News 31 - College of Law

Law360 quotes Brubaker on mass tort claims and nondebtor parties

The sun rises over the Illini Union. The Illini Union, which was dedicated in 1941, serves students and the campus in many ways, including housing the Illini Union Hotel, a credit union, a convenience store, information services, CITES (Campus IT) instructional facility, quick-service restaurants, a bowling alley and arcade, student performance spaces, and office space for Registered Student Organizations, student government, Student Legal Services, Student Tenant Union, LGBT Resource Center, and Union administration.

A recent $2.5 billion bankruptcy settlement between the Boy Scouts of America and childhood sexual abuse survivors seemed to put a close to an awful chapter in the victims lives, until the settlement was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court due to concerns over the legality of mandatory releases of claims against nondebtor third parties. Writing about the settlement, Law360 highlights broader debates about the fairness of handling mass-tort claims in bankruptcy courts, where settlements may favor one side over the other and quotes Professor Ralph Brubaker, and expert in this area. The article explores the history of such releases, their impact on mass-tort litigation, and ongoing legal disputes over their validity.

Read the full article from Law360.

Mazzone quoted in multiple outlets on Trump’s ballot case in Illinois

Cook County Judge Tracie Porter’s decision to remove Former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot made Illinois one of three states barring him from the ballot. Similar to cases in other states, Trump’s lawyers argued that the insurrection clause doesn’t apply to the president, and the Trump campaign criticized Porter’s decision. Professor Jason Mazzone, a constitutional theory expert, shared his expertise on the topic with Courthouse News and Crain’s Chicago Business, noting prior to their decision that the U.S. Supreme Court might overturn such rulings.

Read the Courthouse News article and the Crain’s Chicago Business article online.

American Constitution Society selects Mannis ’25 as a Next Generation Leader

The two figures that stand beside Alma Mater represent

The American Constitution Society selected 34 up-and-coming legal professionals as 2024 Next Generation Leaders, including College of Law student Bobby Mannis. The Next Generation Leader program recognizes law students displaying exceptional leadership within local ACS student chapters. The program also offers opportunities to empower students and develop leadership skills to make an impact in their communities. The College of Law congratulates Mannis on this outstanding achievement.

Illinois Law welcomes Chris Welch as keynote speaker for Convocation

Illinois Speaker of the House of Representatives Chris Welch

The University of Illinois College of Law is honored to announce Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, will deliver the convocation address to the Class of 2024. The College of Law Convocation Ceremony will take place Saturday, May 11, at 4:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Welch has served as a representative of the 7^th district of Illinois since 2013 and was elected Speaker of the House in January 2021. As a representative, he has been a champion for marginalized individuals, as a sponsor of the Homeless Bill of Rights, and an advocate for adding black and brown people to the boards of publicly held corporations, through means such as sponsoring legislation requiring Illinois corporations to annually disclose their board composition. One of Welch’s priorities has been improving education in Illinois, which he has worked toward through legislation supporting four-year MAP grant awards and the AIM High Scholarship as well as serving as chairman of the House Higher Education Committee and co-chair of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Educational Success Transition committee.

Promoting education is at the root of Welch’s public service career. He served 12 years on the Proviso Township High School Board of Education, including the last ten years as Board chair, prior to joining the House of Representatives. Education was also a part of his work in private practice, where he represented local school districts and municipalities as a partner at Sanchez, Daniels and Hoffman, LLP from 2007 to 2018.

“We feel privileged to have Speaker Welch delivering the convocation address to the Class of 2024,” Dean Jamelle Sharpe said. “His career provides an inspiring example of how one can serve the people with distinction, whether in private practice, in local government, or now as one of the senior leaders of our state. His insights and wisdom will help us celebrate the well-earned accomplishments of our graduates.”

Welch is a graduate of Proviso West High School (‘89), Northwestern University (‘93), and The John Marshall Law School (’97), where he was inducted to the Wall of Fame in 2016. He is married to ShawnTe and has two children, Tyler and Marley.

For more information about Convocation for the Class of 2024, please visit our website.

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College of Law names 57 employers to 2023-2024 Employer Honor Roll

Today, the University of Illinois College of Law published its 2023-2024 Employer Honor Roll. The Honor Roll recognizes employers who have regularly hired recent College of Law graduates. The Honor Roll contains a wide variety of employers, including, for example, law firms of many sizes, accounting firms, a wide variety of government agencies, public interest employers, and courts. Combined, Honor Roll employers have hired approximately 180 recent College of Law graduates in the Classes of 2021, 2022, 2023. The Honor Roll was first created in 2014. With the support of Honor Roll members, and hundreds of additional employers, the College of Law has continued to deliver a strong array of opportunities for its graduates.

