Law Commons^™

Sabin Center For Climate Change Law Annual Report 2025-2026, Tiffany Challe

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over the past year, the Sabin Center continued to translate complex legal and scientific questions into practical tools that advance climate action and climate justice across climate litigation, renewable energy, local climate action, model climate laws, carbon management and greenhouse gas removal, climate law and science, and climate and business law.

Explore our 2025–2026 Annual Report to see the research, engagement, and impact behind the numbers — and what’s ahead.

Socially-Minded Investors And Corporate Behavior, Merritt B. Fox, Menesh S. Patel

Faculty Scholarship

Many equity investors are concerned with the world’s worsening social and environmental problems and are losing faith in the capacity of political institutions to respond. Corporate behavior is often contributing to these problems. Some investors, at least if fully informed as to costs and benefits involved, would favor corrective changes to corporate behavior even where that would lessen their investment returns. Two important questions arise: (1) given existing law, are such willing-to-sacrifice equity investors currently affecting firm behavior; and (2) should there be legal reform that makes firms more sensitive to these willing-to-sacrifice investors’ preferences? This Article seeks to answer …

The Use And Abuse Of Hearsay In Family Law Matters, Jessica Tueller, Monica Dionisio

Other Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Treatment Of Digital Assets In Insolvency, Nydia Remolina Leon, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Daniel Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the treatment of digital assets in insolvency. Given that cryptoassets can be the subject of various transactions—including purchase, sale, custody, and lending—understanding their nature and implications in insolvency is relevant for any firm, not just cryptoexchanges. The article begins by offering a general overview of the world of cryptoassets. It then examines the nature of cryptoassets from accounting, financial, and legal perspectives. While much of the literature on insolvency and cryptoassets has primarily focused on the analysis of whether cryptocurrencies constitute property of the estate, this article explores additional issues, such as the …

From Open Banking To Banking-As-A-Service: Regulatory Challenges In The Evolution Of Financial Intermediation, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Over the past decade, financial innovation has moved from open banking, centred on consumer-permissioned data sharing, to banking-as-a-service (BaaS), which modularises core banking functions through application programming interfaces. This shift allows fintechs and non-financial platforms to embed financial products seamlessly, reducing transaction costs and fostering innovation. Yet the 2024 collapse of Synapse in the United States exposed the fragility of this model when intermediaries operate outside robust oversight, leaving consumers without recourse and revealing liability fragmentation and regulatory blind spots. This paper distinguishes BaaS from open banking, open finance, and embedded finance, and maps leading global models – from bank-led …

Different By Default: Nevada's Business Law Prioritizes Clarity & Efficiency, Krisanne S. Cunningham, Benjamin P. Edwards, Jeffrey P. Zucker

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Validating Valuation: How Statistical Learning Can Cabin Expert Discretion In Valuation Disputes, Andrew C. Baker, Jonah B. Gelbach, Eric L. Talley

Faculty Scholarship

This article challenges conventional methods used in financial valuation across transactional and litigation domains. We show that conventional valuation methods allow for considerable discretion, making it possible for each side’s experts to submit dramatically varying valuations simply by choosing among facially reasonable values of parameters that must be selected to carry out conventional valuations. We use large-scale empirical simulations powered by real-world data to demonstrate the scope of such discretion. We next consider several alternatives based on data-driven machine learning approaches, and show that they offer both approximately unbiased estimates of valuation and substantially reduced variability in valuation results. Consequently, …

Cardozo Law News Brief: July 31, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the July 10, 2026 Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Interim Dean of Students Francesca Acocella received the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals’ (NALSAP) Core Four Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to law student affairs.
• Professor Jessica Roth spoke to Bloomberg about the Supreme Court’s Cook, Slaughter, and birthright citizenship decisions, discussing their implications for the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Professor Michael Pollack was quoted in Bloomberg about the legal history of sidewalks and responsibilities for their maintenance, and also appeared on CNN to discuss a viral story about community sidewalk construction.
• Adjunct Professor Gary …

