A Message from Dean Aiken
Dear Wake Forest Law community,
I’m excited to share with you this latest issue of Legal Briefs, spotlighting so much of what has been happening at Wake Forest Law this past month. Our Pro Bono Project, which engages students in countless hours of service to the community each year, celebrated National Pro Bono Week with a full slate of events. Faculty members continue to share their expertise to provide context, clarity, and counsel on pressing issues such as the environment, human rights, health and regulatory policy, criminal justice, and more. And our most recent edition of the Wake Forest Jurist is now online and will be arriving in mailboxes in the coming weeks, with insightful stories about what lies ahead for our graduates and the legal profession more broadly.
As we enter a season of gratitude, I’m reflecting on the many ways in which I am grateful to be a part of this community, and that we are now able to come together in ways that weren’t possible at this same time last year. Thank you for all that you do to make Wake Forest Law the place that it is for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and those to come.
With warm regards,
OUR PEOPLE
We're excited to have welcomed new staff members to Wake Forest Law since the start of the fall semester.
Evan Didier
Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid
Evan Didier joined Wake Forest Law in October as Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid. Previously, he was Director of Enrollment Management at the Law School Admissions Council, where he provided legal education consulting services to a variety of law schools and helped improve their use of data analysis and modeling in decision making. Prior to his time at LSAC, Dean Didier was the Associate Director of Admissions and Enrollment Analytics at Boston College Law School, and served as an admissions professional in graduate engineering at Northeastern University.
A native of North Carolina, he was born and raised in Raleigh, and holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he received the 2012 Pro Bono Award for the most pro bono hours for a graduating law student. Dean Didier also holds an Ed.M. in higher education from Harvard University, a B.A. in political science from Vanderbilt University, and an A.A. from Bard College at Simon’s Rock. He is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts, the career officer for the Law School Admissions Minority Network, and a member of the American Bar Association.
STUDENT FOCUS
2021 National Pro Bono Week
The Wake Forest Law Pro Bono Project organized a number of events from Oct. 23-29 in celebration of National Pro Bono Week, an annual celebration focused on highlighting pro bono opportunities and work by lawyers, paralegals, and law students across the country.
“National Pro Bono Week is an opportunity to bring awareness to pro bono services and connect attorneys across the nation to showcase the incredible difference that pro bono lawyers make to our system of justice, to our communities, and most of all, to the clients served,” said Olivia Osburn (JD ’22), executive director of the Pro Bono Project.
During the week, students held two expungement clinics, helping clients understand their eligibility for and fill out the appropriate forms to begin the process of getting misdemeanor or felony convictions expunged from their records. A wills preparation event also offered students an opportunity, under the supervision of an attorney, to assist clients in drafting their will. Through the Teen Court Project, students also worked with and mentored juvenile first-time offenders at the Forsyth County Courthouse. In addition, students conducted a virtual “Know Your Rights” presentation for local community members about the state and federal laws involved in routine interactions with law enforcement officers.
The Pro Bono Project also hosted former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley to speak to law students about the importance of pro bono work in life and lawyering, no matter which practice areas they choose to pursue. Following her remarks, students had the opportunity to ask Justice Beasley about her career path from being a public defender to Chief Justice, and beyond the bench.
While National Pro Bono Week shines a spotlight on pro bono work for one week, throughout the year, the Pro Bono Project provides students opportunities in over a dozen project areas to assist attorneys who offer legal services at no fee or substantially reduced fees to individuals in need.
Follow the Pro Bono Project throughout the year on Instagram at @wfulawprobono.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Sam Parker (MSL ’20)
As Program Manager for the Ryan White Department at Atrium Health, Sam Parker (MSL ’20) spends his days writing Standard Operating Procedures for his department, managing staff, working directly with the General Director on HR issues, and ensuring he is documenting correctly in the highly regulated business setting in which he works.
“I’ve seen a lot of friends go back and get their master’s in social work or MBAs,” said Parker. “I chose this degree because it is a different way to look at the same problem.”
He credits his MSL from Wake Forest Law for not only differentiating his skill set so that he could move into his current position more quickly, but also equipping him with the knowledge to know how to mitigate risk.
“Am I the authority? No, but this degree has given me the ability to have a good basic understanding to help avoid pitfalls,” says Parker.
Read more about Sam and other MSL alumni in the latest issue of the Wake Forest Jurist.
FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP & RESEARCH
Alyse Bertenthal
- Paper Commentator, “It is here we are loved” by Michele Statz, Law and Rurality Workshop (October 29, 2021)
Ellen Murphy
- Brief of North Carolina Professors of Professional Responsibility as Amici Curiae filed in the North Carolina Supreme Court, NAACP v. Moore (November 2, 2021)
Kami Chavis
- Speaker, “Prayer, Protest, and Pandemics: The First Amendment in Times of Crisis,” Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference (October 29, 2021)
- Speaker, “Police Use of Force and Reform,” The World Bank’s Law, Justice and Development Week 2021 — Law, Racial Equity and Development (November 8, 2021)
Laura Graham
- Speaker, “Generation Z Goes to Law School (and into the Workplace),” Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference (October 29, 2021)
John Knox
- Testimony, “Protecting Human Rights in International Conservation,” Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources (October 26, 2021)
Tanya Marsh
- Chapter author, “Modernizing the Law of Human Remains: Challenges and Opportunities,” The Future of the Corpse: Changing Ecologies of Death and Disposition (October 2021)
Sid Shapiro
- Testimony, “Protecting Lives and Livelihoods: Vaccine Requirements and Employee Accommodations,” Workplace Protections and Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor (October 26, 2021)
FACULTY IN THE MEDIA
Chris Coughlin
Professor Chris Coughlin wrote about her views on the job market and some of the most in-demand practice areas of the next decade for The National Jurist.
