Penn State Law

Steve Brogan summers at Drinker, Biddle, and Reath LLP in PhiladelphiaSteve Brogan is working at Drinker, Biddle and Reath LLP in Philadelphia for his second consecutive summer.

World on Trial Episode Two: Legality of US drone program hinges on state of conflictTo decide whether a U.S. drone strike is a violation of international human rights law, World on Trial viewers and jurors must decide whether an armed conflict exists. If the United States is engaged in an armed conflict, the law of armed conflict and its rules on imminence, distinction, necessity and proportionality apply; if not, then the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—which declares that every human being has the inherent right to life—governs the analysis. View Slideshow.

World on Trial filming — Episode 2Slide show of Episode Two, World on Trial in production

Civil Rights Appellate Clinic celebrates significant win before Third Circuit Court of AppealsFrom left to right: Dave Dambreville, Jordan Johnston, Asima Ahmad, Theresa Ellis (plaintiff), Christopher Polchin, Kate Hynes, Professor Michael Foreman, Alison Renfrew, Scott Zukowski (plaintiff's spouse) and Scott Engstrom

William E. Butler elected to Ukrainian arbitration courtThe Presidium of the International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) attached to the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has elected Penn State Law and International Affairs professor William E. Butler to the recommendatory panel of arbitrators maintained by the Court.

Adminstrative law scholar Jud Mathews brings sense of mystery to the classroomIf an Administrative Law class sometimes feels like an episode of the hit TV series "LOST," it’s no accident.

National security, civil rights experts to put U.S. drone program on trialFilming begins June 26 for episode two of World on Trial, an international human rights television and web program produced by Penn State Law that will feature Judge James E. Baker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces as presiding judge and Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU and former F-14 pilot and law of war scholar Michael Lewis as lead attorneys. The series presents both sides of sharply contested international human rights issues in the context of courtroom trials before live multinational juries.

Assistant Dean Kenny Tatum sees some bright spots in employment reportA report released by the National Association for Law Placement, Inc. (NALP) indicated that the overall number of jobs obtained by law school graduates from the class of 2012 increased over the number of jobs obtained by graduates from the previous year. However, the class size was larger so the overall employment rate was 84.7% versus 85.6% the previous year. "One of the things Penn State has emphasized in this challenging economy is keeping class sizes smaller so we can focus on helping our students find higher quality placement," said Assistant Dean of the Career Planning & Development Office (CPDO) Kenny Tatum.

International Clinic supports award-winning programHumanitarian Engineering Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) is the Northeast regional winner of the 2013 Outreach Scholarship W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award and is now a national finalist for the C. Peter Magrath University Community Engagement Award. The award comes from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. HESE has spent years developing and testing low-cost greenhouses and creating a self-sustaining business model for farmers in East Africa. In the past year, Penn State Law’s International Sustainable Development Projects (ISDP) Clinic collaborated with HESE to address legal barriers to implementing humanitarian projects.

Students work to ensure a better future for tomorrow’s people and planetDuring the past year in the International Sustainable Development Projects Law Clinic, Penn State Law students Michelle Polato and Geoff Trautman have been collaborating with student s in the College of Engineering’s multidisciplinary Humanitarian Engineering Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program to address legal barriers to implementing humanitarian projects, like low-cost greenhouses and networked health kiosks.