Mobility-Restricting Covenants In Business Contracts: The Case Of Franchising, Francine Lafontaine, Lorenzo G. Luisetto, J.J. Prescott

Articles

Several studies show that restrictive covenants in employment contracts, such as non-compete agreements, may affect employees in detrimental ways, including by reducing mobility and suppressing wages. While such concerns are real, these clauses also have the potential to serve legitimate business purposes by helping companies protect valuable information, which can encourage investment and training and enhance social welfare. This paper explores the use of several types of covenants, including non-competes but also confidentiality and post-relationship non-recruitment clauses, in franchise contracts, an important and accessible category of business contracts. Many of these contracts impose restrictive covenants on franchisees but also on …

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 07.27.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Religious Liberty Summit
• Religious Liberty Clinic, Bellwether International, and Lantos Foundation publish report reviewing campaign that contributed to release of prisoner of conscience
• Notre Dame Legal History Colloquium to Begin Third Year of Meetings

Alumni News

• Shivani Prakash ‘24 J.D.
• Jared Huber ‘24 J.D.
• Dennis Wieboldt '26 J.D.
• Justice Mary Yu ’93 J.D.

Student News

• J.S.D. candidate Valentina Salazar and Pablo González Domínguez '16 J.S.D.
• J.S.D. candidate and Kellogg Ph.D. fellow Valentina Salazar

Faculty Briefs

• Nicole Garnett
• Joh Meiser
• Roger alford 
• Diane Desierto
• Emily Bremer
• Haley Proctor
• Carter Snead
• Susan Azyndar
• Yan Yu
• Cindy Tian
• Vincent Phillip …

The Possibilities Of Constitutional Education, Mark Jia

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Constitutional scholarship has traditionally focused on formal constitutional actors: courts, legislatures, and executives. These actors are often regarded as primary sources of constitutional law, or in some cases, as final arbiters of constitutional meaning. More peripheral in this literature are actors thought to transmit what courts and high officials have established. These constitutional educators, including law professors, legal journalists, and civics planners, are often overlooked for defensible reasons: They lack the normative authorities of formal institutional actors, and they do not exercise power as it is often understood in public law.

This Article advances a general theory of constitutional education …

The Hidden Strategy Behind Trump’S Latest Canada Tariffs, Marc L. Busch, Barry Appleton

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Is Originalism Orthodoxy?, Neel Sukhatme

Articles

What theory of constitutional interpretation has the Supreme Court followed? We search Supreme Court opinions for a wide range of sources that originalists identify as central to their methodology, over the entire universe of cases beginning in 1791. We find that for much of Supreme Court history, conventional indicators of originalist practice--citations to Founding-era sources--are largely absent, raising questions about originalism's past orthodoxy. Originalist citation practices are absent for much of the 19th century and grow sharply in the late 20th century. The Article elaborates the implications of these findings for debates in constitutional law.

Donald Trump’S Latest Tariffs Are Part Of A New Trade Strategy. The U.S. Has A Much Bigger Target Than Our Wine And Cheese, Barry Appleton

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Allen V. State Of Nevada, 142 Nev. Adv. Op. 45 (July 22, 2026), Michael Martinelli

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

In an alternative-suspect defense to sexual assault, evidence of prior similar sexual offenses by the alternative suspect is relevant to establish propensity thereby making the defense theory more probable.

The Role Of Online Disinhibition On Social Media Users' Privacy Concerns And Behaviors, Lisa Thompson, Sinyong Choi

Faculty Articles

As social media platforms become central to digital interactions, concerns about both privacy and the disclosure of personal information have evolved. Online disinhibition—the psychological detachment users experience in digital spaces that distance their online behaviors from offline consequences—may shape perceptions of privacy risks, particularly on social media platforms like TikTok. This study examines the relationships between online disinhibition and users’ privacy concerns and protective behaviors while accounting for individuals’ sense of gratification, media awareness, identity, and experience. By exploring dimensions such as anonymity and invisibility, we investigate how these factors are linked to self-disclosure and diminished privacy caution. Findings from …

