Clinic News

The Law School students, alumni, and faculty worked hard to make 2013 a year rich in scholarship, achievement, advocacy, and learning. Collected here are the ten most-read news stories on our website in 2013.     10. Clinic files Supreme Court brief on housing discrimination case

Penn State Extension offers programs as part of its Marcellus Shale education outreach. On January 23 from 1 to 2 p.m. Professor Ross Pifer will present a webinar on recent state supreme court ruling on Act 13 a 2012 law that made major updates to the rules governing Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry. Pifer will cover what provisions have been struck down, what provisions remain, what the existing framework is for municipal regulation, and address some of the other questions that have been raised by the opinion.

Third-year law students Anthony Rallo and Thomas Robins are headed home for the break with a significant achievement to brag about. Two prestigious, peer-reviewed legal journals accepted their scholarly articles for publication, an honor typically reserved for faculty scholars. “I wouldn’t have submitted the article if Professor Blankfein-Tabachnick hadn’t encouraged me,” Robins said. Rallo said he also submitted his article on arbitration at the urging of Professor Carbonneau.

The energy business in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S. is expanding rapidly. According to a report by the Department of Energy, natural gas reserves in Pennsylvania more than doubled in 2010 and increased 90% in 2011. Several Penn State Law students are taking advantage of classes such as Oil and Gas, Law and Policy of Shale Gas Development, and Energy Law and Policy to prepare for careers in the field.

The energy business in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S. is expanding rapidly. According to a report by the Department of Energy, natural gas reserves in Pennsylvania more than doubled in 2010 and increased 90% in 2011. Several Penn State Law students are taking advantage of classes such as Oil and Gas, Law and Policy of Shale Gas Development, and Energy Law and Policy to prepare for careers in the field.

Months of legal research and writing resulted in a significant win on appeal for ADA plaintiff and engineer Theresa Ellis, assisted by students in the Penn State Law Civil Rights Appellate Clinic.

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) asked the Penn State Law Civil Rights Appellate Clinic to draft an amici curiae brief in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, set for argument on April 24 before the Supreme Court; what surprised even clinic students was the number of other organizations that signed onto the brief: eighteen.

The Center for Immigrants’ Rights on behalf of the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center will present a workshop to help young immigrants learn about legal status. Participants can earn how young people without legal status can avoid deportation and potentially receive work authorization and learn the eligibility requirements, application process, and potential risks of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  

Students in the Family Law Clinic typically spend their days counseling clients, preparing filings, and making court appearances. Third-year students Alison Glunt, Teleicia Rose, and Bart Wischnowski and clinic fellow Erin Bloxham did those things but also worked on a project designed to help military families.

The U.S. Supreme Court will be considering briefs from Professors David Kaye, Eileen Kane, and Bob Rains as well as the Civil Rights Appellate Clinic in four different cases this term.