DePaul Law News

Havel, Mulligan at IATA Legal Symposium

IALI Director Brian Havel and FedEx/United Airlines Resident Research Fellow John Mulligan represented the institute at the 2013 IATA Legal Symposium February 17 to 19 in Berlin. The three-day conference included panels and presentations concerning a number of international aviation law and policy issues on which the institute has worked over the past few years, including aircraft finance, antitrust and dispute resolution. During the final session, Professor Havel participated in a lively panel debate entitled "Does International Air Law Still Matter?"

Professor Gerstenblith responds to new artifact acquisition guidelines

In a recent article in the New York Times titled "Museum Leaders Toughen Artifact Acquisition Guidelines," blogger Randy Kennedy discussed the new rules incorporated by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD).

The vote will strengthen the requirements museums must meet in order publish pictures and information about antiquities that may be subject to questions of looting.

Since 2008, museums have posted information about antiquities they've acquired on an AAMD-sponsored website. Museums will now need to publish pictures and information about these artifacts, as well as cite a reason for acquisition.

Though the publication guidelines enforce greater ethical responsibility in cultural heritage, Professor Patty Gerstenblith, director of the Center for Art, Museum and Cultural Heritage Law, still expressed concern over the acquisition of these antiquities.

“What I want to see is the museums not acquiring these things in the first place,” Gerstenblith said. “It remains to be seen how they enforce that part."

 

DePaul Law's gun violence program responds to President Obama’s Chicago visit

Today President Obama is home in Chicago, pressing Congress to act on his proposals to reduce gun violence. The president’s proposals come at a critical time for our nation. This is a watershed moment when political leaders might exercise courage to curtail the epidemic of gun violence. 

At DePaul University College of Law, a Program on Gun Violence has been initiated by Professor Barry Kellman. This is the only such program at an American law school, and one of the very few law-based programs to focus on these issues. The mission of the DePaul Program on Gun Violence is to contribute to the understanding of the law of curtailing gun violence and thereby enable that law to be optimally effective. This mission is based on the recognition that these issues are complex with dimensions that go from international trafficking to local crime control. We strive to educate people about these issues (within and outside DePaul) and to contribute rigorous legal analysis to the public debate.

According to Professor Kellman, the president’s proposals are altogether consistent with the Second Amendment; in fact, the president’s proposals strengthen the Second Amendment’s express commitment to building the security of a free country. Certainly, the nation’s Founding Fathers understood that a democracy must have the right to decide how much lethal force private citizens can put to use. While everyone has a right to defend themselves, the Supreme Court has made clear that society has the right to regulate firearms for its security, and “dangerous and unusual” weapons, including machine guns and other military weapons, do not have Second Amendment protections.

Professor Sarnoff discusses issues in IP and climate change nationwide

In fall 2012, Professor Joshua Sarnoff presented on intellectual property and climate change as part of a panel on intellectual property and international law at the annual meeting of the American Branch of the International Law Association in New York City. 

Professor Sarnoff also presented on the recent Supreme Court patent case in Mayo v. Prometheus and the Myriad gene patent case, for which the Supreme Court just granted certiorari, as part of a panel with the lawyer representing Myriad at the National Association of College and University Attorney’s fall 2012 workshop in Washington, D.C. In January, he will be filing a law professor’s brief in the case. Professor Sarnoff made a presentation on these cases on a panel at the Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law’s conference on intellectual property and public rights of access in November.

Finally, he published another article on problems with the new patent act with practicing lawyer Chico Gholz in the November issue of IP Today and a book review of Eric Lane’s "Clean Tech Intellectual Property" in the IP Law Book Review. 

Professor Sarnoff is a faculty member affiliated with the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT). At DePaul, he teaches Patent Law and other intellectual property courses. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on patent law and has been involved in a wide range of intellectual property legal and policy disputes.  

Professor Livingston's recent scholarship focuses on IP, commercial law

Professor Margit Livingston wrapped up the fall 2012 semester with a number of scholarly activities, including online publication of five essays for Lexis on emerging issues under UCC Article 9. Livingston also updated and revised two lengthy chapters for Lexis for forthcoming publication in its Commercial Damages treatise. 

She presented and distributed a paper on the regulation of horse racing under state law and trade association regulations to attendees at the DePaul Animal Law Symposium. The DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal also published her transcript of a presentation on recent developments under UCC Article 9. 

Professor Livingston was also involved in the final editing of a law review article entitled “Copyright Infringement of Music: Determining Whether What Sounds Alike Is Alike,” which will be published in January in Volume 15 of the Vanderbilt Entertainment and Technology Law Journal.