“The 2023-2024 Employer Honor Roll is an impressive and diverse collection of employers,” noted Greg Miarecki, the College’s Executive Assistant Dean for Career Planning and Professional Development. “We are excited to continue working with our Honor Roll employers and all of our employer partners in this dynamic and challenging recruiting environment,” Miarecki added.

Diamond
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Platinum
Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Deloitte Tax LLP
Heyl Royster Voelker & Allen, P.C.
Jones Day
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Land of Lincoln Legal Aid
Meyer Capel
Sidley Austin LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP

Gold
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Chapman and Cutler
Circuit Court of Cook County
CNA Insurance
Dykema
Husch Blackwell LLP
Illinois Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor
Lavelle Law, Ltd.
Locke Lord LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service
Polsinelli PC
Reed Smith LLP
Thompson Coburn LLP
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
University of Illinois – Office of University Counsel

Silver
Ancel Glink, P.C. *
Army JAG
Benesch
Brennan Burtker LLC *
Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C.
Dickinson Wright PLLC *
Duncan Law Group *
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Ginsberg Jacobs LLC
Hinkhouse Williams Walsh LLP
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
Hourglass Legal Consulting
Ice Miller, LLP
Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District
Jenner & Block LLP
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA)
LG Electronics *
Littler Mendelson
Mayer Brown LLP
McGuireWoods LLP
Office of the State Appellate Defender
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Thomas Mamer, LLP
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana *
Vedder Price P.C.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LLP

Asterisks denote employers that are new or returning to the Employer Honor Roll. The complete list of Honor Roll employers, along with the methodology for selecting employers, can be found at www.law.illinois.edu/careers/employer-honor-roll.

Immigration Law Clinic students achieve asylum decision in clients’ favor

Immigration Law Clinic students pose with their clients

After hours of interviews, research, writing, and compiling a case to present in court, there are several emotions a young lawyer might feel. Nothing compares, however, to the flood of emotion that comes with hearing the judge announce a decision in favor of your client, which is exactly what Marco Becerra and Akshay Krishnamani felt on March 4 when the Immigration Court in Chicago granted asylum to the third-year students’ clients.

“Oh, my God, it was so emotional, like everybody was crying,” Krishnamani said with a laugh when recalling that moment.

The lead-up to that big, emotional moment began in August of 2023, on the first day of Professor Lauren Aronson’s Immigration Law Clinic class, when Becerra and Krishnamani were assigned to work on a case fighting against the removal of three citizens of Nicaragua. The clients are a family who fled the violence of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s dictatorial regime, with one member of the family suffering from persecution so severe government officials shot him while participating in a peaceful protest.

When the students took on the case, Professor Aronson had completed an initial application, but the rest of the work was their responsibility. After their clients’ perilous journey to the United States, through several countries over almost four years, it was of foremost importance for the students to gain the clients’ trust.

“Initially, our job was just building rapport, explaining to them what the purpose of the clinic is, how we’re going to help them, giving them background on the case, that sort of thing,” Becerra said.

From there, the clinicians had the task of building the case and establishing credibility of the clients. No small task, to be sure, made a little more difficult by the additional work required from their other classes.

“We had to write a brief, draft separate affidavits, get a bunch of documentation and a bunch of research together…our filing ended up being over 700 pages,” Krishnamani explained.

The duo did a remarkable job, and their “over-preparedness,” in Becerra’s words, helped them successfully win asylum for their clients and keep the family together in the United States (since arriving, they had added another child to their family—an American citizen), and away from the persecution they faced in their native country. Both students were appreciative of all Professor Aronson had done to help them, crediting her with a willingness to answer any question but to otherwise let them learn through experience.

“I can’t believe that you can graduate from law school without working on a case. To me, that’s kind of crazy,” Becerra said, stressing how useful he found the clinic opportunity to be in his education.

As children of immigrants, both Becerra and Krishnamani cited their background as one motivation for taking part in the Immigration Law Clinic. For Becerra, who would like to continue working in immigration law after graduation, this was also a chance to experience the work in advance; for Krishnamani, on the other hand, it was a chance to experience litigation and find an area in which he may like to direct his pro bono work in the future.