Timothy Davis
Professor Timothy Davis spoke with WUFT about how the outcome of a federal antitrust lawsuit filed in California could impact college athletes and the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness rules.
John Knox
Professor John Knox spoke with Bloomberg Law about the United Nations Human Rights Council’s vote affirming the human right to a clean, stable, and healthy environment. The recognition is one that Professor Knox worked toward from 2012-2018 while serving as the first United Nations independent expert, and later its first special rapporteur, on the issue of human rights and the environment.
Professor Knox’s testimony before members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources last month — which focused on the findings of an independent expert panel on which he served that conducted an in-depth investigation of the World Wildlife Fund’s involvement in alleged human rights abuses in protected areas in Africa and Asia — was also covered in-depth by CounterPunch.
Tanya Marsh
In news coverage from ABC, The Independent, and Newsweek, Professor Tanya Marsh discussed the legal and ethical issues raised by a TikTok user who has garnered a large following while selling human bones, explaining that selling human remains is unethical because there is no consent. She also appeared on the Infrastructure Junkies podcast to talk about the legal considerations at issue when human remains lie in the path of a right of way project.
Ellie Morales
The Wilmington Star-News profiled a client of the law school’s Veterans Legal Clinic, directed by Ellie Morales, who is seeking to obtain veteran status, as well as restore his Purple Heart recognition he earned for a combat injury during the Korean War.
Sarah Morath
In an op-ed for The Hill, Associate Professor Sarah Morath explained that chemical recycling won’t solve the world’s plastic problem and called for the federal government to regulate the emerging technology.
Sid Shapiro
Professor Sid Shapiro continued to serve as an expert on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s legal authority to establish and enforce vaccine standards and accomodations. His expertise, including from testimony before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, was cited in news coverage from Fortune, MedPage Today, Reuters, and multiple stories from USA Today.
Alan Palmiter
In a conversation with Wake Forest University’s Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability, Professor Alan Palmiter discussed his new article, “Capitalism, heal thyself,” and the role capitalism has to play in creating a healthier planet.
Ron Wright
Associate Dean for Research and Academic Programs and Professor Ron Wright spoke with The Washington Post about prosecutors’ broad discretion, their higher rate of reelection compared to other public officials, and the lack of a clear trend in the best ways to address prosecutorial accountability. He also participated in a three part discussion on the role of prosecutors in the American justice system, hosted by the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership and Spectrum News as part of the 2021 Hometown Debate Series focused on criminal justice issues.
LEADERSHIP, ACCOMPLISHMENTS & AWARDS
Alison Ashe-Card presents at 2021 Black Lawyers Matter Conference
Alison Ashe-Card, Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion in the Office of Career and Professional Development, spoke at the 2021 Black Lawyers Matter Conference, which focused this year on building inclusive excellence in legal education and employment. Her remarks focused on reenvisioning the hiring process for new lawyers.
Alyse Bertenthal selected as member of OSAC’s Wildlife Forensic Biology subcommittee & Forensic Science Standards Board’s Legal Task Group
Assistant Professor Alyse Bertenthal was appointed to serve a three-year term with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Forensic Science Standards Board’s (FSSB) Legal Task Group, which reviews and comments on standards, technical publications, definitions, and related documents, with an emphasis on their legal impacts and the presentation of forensic science results within the legal system. She also was appointed to serve as a member of the Wildlife Forensic Biology Subcommittee of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science, which focuses on standards and guidelines related to taxonomic identification, individualization, and geographic origin of non-human biological evidence.
Sid Shapiro receives ABA Administrative Law Section’s Annual Scholarship Award
Professor Sidney Shapiro, along with his co-author Elizabeth Fisher, have been awarded the ABA Administrative Law Section’s Annual Scholarship Award for their book “Administrative Competence: Reimagining Administrative Law,” published by Cambridge University Press. The award recognizes the best work published in the field of administrative law during 2020, and will be presented to Professor Shapiro on November 18 during the Administrative Law Conference.
EVENTS
Veterans Day Ceremony
Thursday, Nov. 11
The Wake Forest University Army ROTC, joined by the Wake Forest Law Veterans Legal Clinic, is hosting a Veterans Day Ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. in Pugh Auditorium to recognize, honor, and remember those who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. This year’s ceremony will include special recognition of several Veterans Legal Clinic clients who, with the assistance of the clinic, secured corrections to their military records and are now recognized as veterans under the law.
The Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy Fall Symposium
Friday, Nov. 12
The Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy’s Fall Symposium — “Government Transparency in the Modern Age: Examining the Gap Between Citizen Expectation and the Law” — will focus on the discrepancy between what citizens expect government transparency to look like versus what information the government is legally required to disclose. Attendees can choose to join for some or all of the five sessions, which will focus on topics including precedent for transparency, privacy law, COVID-19's effects on the Freedom of Information Act, local government transparency in North Carolina, and policing.
The hybrid format event will take place in Room 1312 of Worrell Professional Center and via Zoom. Registration is required via Zoom for both in-person and virtual attendance.
The mission of Wake Forest Law is to advance the cause of justice by creating knowledge and educating students to meet the legal needs of the world with confidence, character, and creativity. We instill in students a respect for the law, a devotion to the ideal of service, and a commitment to professional values. We educate students from around the world in a richly diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.
Legal Briefs is a publication of Wake Forest University School of Law.