Law Commons^™

Honoring Our 2025 Pro Bono Award Recipients, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

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The Indiana University Maurer School of Law celebrated its 2025 Pro Bono Award winners this week, honoring students, faculty, and community members who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to serving others through legal advocacy and volunteer work.

The student awards recognized the individuals in each class who logged the highest number of pro bono hours during the past academic year. This year’s honorees were:

• Laura Stancato ’26, of Fishers, Indiana, who was honored for her leadership with the Protective Order Project and the Civil Protective Order Clinic. “This work uncovered a passion for helping others, particularly survivors of sexual and domestic …

Vol. 69, No. 11 (November 10, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Ashley Ahlbrand Elected Secretary Of The American Association Of Law Libraries, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

No abstract provided.

Vol. 69, No. 10 (November 3, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Presidentialism In Post-Conflict Kachin Constitution: Political Imagination, Institutional Realities, And Executive Design, Dashi Blessing Seng Htoi Lu

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between cultural identity, political imagination, and constitutional design in the Kachin context, focusing on the strong preference for presidentialism among political thinkers and interim constitution drafters. Rooted in traditions of armed resistance, charismatic leadership, and the desire for visible sovereignty, presidentialism is widely viewed as the most viable executive model for a post-conflict Kachin future. Yet this preference is often shaped more by symbolic ideals than by a clear understanding of the structural demands of democratic governance.

At the heart of this vision lies the expectation of a strong president: directly elected, culturally rooted, and …

Vol. 69, No. 09 (October 27, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Vol. 69, No. 08 (October 20, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Professor Cindy Williams Joins Global Future Councils At The World Economic Forum In Dubai, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

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Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Cindy Williams is representing the school this week at the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils (GFC) Annual Meeting in Dubai.

As a member of the GFC on Climate Change and Nature Loss, Professor Williams is contributing to discussions that frame environmental challenges as key financial risks and opportunities for companies. Her work focuses on how innovative finance can be harnessed to restore nature and build economic resilience worldwide.

Vol. 69, No. 07 (October 6, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Virtual Proceedings In The Federal Courts, Jeremy Fogel, Mary S. Hoopes

Indiana Law Journal

The federal courts are notoriously hesitant to modify their procedures and policies. Much of this “small c” conservatism is driven by a concern that their rules be “trans-substantive” and suited to a wide range of circumstances. For years, they stubbornly resisted allowing remote proceedings and similar uses of technology in the courtroom because of concerns that permitting them could affect the quality of lawyering and decision-making, compromise the safety of jurors and witnesses, and diminish the public’s perception of the courts. The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed this, forcing judges to alter radically the way they conducted proceedings.

Nearly five years …

The Siren Song Of Territoriality, Robin J. Effron, Alan M. Trammell

Indiana Law Journal

Territoriality—the theory that a state’s physical borders determine its power and sovereignty—boasts a long, venerable history. For centuries, it served as the dominant political theory for myriad ideas. It defined a wide range of doctrines, including personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and prescriptive jurisdiction. By the middle of the twentieth century, though, this rigid territoriality no longer described or responded to the challenges of a society that had grown increasingly mobile and interconnected. Courts replaced inflexible territorial theories with more functional theories rooted in fairness and state regulatory interests.

In recent years, territoriality has seen a curious resurgence. The Supreme …

A Municipal Finance Theory Of Local Government, Michael A. Francus

Indiana Law Journal

The United States is awash in local governments. Not only does every state create local governments, but every state relies on those local governments to carry out the day-to-day functions of government. These local governments, though, are not the state. They are distinct legal entities vested with their own legal personhood. That is, they sue and are sued, they own property, and they enter into contracts—all in their own names.

Many rich accounts detail the historical reasons why local governments arose. But a different, theoretical question remains: What can a state achieve with local governments that it cannot achieve without …

Rethinking Courtroom Presence In The Virtual Era, Jenia Iontcheva Turner

Indiana Law Journal

Technological innovation has made virtual appearances by criminal defendants increasingly common. These appearances have advanced efficiency but also raised questions about the scope of both the right and the duty of defendants to be physically present in court. Should judges, for example, be allowed to hold virtual arraignments, even if a defendant wishes to appear in person? Can defendants opt for virtual appearances at will? While courts are beginning to address these questions, they have yet to develop a coherent framework to evaluate when virtual appearances are constitutional and appropriate. This Article seeks to contribute to this project by examining …

Breaking The Echo Chamber: Market Failures In The Social Media Information Market And The Need For Reform, Aleco M. Hamrick

Indiana Law Journal

Traditionally, the information market is centrally controlled. Once information consumption transitioned from the physical world to the digital world, the barrier of entry to the information dissemination market was reduced from printing presses and distribution networks to a smartphone and an internet connection. Ostensibly anyone can distribute any idea at any time. This strains the traditional information governance model that has dominated the information market for centuries; where epistemic authorities once controlled both the streams of information and the kinds of information that entered them, now social media companies exert limited control over information streams and no control over what …

The Stewart Lecture In Labor And Employment Law: Employment And Identity, Matthew T. Bodie

