Penn State Law

Event drills into Marcellus Shale issuesMarcellus Shale drilling was hailed as a bridge that can help move the U.S. off of fossil fuels, criticized as something that will not reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and evaluated as an economic force at a symposium hosted by the Penn State Environmental Law Review today.

The power of positive peer pressureAs a contracts manager for Time Dollar Youth Court in Washington, D.C., Gornall serves as an advocate for disadvantaged youths. The Youth Court’s mission is to provide alternative sentencing to first-time juvenile offenders by serving as a unique pre-petition diversion program.

Symposium to examine the arbitrator’s powersAs the reach of arbitration continues to expand so does the debate over what is potentially at stake. What happens when one party resists arbitration? Which entity should decide the validity of the agreement: the court system or the arbitrator alone? Answers to these and other questions will be explored during the symposium “The Arbitrator as Judge … and Judge of Jurisdiction,” on February 16, from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Penn State University Dickinson School of Law.

Professor Thompson publishes a complete look at the complex laws governing mergers and acquisitionsWith more than 5,200 pages of text and appendices, Professor Sam Thompson’s four-volume treatise Mergers, Acquisitions and Tender Offers: Law and Strategies published by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), covers the basics in the complex M&A arena and then some.

Preview the pilot episode of World on TrialPenn State Public Broadcasting released a preview of the pilot episode World on Trial, an educational television and interactive web series, that brings together the best legal talent in the world to argue both sides of sharply contested human rights issues

Reach a verdict on law schoolSpurred in part by a sluggish job market, more than 60,000 people took the Law School Admissions Test last year and are now weighing the pros and cons of a law degree. Scholars from Penn State Law will offer insights on four of the most asked-about fields in a series of panel discussions at the Law School. The events will also be available via live webcast.

Pulitzer Prize winner Linda Greenhouse will deliver commencement addressNew York Times reporter and author Linda Greenhouse will receive an honorary doctorate of law from Penn State during Law School commencement on May 21, 2011. Penn State University President Graham B. Spanier will deliver the honor.

Ambassador Butler to lead nuclear disarmament groupAmbassador Richard Butler AC, Penn State's Distinguished Scholar of International Peace and Security and a faculty member of the School of International Affairs, has been named chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative, effective January 1, 2011.

Penn State Law Professor sheds light on foreclosure crisisPenn State Law Professor Marie Reilly, a bankruptcy and banking law expert, worries that the backlash over the current foreclosure crisis may be the “medicine that kills the patient.” Laws and regulations developed more than a century ago that require paper documentation continue to govern a process which is now electronic and involves a complex system of lenders and servicers. She discusses the origins of the current problem and what effect they may have on the economy.

Professor Flatto wraps up visit at Hebrew UniversityProfessor David Flatto is teaching a winter term course on "Transformative Phases of Early Jewish Jurisprudence," at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The course is a comparative-historical study of the development of the Jewish and Western notions of power, law, and authority.