Support The Icc As A Vital Court Of Last Resort For Victims Of Grave International Crimes, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Gabor Rona

Online Publications

This public statement, issued on International Justice Day (July 17, 2026), affirms support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an independent judicial institution and a court of last resort for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Signed by more than 100 organizations and individuals, including legal scholars, practitioners, human rights advocates, and civil society organizations, the statement expresses concern over efforts to undermine the ICC's independence and functioning. It calls on the United States to reaffirm its longstanding commitment to the rule of law, judicial independence, and international accountability, emphasizing the importance …

Modern Economic Analysis And Antitrust Law: A Guide, Steven C. Salop

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This book presents a modern economics approach to antitrust law. It expands upon and supplements traditional legal analysis of antitrust law and policy. It does so by analyzing antitrust legal standards and case law through the lenses of industrial organization economics and decision theory. The work is intended to be a comprehensive introductory guide for students, practitioners, and anyone else interested in learning the core of modern antitrust economics. Understanding the economics of antitrust and decision theory and applying that reasoning to specific cases and issues are critical steps for successfully studying and practicing antitrust law and policy. It treats …

From Automation To Adjudication: Evaluating The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Dispute Settlement, Karem Sayed Aboelazm, Muayad Ahmad Obeidat, Raghda Raafat, Nada Zuhair Alfil, Fady Tawakol

All Works

This paper explores the evolving transition from automation to adjudication by examining the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in dispute settlement processes. It assesses how AI can enhance procedural efficiency, support judicial reasoning, and improve access to justice. Adopting a qualitative and interpretive approach, the study analyzes academic scholarship, policy frameworks, and comparative international practices to understand the integration of AI within judicial and quasi-judicial settings (Abedi et al., 2025). The findings suggest that while AI significantly improves administrative processes and provides valuable decision-support tools, it also raises critical concerns regarding algorithmic bias, lack of transparency, and the risk of …

"Unmuted America": Oer Assignment And Syllabi For Law/Pol 313 Racial Politics, Camara Silver

Open Educational Resources

Professor Camara Silver created an open syllabus for LAW/POL 313 Racial Politics that includes Unmuted America: Power at Full Volume, a modular political science assignment series. The syllabus and assignment were created as part of an OER course conversion initiative during Spring 2026. The series asks students to examine how power is organized, narrated, defended, and challenged in American public life. Each version uses a two-part structure: “Volume Up,” in which students examine the historical roots, institutional foundations, and present-day structure of a major political issue, and “Volume Down,” in which students analyze a specific case study, source base, …

A Significant Moment In The Colorado River Water Supply Crisis, Jack Schmidt, Anne Castle, John Fleck, Eric Kuhn, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara

The Traveling Wilburys of the Colorado River

On Sunday, July 12, the surface of Lake Powell was 3524.32 feet above sea level, and the surface of Lake Mead was at 1042.77 ft.7 These elevations equated to 5,505,869 and 7,169,640 acre feet (af), respectively, of live storage in the two reservoirs. The combined total live storage of these reservoirs was 12,675,509 af. The last time the combined total live storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead was this small was May 23, 1957, during construction of Glen Canyon Dam when the entire amount of 12,668,000 af was stored in Lake Mead.

Brief Of Public Health And Health Law Scholars As Amici Curiae Urging Affirmance In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellees, Rachel L. Zacharias, Zeinab Bakhet, Kevin Costello, Maya Manian

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

INTRODUCTION: Physicians’ use of their judgment and expertise to prescribe drugs and devices for purposes other than those approved by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”)—colloquially known as off-label use—is an indispensable feature of modern medicine. The FDA approves drugs as “safe and effective for specific indications.” Christopher M. Wittich, Christopher M. Burkle & William L. Lanier, Ten Common Questions (and Their Answers) About OffLabel Drug Use, 87 Mayo Clinic Procs. 982, 982 (2012). Federal law then generally leaves prescribing decisions, including off-label use of FDA-approved drugs and devices for a patient’s particular indication, to physicians acting under state law …

