspectives.
- Gary Schwartz is the Co-Reporter of the Restatement of Torts: Basic Principles. He has been an adviser for the Restatement of Products and Apportionment. He is currently the William D. Warren Professor of Law at UCLA. He has written extensively in the field of torts.
- John Anthony Weir is a Law Professor at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, England. He has been a visiting professor all over the world including many American law schools. He has written numerous articles on tort concepts, including: The Law of Tort: Are Legal Systems Converging?, Report of the 1995 Colloquium of the International Association of Legal Science 67-121 (1999); and Democratic Values in the English Law of Tort, 1 Calcutta Law Times [1] (1992).
The Advanced Torts Seminars are made possible by the Ahrens Chair in Tort Law created by funds contributed to Washburn Law School in 1986 by the Wichita law firm of Michaud, Cordry, Michaud, Hutton and Hutton.
