Author: Chris

Attention all students!

The intramural softball season is officially underway.  The  Law School Bombers will seek to defend the championship title it has won the last two summers.  The team is co-ed and law students are eligible if they satisfy one of the following:

  1. They are enrolled in summer classes (any number of credits)
  2. Purchase a full SRWC Membership for the summer
  3. Purchase a $5 intramural summer pass to play softball
  4. Full-time Staff/Faculty ARE eligible to play

The team is in need of players!   We currently do not have enough to play and need those with all different skill levels.  The first game is Thursday 5/16  and the roster must be complete by noon tomorrow.   The games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at  6:30 or 7:30pm for the next three weeks.

[box type=”info”] All players must be registered on IMLeagues by Thursday, May 16th at 12:00pm in order to play in the first game that day.[/box]

Those who want to play should email Professor Spring at gspring@uakron.edu, and he will provide an invitation and you can then Register at the following link: https://www.imleagues.com/Login.aspx?N=1.

IMPORTANT: 2013 Akron Law Review Write-On Competition

Students wishing to compete in the Law Review’s Write-On Competition,

The 2013 Write-On Competition will begin Friday, 5/17/13, at 8 AM.  Instructions for the Write-On Competition and a hypothetical will be available for you to download at that time on TWEN.  You will have until Friday, 5/31/13, at 12 AM to submit your response.  Late submissions will not be graded or considered for a position on the Law Review.

To participate in the Write-On Competition, you will need to have extended your Westlaw password for the summer session in order to have TWEN access.  To access the Write-On Competition course, you will need to add a course to your TWEN page the same way in which you do for your regular or ASP classes.  This course is not yet activated for registration but will be available for you to join by the time the Write-On begins at 8 AM.  If you have not extended your Westlaw password for the summer and if doing so is no longer possible, please email me at jrc130@zips.uakron.edu and I can coordinate a way to email the instructions and the hypothetical to you on the day the Write-On Competition begins.

Please remember that this Write-On Competition is open to all law students who have completed their first year program as defined by the administration of the School of Law.

Students wishing to join the Akron Law Review who rank in the top fifteen (15) percent of their class after completing the first-year program will be automatically invited to join the law review.  As such, those students ranking in the top fifteen percent of their class are not required to compete in the write-on competition to receive an invitation. However, since class rankings will not be released at the time of the write-on competition, we highly encourage all students who have previously ranked in the top fifteen percent of their class to still participate in the write-on competition since their class rank could drop after spring semester grades.

Note Regarding Part Time Students Completing Their First-Year Program this Summer: There will be a second write-on competition in August for those part-time students who complete their first-year program during the summer who are not yet eligible to compete in the first competition.  More information regarding this competition will be sent out in August.

If you have any questions regarding the Write-On Competition, please email me at jrc130@zips.uakron.edu.

Thank you,

Julianna Clark

Executive Editor of Student Writing, 2013-14 Akron Law Review

Akron Law Review Information Session – Monday, April 22nd at 12:15pm

The Akron Law Review will be holding an information session on Monday, April 22nd at 12:15pm in room L-167. This information session will provide students with some guidance and advice from Professors Cravens and Thomas on how to effectively write a note or comment for the upcoming write-on competition. Please attend this information session if you are interested in becoming a member of the Akron Law Review.

Contact Casey Davis (cjd60@zips.uakron.edu) or Julianna Clark (jrc130@zips.uakron.edu) if you have any questions.

Proposed Health law Certificate Program

Please join Professor Van Tassel for a discussion of the proposed Health Law Certificate Program for those students who are interested in practicing in the area of Health Law. The discussion will be held on Thursday, April 18 from 12:30 until 1:00 p.m. in Room W210. Lunch will be provided.

New Interdisciplinary Summer Courses

You should be aware of two new interdisciplinary courses the law school is offering for Summer 2013. They are Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Renewable Energy: Emerging Legal Issues and Public Health Law & Bioethics.

We provide the descriptions below. Note certain limitations in each case:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Renewable Energy: Emerging Legal Issues – 9200:684-486

Summer Intersession I 2013
1:00-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, May 14-24, with take-home exam on Saturday, May 25.
Professor Kalyani Robbins

What do lawmakers, real estate developers, energy companies, urban planners, land managers, and industrial regulated parties all have in common? They all face a major turning point in our relationship with the planet – changes in the climate, sea level rise, rapidly evolving biodiversity needs, and a boom in renewable energy and natural gas extraction, both of which face conflicts with endangered species protection. This is a turning point that is beginning to alter the options available to each within their respective fields. This course will cover biodiversity law, climate change, and the emerging relationship between the two. We will then proceed to review the various areas of renewable energy development (which, of course, is a favored avenue toward climate mitigation), as well as the newly revamped hydraulic fracturing technology, all through the lens of conflicts with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that are hindering development in these areas. We will discuss ways in which the move toward renewable energy can be accomplished without butting heads with the rather fierce ESA. The text for the course is THE LAW OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT (Foundation Press University Casebook Series, Third Edition, John Copeland Nagle, J.B. Ruhl & Kalyani Robbins, eds.). All material will be taught at an introductory level, with no prior experience in any facet expected.

This course is available to all students, both Full-Time and Part-Time, including first year students, whether full or part time, as there are no law school prerequisites (the course has also been made available to non-law graduate students).

Note, however, that the grade in this course will not be considered in determining whether a first-year Part-Time student has met the minimum Law GPA as of the end of summer semester.

 

Public Health Law & Bioethics – 9200-684-487 – Synchronous Online Format

Professor Katherine Van Tassel
Summer 2013 – 10-Week Session – 6:30-8:30 p.m. – May 28 – August 2, 2013

This course examines the many ways in which the law impacts the public health. Among the questions explored are: What authority does the government have to regulate in the interest of public health? How are individual rights balanced against this authority? What are the promises and pitfalls of using laws and litigation to achieve public health goals? The course investigates these issues as they operate a range of specific contexts in public health and medical care, including the control and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, tobacco regulation, rights to have and refuse medical care, reproductive health, and lawsuits against tobacco and gun companies. The course emphasizes constitutional law, but also touches on criminal law, tort law and intellectual property law. Instruction is through interactive lectures with a significant amount of class discussion. Most classes will revolve around two to three legal cases. No previous background in law is needed.

Students must have finished 28 credits of law school classes to take any online course.

This course is offered on a credit/no credit basis.

Note that the ABA limits students are limited to 4 credits of online instruction in any semester and a total of 12 credits toward the J.D. degree.