Indiana Law Journal

Work shapes our identities, and our identities shape our work. The tension between personal identity and work identity drives popular culture, as seen in shows like Severance and The Bear, and it frames our conceptions about who we are and what gives our lives meaning. In many respects the law has assumed a clear separation between work lives and personal lives, divvying up control and responsibility over these realms on that basis. But the divide, never absolute, has blurred considerably through technological change, legal developments, and social expectations, resulting in a more pervasive employer presence in both our workspaces …

Assessing Market Efficiency In Corporate And Securities Litigation, Charles Korsmo, Minor Myers

Indiana Law Journal

In recent decades, courts have increasingly looked to trading prices as evidence—often conclusive evidence—in high-stakes corporate law disputes over a company’s fair value. This development has been especially dramatic, and consequential, in Delaware. Where a stock trades in an efficient market, the logic goes, the prevailing trading price can be used to resolve any disputed issue of valuation. But this expedient comes with an unavoidable question: When is a market “sufficiently efficient” for a court to rely on it as a measure of value?

 Federal courts have long experience evaluating the relative efficiency of trading markets in the context of …

Vol. 69, No. 06 (September 29, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Vol. 69, No. 05 (September 22, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Outdated U.S. Safety Net Leaving Poor Communities Exposed To “Climate Strains”, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

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America’s safety net is failing to protect its most vulnerable citizens from the growing pressures of climate change, according to new research from an Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Andrew Hammond.

In a new article forthcoming in the Iowa Law Review, Hammond argues that while policymakers, the press, and the public tend to focus on climate “shocks” like hurricanes and wildfires, millions of Americans face overlooked climate “strains”—the everyday stresses of extreme heat, deteriorating air quality, and failing infrastructure that disproportionately affect low-income Americans.

Hammond’s paper, “Climate Strains and the Safety Net,” found that …

Vol. 69, No. 04 (September 15, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Distinguished Service Awards To Be Presented Sept. 26, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

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Three alumni of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law will be honored with Distinguished Service Awards later this month, in concert with the Law School’s fall Alumni Board meeting.

Matthew Metz ’19, Delanie Pope ’93, and Hannah E. Wilson ’22 will each receive the award, which was established in 1997 to recognize graduates of Law School who have distinguished themselves in service to their communities and the school in ways far exceeding traditional business, professional, and civic duties.

Vol. 69, No. 03 (September 8, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Vol. 69, No. 02 (September 1, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Vol. 69, No. 01 (August 25, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Moot Court Teams Earning National Accolades, James Owsley Boyd

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t was a banner year for the Law School’s moot court competitors, as one team brought home a championship trophy, multiple teams made deep runs in national tournaments, and several students earned impressive individual honors.

“For our external competitions against other schools, we had to have tryouts this year because we had a record number of applicants,” said Professor Lane McFadden, who teaches Legal Writing and Research and Appellate Advocacy and supervises the Law School’s appellate moot court programs. “The rising 2Ls are now excited because the students who are only a year or two ahead of them have done …

Summer 2025

Ergo

No abstract provided.

Is It Time To Revive The Privileges Or Immunities Clause?, Hwi Won Kim

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

Is it time to revive the privileges or immunities clause?

I argue it is. But in a distinct way from what other legal scholars have suggested. Today, two ideas dominate discussion of the Privileges or Immunities clause of the 14th Amendment. First, the Supreme Court rendered it a nullity in the Slaughter-House Cases (1873). Second, any attempt to revive it, most prominently Justice Thomas's recent concurrence in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), necessarily means an abandonment of modern rights now protected by Due Process or Equal Protection. The first, in essence, argues the Clause is already dead, while the …

Vandy Earns Top Prize In Auwcl National Health Law Writing Competition, James Owsley Boyd

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Nicholle Vandy, a rising 3L from Knox, Ind., has become the first Indiana University Maurer School of Law student to earn top honors at the American University Washington College of Law National Health Writing Competition.

Vandy’s paper, “True Man, Captive Mother: Abortion as a Fundamental Self-Defense Right,” was named the winning entry of the 10th annual competition, which encourages law students from across the country to write scholarly papers on current topics of interest relevant to health, food, and/or drug law.

Foreword, Mark D. Janis, Jennifer D. Oliva, Alivia D. Benedict

Indiana Law Journal

In this issue we are delighted to present papers from the symposium “Law and Technology at the Crossroads: A Centennial Summit,” held in Bloomington in November 2024. The symposium originated from the collaborative efforts of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law’s law and technology faculty and the Indiana Law Journal’s editorial board, notably 2023–2024 Editor-in-Chief John Vastag and 2024–2025 Executive Articles & Symposium Editor Paige Wynkoop. The Maurer School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property Research provided funding, as did Indiana University through its Research Conference Grant Program. Indiana University’s Ostrom Workshop and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, …

Multiplicity As An Ai Governance Principle, Michal Shur-Ofry

Indiana Law Journal

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, this Article explores one of its critical, yet overlooked, societal implications: the propensity of large language models (LLMs) to generate mainstream, standardized content, potentially narrowing their users’ worldviews.

Taking a close look at the technological underpinnings of LLMs, the analysis suggests that—due to the combination of human judgments, training datasets, and inherent features of the underlying technological paradigm—LLMs’ outputs are likely to be geared toward the popular and to project to their users concentrated, mainstream worldviews, sidelining a broader spectrum of perspectives. This Article explores the asymmetrical power relations between LLMs …