Professor Livingston is a faculty member affiliated with the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT), co-director of the LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law, and director of the Center for Animl Law. She teaches and writes in the areas of intellectual property, commercial law and animal law. Her courses include Secured Transactions, Intellectual Property Survey, Copyright, Theater Law, Remedies and Consumer Law among others.

 

 

Professor Jacobs addresses Asian Competition Forum at annual conference

Co-Director of the International Aviation Law Institute Mike Jacobs continues to participate in important antitrust and competition law conferences worldwide.

On December 8, Jacobs attended the Asian Competition Forum's (ACF) annual board of directors meeting in Hong Kong. The ACF was founded in 2005 by a group of academics in law and economics and experts in competition law in the Asia-Pacific region. The organization promotes economic competition through research and study of law and economics through teaching, conferences and seminars, and publications.

Professor Jacobs also spoke at the ACF's 8th Annual Conference, presenting his paper titled "Developing a Culture of Competition--a Subversive View." The conference was held at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The following day, Professor Jacobs chaired a panel discussion on "Contemporary Issues in Japanese Antitrust."

 

Havel addresses Oxford group on EU ETS implications

Professor Brian Havel, International Aviation Law Institute director and 2011-13 Keeley Visiting Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford, presented "A Clash of Law and Politics: the EU's Audacious Self-Appointment as the Global Regulator for Limiting Aviation Carbon Emissions" to Oxford's EU Law Discussion Group on November 21.

Professor Havel discussed whether the EU's unilateral application of its own Emissions Trading Scheme to the entire global air transport industry -- which produced a controversial supportive opinion by the EU Court of Justice and provoked outrage and threats of retaliation from key trade partners -- pushed the international community toward stronger remedial action. He also discussed whether the EU's political imperative of dealing with climate change should trump the prevailing structure of international legal relationships and force a fundamental rethinking of how international law responds to transborder systemic challenges.

IALI participates in EALA, WEF conferences

International Aviation Law Institute Director Brian Havel represented the institute at several international conferences in November, including the European Air Law Association's 24th Annual Conference in Istanbul, Turkey. There, he moderated a panel, "EU Market Access Developments -- 10 Years Open Skies -- How to Proceed from Here?" 

Professor Havel later attended the World Economic Forum Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is a member of the WEF's New Models for Travel & Tourism Council, contributing to the organization's efforts to promote e-visa systems as a means to increase economic growth from travel and tourism.

IALI director speaks in India on aircraft finance, environmental issues

International Aviation Law Institute Director Brian Havel spoke to a group of aviation professionals on aircraft financing and aviation environmental issues at the launch of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's CAPA AeroPark in Mumbai, India, in November. In a press releas about the three-day executive program, Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia, CAPA Centre for Aviation said, “CAPA AeroPark was established with a mission of bringing world class aviation education and training to fast growth emerging markets and we are proud to be launching this inaugural series of courses in conjunction with the leading global universities and executive training organisations.” 

Professor Havel's first lecture, "Aircraft Financing Law and Policy," provided attendees with an overview of common industry practices used to finance the acquisition of new aircraft. His second lecture, "Aviation Environmental Law and Policy," recounted the historical development and current state of regulation regarding aircraft noise and greenhouse gas emissions from international air transport.

Legal Skills Series Preps Students for Real World Advocacy

By Megan Davis (’14), in The Advocate, the Center for Public Interest Law Newsletter

It’s Monday, during lunchtime, and housing law and predatory lending adjunct Professor Kelli Dudley is instructing a room of law students on the finer points of motion practice in mortgage foreclosure defense. This is neither a class nor a clinic; students are here voluntarily, choosing to spend their Monday lunch hour taking notes and listening to Professor Dudley offer advice on the best (and worst) practices in defending clients facing mortgage foreclosure. The students in attendance are here as part of the Center for Public Interest Law’s (CPIL) new legal skills seminar series. 

The public interest law skills series, which launched on October 8, seeks to provide students with the practical and transferrable legal skills. The first seminar focuses on foreclosure defense and spans six consecutive Monday lunch hours. Students who attend all six sessions receive a certificate of completion that they can add to their resume. 

The topics discussed at each session vary from answering complaints, to dealing with opposing counsel, to conforming to the specific pleadings standards within housing law. During this seminar, Dudley walks students through the procedural steps they must follow for foreclosure complaints and even explains client issues she has encountered in her own practice. “We are lucky to have [her] lead the first session,” said CPIL Executive Director Shaye Loughlin. “She is dedicated to training attorneys to help respond to the mortgage foreclosure crisis.”