Page 25 - UMLawyerMag_2023

RICHARD GERSHON, Professor of Law, wrote an article, “When Finishing the Race is not as Good as Quitting It: A Proposal to Reform Mississippi’s Surviving Spouse Protections,” appears in the fall 2022 volume of the Mississippi Law Journal. He is a contributing author of annual updates for Thompson Reuter’s Attorney-Client Privilege in the United States. Gershon serves on the board of North Mississippi Legal Services and is the co-host of MPB’s In Legal Terms, a weekly radio show and podcast covering current legal topics. CHRIS GREEN, Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government, continues to write on constitutional theory, the Fourteenth Amendment, and related areas of constitutional law. Justice Thomas cited his book on the Privileges or Immunities Clause, two of his articles on the Equal Protection Clause, and one of his articles on the Due Process Clause in his concurrence in United States v. Vaello Madero, 156 years to the day after John Bingham’s proposal of the Fourteenth Amendment’s three key clauses to the Joint Committee on Reconstruction on April 21, 1866. He has recently presented papers at the University of San Diego and Oxford University. MATTHEW HALL, Associate Professor of Law, looks forward to hearing from former students about their lives and work. In particular, Hall hopes that: 1) alums of the Moot Court Board will write about their competition experiences so that we can share that wisdom with this year’s teams; 2) recent grads will write about how they used the skills from the Contract Negotiation and Drafting course in practice; and 3) lawyers in public service will reach out if they are interested in appearing as guest speakers in a Government Lawyers course. Send your responses to mrhall@olemiss.edu. CLIFF JOHNSON, MacArthur Justice Center Director, is litigating matters addressing prison conditions, police misconduct, long-term incarceration of people with mental illness, immigration enforcement, juvenile justice, criminalization of poverty, and access to counsel. Johnson recently spoke at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Bar Examiners regarding systemic barriers to diversity and equity in bar admissions. He also testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules concerning how aggressive collection of misdemeanor fines and fees can lead to family food scarcity. Earlier this year, the Center released an updated version of its statewide database showing how bail practices in Mississippi lead to lengthy pretrial detention (www.msjaildata.com). STEPHANIE OTTS continues to serve as the Director of the National Sea Grant Law Center and provides a variety of legal research and outreach services on ocean and coastal law issues. Her recent work, focusing on increasing understanding of legal frameworks governing aquaculture and the movement of organisms in trade, contributes to legal reform efforts to reduce risk of environmental harm. She remains an active member of an interdisciplinary team of UM researchers addressing the risk of lead contamination in drinking water. Her recent articles have appeared in the Journal of Rural and Urban Research and the Journal of Rural Social Sciences. RANDY PIERCE continues to lead the Mississippi Judicial College (MJC) to new heights. MJC has grown from mainly a continuing education entity to a valued resource for Mississippi judges and court- related personnel. Pierce’s leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic led Chief Justice Michael K. Randolph to select him for the 2020 Chief Justice award. Pierce is an active member of the National Association of State Judicial Educators (NASJE) and led a national panel discussion on conducting hybrid judicial conferences. He also moderated a NASJE panel discussion on the topic of developing online curriculum for judges and court-related personnel. Pierce teaches Mississippi Civil Practice and Judicial Practice at the law school. He enjoys mentoring law students, and in 2021 he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. RONALD RYCHLAK, Distinguished Professor and Jamie Whitten Chair in Law and Government, serves as the university’s Faculty Athletic Representative and chair of the Athletics Committee. He is secretary of the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and legal advisor to the Holy See’s delegation to the United Nations. Rychlak is also chair of the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He serves on several editorial boards and advisory committees. Ron is the author or editor of twelve books and over 100 articles. The fourth edition of his book Real and Demonstrative Evidence: A Real-World Practice Manual for Winning at Trial was released in 2022. WILL WILKINS, Director of the Mississippi Law Research Institute, provides intellectual property research to Mississippi’s universities. In this role, he works with the universities as they navigate the protection and use of intellectual property in research and scholarship on their campuses. In addition, he continues to teach Copyright and Emerging Issues in Intellectual Property at the Law School. Wilkins also serves as a Commissioner to the Uniform Law Commission and, in that role, serves as a the Legislative Liason in Mississippi and as a member of the Technology Committee. Here at the Law School, he serves as Chair of the Community Service Committee. 24