How Migrants Fleeing The Mexican Drug War Changed American Labor Markets, Mark Borgschulte, Yuci Chen, Eduardo Medina-Cortina

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 07.13.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Notre Dame Law School holds sixth annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Chicago
• Notre Dame Law Professors Offer Insight on Supreme Court Rulings
• Veronica Maska '26 J.D. wins 2026 Smith-Doheny Legal Ethics Writing Competition
• Funeral Services for Professor of Law Emeritus G. Robert Blakey

Alumni News

• Dennis Wieboldt '26 J.D.
• Devan Patel '20 J.D.

Faculty Briefs

• Notre Dame Law School and the Ukrainian Catholic University Faculty of Law jointly organized the conference "Rule of Law at the Time of a Change of Epoch: Case of Ukraine" at Notre Dame London on June 25–26.
• Derek Muller
• Sherif …

Extending Premerger Notification To Labor Markets, Eric A. Posner, Elena Prager

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

US antitrust law requires mergers above a certain size to be reported to the federal antitrust agencies for review prior to consummation. For decades, this premerger notification process and subsequent merger review focused nearly exclusively on product markets. In the last few years, the agencies have also begun to challenge mergers on their effects on labor markets. But the agencies’ ability to detect potential labor market harms is hampered by an absence of labor market information at the premerger notification stage. This article proposes specific types of information that the agencies could collect about labor markets in order to put …

Cardozo Law News Brief: July 10, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the July 10, 2026 Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Interim Dean of Students Francesca Acocella received the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals’ (NALSAP) Core Four Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to law student affairs.
• Professor Jessica Roth spoke to Bloomberg about the Supreme Court’s Cook, Slaughter, and birthright citizenship decisions, discussing their implications for the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Professor Michael Pollack was quoted in Bloomberg about the legal history of sidewalks and responsibilities for their maintenance, and also appeared on CNN to discuss a viral story about community sidewalk construction.
• Adjunct Professor Gary …

Signal And Substance: Why Methodological Sophistication Fails To Guarantee Inference, Aamir Rashid, Rizwana Rasheed

Publications and Research

Despite increasing analytical sophistication, empirical research in organization studies continues to suffer from fragile inference, uneven theoretical accumulation, and contested credibility. This paper seeks to explain why these problems persist by shifting attention from authors’ methodological choices to the evaluative dynamics of peer review. Adopting a conceptual and theory-analytic approach, the paper theorizes peer review as an inferential gatekeeping system. Drawing on research design, theory evaluation, and philosophy-of-science literatures, this study develops an analytical framework to examine how evaluative routines shape what constitutes empirical rigor during the review process. The analysis identifies five recurring reviewer blind spots: inferential scope inflation, …

Think Your Cellphone Data Is Protected Without A Search Warrant? Think Again., Adam M. Gershowitz

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

19th-20th Century Alabama Legal Documents: Finding Aid, Bethany Latham

Finding Aids

This collection is comprised of legal documents from Alabama, dating from the 19^th and 20^th centuries. There are also other assorted documents such as correspondence, invoices, etc. The majority are from Lawrence County, with some also from Calhoun, Talladega, Montgomery, Randolph, and St. Clair counties.

Toward A Private Law Of Intimates' Obligations, Emily J. Stolzenberg

Faculty Publications

When former cohabitants ask courts to distribute property at the end of a nonmarital relationship, they usually lose—even when the partners were as economically intertwined as spouses. Family law scholars have traditionally criticized these cases in terms of longstanding gendered ideas about family relationships. This Article proposes a complementary account at the intersection of feminist and private law theory: that the law of voluntary obligations is not adequately developed to protect intimates’ cooperation. Although marital status law aims to safeguard thick cooperation between spouses and contract law captures a range of more market-based cooperation, for historically contingent reasons, little doctrine …