Faculty News 33 - College of Law

Brubaker writes about Purdue Pharma’s appeal for Creditor Rights Coalition

Professor Brubaker speaks during a live podcast recording at the College of Law

As part of Creditor Rights Coalition’s “The Academics Speak Up” series, Professor Ralph Brubaker shared his thoughts on Purdue Pharma’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in its bankruptcy proceedings. Brubaker made clear his feelings about the mechanisms by which Purdue was trying to discharge its debts in a direct and unsparing critique. “I am grateful for the tenacity of the U.S. Trustee and DOJ in calling out the utter impropriety of nondebtor-discharge practice, which has tainted the bankruptcy system and incited public outrage,” he wrote.

Read his full editorial online.

USA Today quotes Brubaker on Rite Aid bankruptcy

In an attempt to restructure its more than $3 billion in debt and confront lawsuits alleging the company filled opioid prescriptions unlawfully, Rite Aid is reportedly preparing to file bankruptcy. In an article examining the company’s motivations for doing so and the potential ramifications of their bankruptcy, USA Today quoted Professor Ralph Brubaker, an expert in bankruptcy law. In his comments, Brubaker explained that customers would see almost no change should the retail chain declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but cited the example of Johnson & Johnson as how Rite Aid might not succeed in their efforts to limit liability.

Read the full article from USA Today.

International Criminal Court Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association releases recommendations for resetting the U.S./ICC relationship

Patrick Keenan speaks at the College of Law

In his capacity as co-chair of the International Criminal Court Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association, Patrick Keenan has co-authored a new report that outlines recommendations for resetting the U.S./ICC relationship. The authors write that the recent announcement of U.S. cooperation in the ICC’s investigation in Ukraine provides an opportunity for the U.S. to reaffirm its commitment to the rule of law and accountability.

Read the full report.

Kaplan discusses Medicare’s announcement of impending prescription drug price negotiations on Chicago radio show

Professor Richard Kaplan was a guest on the September 1 episode of Joan Esposito’s radio show on WCPT Chicago. He discussed Medicare’s announcement of impending price negotiations for ten widely used prescription drugs pursuant to a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Thomas co-authors amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis

Last week Illinois Law Professor Suja Thomas and Illinois Law alumna (Class of 1998) and Ohio State Visiting Law Professor Amy Wildermuth co-authored an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the Muldrow v. City of St. Louis case. They had the research assistance of Illinois third year law student Hannah Sosenko. The case concerns whether an employer can legally act against an employee—such as transferring them—because of the employee’s protected trait—such as their sex or race. The courts have said an employer can discriminate against an employee except where the employer’s action would cause a significant disadvantage to the employee. Professors Thomas and Wildermuth have argued the plain language of the law—Title VII—prevents an employer from acting against an employee because of a protected trait, and the law’s text does not require the employer‘s action cause a significant disadvantage to the employee to be illegal.

Read the full amicus brief online.

Aronson talks Illinois immigration laws with Illinois News Bureau

A new law in Illinois has attracted broad attention because it seems to expand eligibility for jobs in law enforcement to non-U.S. citizens, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program participants. Professor Lauren Aronson, director of the Immigration Law Clinic, gave an interview to the Illinois News Bureau to help clarify aspects of the law and separate truth from fiction. “Even though this new Illinois law says that DACA recipients can become police officers, they can’t because the law also specifies that they must be able to legally possess a firearm,” she explained.

Read the full interview online.

Sherkow quoted in New Yorker article on scientists quest to sequence every genome on earth

The Earth BioGenome Project has an ambitious plan to sequence a genome from every plant, animal, and fungus on the planet, as well as from many single-celled organisms, such as algae. As detailed in the New Yorker, the project faces a formidable foe in their quest to save the valuable genetic information encoded in each genome: ongoing mass extinction. A less ominous but still serious threat to the project is the question of ownership over DNA sequences, which Professor Jacob Sherkow spoke about in the article. “What’s best for science? What’s best for the world? What’s best for the particular country that we’re taking samples from?”: Sherkow listed these as examples the project must answer and find balance within.

Read the full article on the New Yorker website.

Johnson & Johnson facing uphill battle on bankruptcy, Brubaker tells Bloomberg

Johnson & Johnson’s attempts to use the bankruptcy of its subsidiary, LTL Management LLC, to settle claims that its talc-based products, like baby powder, caused cancer have failed once again, this time in US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. In an article on Bloomberg Law, Professor Ralph Brubaker explained that the company’s first attempt to use bankruptcy, which was thrown out by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, makes an appeal on the second attempt very unlikely “to get much traction.”

Read the full story from Bloomberg Law.

News-Gazette pens detailed feature on Dean J. Sharpe

After his appointment as dean of the College of Law, Jamelle Sharpe was the subject of a feature in the Champaign News-Gazette. The profile begins with his path to a legal career, starting as an undergrad at New York University, and works through his time in private practice, culminating in his professorship at Illinois alongside his wife, Nicola. More than just a recounting of his professional life, however, the profile also includes a great deal of personality, including his love of movies and the New York Yankees. The feature concludes with a bit of detail on Sharpe’s plans for the future of the College of Law, offering a little teaser as to how this story will continue to develop.

Read the full feature on the News-Gazette website.

Sherkow quoted in New York Times article on Henrietta Lacks’ cells

Her cells are “immortal,” and so, it seems, is the legal battle over ownership of those cells. In an article about a recently settled lawsuit brought by the family of Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cells were used without her knowledge or consent in research that helped develop treatments for many diseases, the New York Times quoted Professor Jacob Sherkow on the legal questions at the center of the case. The case revolved around the assumption that Lacks owned her body and any cells from it, but the property laws over cells are not as clear. “People think that because they have autonomy over their physical body, that means they have a, quote, property interest in it. That is just bluntly wrong,” Sherkow said, contradicting what might be considered common understanding.