“I would just encourage anyone to go out for clinic. It’s really informative but also really fun to work with several different clients,” Krishnamani said. “It kind of reinvigorated me on how important this work is.”

Immigration Law Clinic students Marco Becerra ’24 and Akshay Krishnamani ’24 stand with their clients, a family from Nicaragua, after securing a decision in their favor

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Quadrangle profiles Illinois Scholars at Risk program

Quadrangle, the magazine of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, profiled the Illinois Scholars at Risk program in its Spring 2024 issue. The profile highlights the work done by the program, chaired by Professor Colleen Murphy. The program offers assistance to scholars who face danger at home, and the Illinois group has brought seven scholars to campus from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Guatemala, Lebanon, and Ukraine. “It is incredibly rewarding to see colleges and departments from across campus support colleagues from across the globe facing acute risks and to hear from scholars about the difference the program has made in their lives,” Murphy said.

Read the full profile in the Spring 2024 issue.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court cites Brubaker in decision denying dismissal of asbestos case

Fall view of Illini Union from north of Green Street.

The United States Bankruptcy Court Western District of North Carolina recently denied a motion to dismiss the bankruptcy of companies implicated in asbestos liability cases, citing and quoting from several articles by Professor Ralph Brubaker. The case involves Texas Two-Step mass-tort bankruptcy, a topic in which Brubaker has researched and published extensively. The decision cites to and quotes from “On the Nature of Federal Bankruptcy Jurisdiction: A General Statutory and Constitutional Theory,” from the William & Mary Legal Review; “Explaining Katz’s New Bankruptcy Exception to State Sovereign Immunity: The Bankruptcy Power as a Federal Forum Power,” from the American Bankruptcy Institute Legal Review; and “The Texas Two-Step and Mandatory Non-Opt-Out Settlement Powers,” in the Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable.

Read the decision online.

Amar, Mazzone, and Shapiro author article on Disney’s speech-retaliation case

In early 2024, a federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Disney Corporation against Florida officials for alleged retaliation against Disney’s opposition to certain Florida laws and policies by altering the board that regulates the land where Disney World is located. Professors Vikram Amar, Jason Mazzone, and Lena Shapiro collaborated in an article for Justia Verdict examining the complex constitutional issues raised by this decision. “If government is trying to retaliate against you because of your past speech, doesn’t that violate your First Amendment rights regardless of whether the retaliation takes the form of speech regulation itself?” the professors wrote.

Brubaker receives Lawrence P. King Award from Commercial Law League of America

Professor Ralph Brubaker has received the Lawrence P. King Award for Excellence in the Field of Bankruptcy by the Commercial Law League of America. Below is the text of the press release announcing the award.

Commercial Law League of America Announces 2024 Lawrence P. King Award Recipient

Rolling Meadows, IL, February 29, 2024 – The Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and its Bankruptcy Section are pleased to announce that they will present the Lawrence P. King Award to Ralph Brubaker at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) in Seattle, WA on September 19, 2024.

The King Award: Each year, the Executive Council of the Commercial Law League’s Bankruptcy Section presents the Lawrence P. King Award to recognize a lawyer, judge, teacher, or legislator who exemplifies the best in scholarship, advocacy, judicial administration, or legislative activities in the field of bankruptcy. The award is designed to recognize the lifetime achievements of Professor King, which include contributing to the practice of bankruptcy law through teaching, by working to elevate the profession and through bankruptcy-related legislative activities.

This year’s recipient — Ralph Brubaker — is the James H.M. Sprayregen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy, bankruptcy procedure, corporate reorganizations, federal courts, conflict of laws (private international law), contracts, and restitution. Professor Brubaker has three degrees from the University of Illinois, including his J.D. summa cum laude and an M.B.A., and he received Bronze Tablet distinction (highest honors) and C.P.A. certification as an undergraduate. He clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group with the law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Professor Brubaker was a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia from 1995 until 2004, when he returned to his alma mater.

Professor Brubaker is the Editor-in-Chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, he is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, and he has written dozens of journal articles and essays. He is particularly expert in the complex jurisdictional and procedural facets of federal bankruptcy proceedings. Professor Brubaker has been an editorial advisor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a Conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has been the Scholar-in-Residence.

Professor Brubaker has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), and he was a member of the advisory committee on business enterprise sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.