Washburn University School of Law Recent New Items

Professor Westbrook Quoted in Atlanta Journal-Constitution War on Terror Article

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Amy Westbrook) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Professor Amy Westbrook commented in the January 5, 2012 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article "War on Terror: Metro companies wary of work with 'rogue states'." The article discusses the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Global Security Risk and how it has routinely asked certain multinational firms to respond to questions about any business in countries designated as sponsors of terrorism, i.e., Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Companies with ties to the Atlanta area, e.g., Delta, Coca-Cola, are highlighted. Professor Westbrook notes that investors "may certainly want to be told they are investing in those companies" though their activities "are much smaller and really on a different scale and intention of others" that have been investigated for inappropriate dealings. Her recent article on this topic was published in 2011 in the Securities Regulation Law Journal.

ABA/LSD Negotiation Competition Team Reaches the Final Four

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Jessica Stabler & Kevin Kemp) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The Washburn University School of Law team of Jessica Stabler and Kevin Kemp took fourth place at the national finals of the American Bar Association/Law School Division Negotiation Competition, which was held February 3-4, 2012, at the mid-year ABA meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Professor Linda Elrod Says Child's Voice Should Be Heard

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Linda Elrod) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Professor Linda Elrod's article, "'Please Let Me Stay': Hearing the Voice of the Child in Hague Abduction Cases," has been published at 63 Oklahoma Law Review 663 (2011). She reviews the mandate for hearing the child's voice under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and concludes that a child's voice should be heard in every Hague return case, preferably through representation by a client-directed lawyer appointed for the child.

Washburn Law Hosts Chilean Law Professors

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Washburn Law) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Four Chilean law professors are visiting Washburn University School of Law Jan. 22-27 as part of a two-week immersion into American law school teaching methods. The project is part of the work of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning (ILTL), which is dedicated to the improvement of law teaching and learning, assessment, and curriculum design in the United States and abroad.

Washburn Law a 'Top Law School for Government Jobs'

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Washburn Law) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Washburn University School of Law is one of 20 out of all 200 law schools recognized by National Jurist as "Top Law Schools for Government Jobs." Washburn Law was also among the top 20 law schools in the country for the percent of graduates employed as prosecutors and public defenders. A January 23, 2012 editorial in the Topeka Capital-Journal touts this recognition as bringing "national attention to Washburn University and Topeka and shouldn't go unmentioned."

Whitney Casement Receives Kansas Bar Foundation Scholarship

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Whitney Casement) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Whitney Casement, is the inaugural recipient of the Maxine S. Thompson Memorial scholarship awarded by the Kansas Bar Foundation. This new scholarship will be awarded each year to a law student attending Washburn University School of Law or the University of Kansas School of Law. "Whitney is a most worthy candidate to receive this award due to her outstanding scholarship and service to the community," said Kathy Kirk, Scholarship Committee chair. "We are honored to award her this scholarship." The criteria of the award include academic achievement and participation in community activities, as well as a bona fide intention to practice law in Kansas. Preference is given to those committing to practice in rural Kansas. Scholarship opportunities available to Washburn Law students can be viewed on the law school's Private Scholarship Information page.

Professor Bahadur's Recent Articles on Plausibility and Nonsense of Negligence

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Rory Bahadur) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Professor Rory Bahadur has recently had two articles published. In "The Scientific Impossibility of Plausibility," 90 Nebraska Law Review 435 (2011), Professor Bahadur concludes recent scholarship attempts to salvage the plausibility standard by equating it with empathic judging; modern neuro-scientific research dispels this view and demonstrates empathic capacity in human beings is bio-genetically biased based on race as a result of evolutionary strategies for survival. Because it is so unsupportable it may be that plausibility is a wholly imagined procedural substitute for the following three substantive possibilities the U.S. Supreme Court needed to dodge in its Iqbal decision at all costs: Korematsu is still good law; the federal courts are inept at dealing with matters of war; and the Constitution cannot realistically apply to all situations involving national security. Read the "Plausibility" abstract or article. In "Almost a Century and Three Restatements after Green It's Time to Admit and Remedy the Nonsense of Negligence," 38 Northern Kentucky Law Review 61 (2011), Professor Bahadur asserts the tort of negligence is flawed and empirically unsupportable. Scholarship is replete with illusory attempts to distinguish the appropriate role foreseeability plays in establishing the different elements of negligence. None of these academic and judicial distinctions, including the very recent Restatement Third of Torts, survives even cursory examination or hold up in actual litigation. He concludes the real solution is a reformulation of negligence based in part on the pre-Holmesian structure of the tort while accepting foreseeability can only mean one thing as it is applied across the spectrum of negligence elements. Read the "Negligence" abstract or article.

Washburn Law Hosts New Kansas CLE Rules Webinar

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Washburn Law) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Washburn Law hosted Shelley Sutton, Executive Director of the Kansas CLE Commission, for her webinar "A Conversation with the Kansas CLE Commission: New CLE Rules for Providers" on Wednesday, January 4, 2012. Ms. Sutton presented the webinar about the Kansas rules that took effect on July 1, 2011 to approximately 100 continuing legal education (CLE) providers around the United States. Washburn Law provided the facilities, technology, and staff expertise for the webinar. Attendees were able to watch Ms. Sutton over the Internet, view her PowerPoint presentation, and submit and have answered questions in real time through features available in Adobe Connect. Washburn Law was pleased to partner with the Commission to share information about the rule changes.

Breaching Borders Immigration Symposium Video Now Available

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Breaching Borders) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The Center for Law and Government and the Washburn Law Journal sponsored the symposium "Breaching Borders: State Encroachment into the Federal Immigration Domain?" in October 2011. Video from the plenary, lunch, and dinner sessions is now available and may be viewed by clicking the link below or at Washburn Law's YouTube channel.

Negotiation Competition Team Advances to Nationals

pubinfo@washburnlaw.edu (Jessica Stabler & Kevin Kemp) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

The Washburn University School of Law Negotiation Competition Team of Jessica Stabler and Kevin Kemp took second place in the finals of the Region 8 ABA/LSD Negotiation Competition at SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas, in November. Their showing will earn them a spot at the national competition in February in New Orleans. "I was proud to have a couple of other coaches specifically comment that Washburn is one of the recognized competitive teams to work to try to beat in the ABA/LSD Negotiation competition now! Not that we intend to let that happen, however," Shawn Leisinger, executive director, Centers for Excellence, said.