A Villanova tradition over the last 60 years, Red Mass provides an opportunity for faculty, alumni, students, families and guests to gather and celebrate the beginning of the Law School’s academic year.
The Villanova University School of Law community will come together for its annual celebration of Red Mass on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. with Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 CLAS.
In the study of law, there is no substitute for real-world experience. And when it comes to giving students hands-on opportunities, Villanova Law excels in providing over 200 externship opportunities, including many government placements. Colin Milon ’18 and Alyssa Pooler ’19 took advantage of the law school’s close proximity to Washington, D.C. and landed coveted externships on Capitol Hill.
Is administrative law unlawful? “No,” answers Adrian Vermeule in Law’s Abnegation: From Law’s Empire to the Administrative State (Harvard Univ. Press 2016), a nuanced yet bold defense of the administrative state we inhabit today. Professor Vermeule will be joined in conversation by distinguished scholars of law, political science, economics, philosophy, sociology, and theology for the Conference.
The Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy welcomes John Witte, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, McDonald Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion of Emory University School of Law to speak on the topic “From Gospel to Law: Martin Luther’s Reformation of Law, Politics, and Society."
”Trafficking & Trauma: Engaging in Legal Advocacy for Survivors of CSE” will introduce attorneys to the federal and state laws related to commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The symposium will feature introductory remarks by The Honorable President Judge Marsha H. Neifield,. Participants will be trained in the technical instruction and empirical knowledge necessary to pursue post-conviction relief on behalf of survivors and learnhow to engage in trauma-informed lawyering.
For those wishing to enter the highly regulated field of Health Law, Villanova Law provides aspiring attorneys with the foundational skills, hands-on experience and personalized guidance they need for success. Stasha Sosnowicz ’19 is one such student who was able to combine her legal skills with her interests in science, business and advocacy through an externship with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
The Philadelphia Bar Association recently recognized Villanova Law alums Nikkita Gottling ’18, Pamela Putnam ’18 and Christian Wynne ’18 with the Eve Biskind Klothen Law Student Pro Bono Distinction Award, which is given to area law students for their commitment to pro bono and public interest work. Gottling, Putnam and Wynne devoted hours of their time to pro bono legal work through Villanova Law’s in-house clinics, student organizations and externship placements.
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law recently announced the inaugural Diane E. Ambler '78 Faculty Curricular Innovation Award to recognize faculty members who have distinguished themselves through their innovation in creating pedagogical and curricular changes with a positive impact on the Law School. Professor Les Book and Professor Joy Mullane were named co-recipients of the award for their collaborative development of an innovative model for teaching.
Mark C. Alexander, The Arthur J. Kania Dean of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, announced the establishment of two endowed faculty chairs – and appointed two esteemed faculty members to these newly established positions. Doris DelTosto Brogan ’81, Professor of Law has been named the Harold Reuschlein Leadership Chair. Michelle Madden Dempsey, Professor of Law has been named the first holder of the Harold Reuschlein Scholar Chair.
Lara M. Ruggerio ’18 to earn second place in the 2018 Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section writing contest for her paper, “Devil’s Advocate: An Examination into the Representation of Disfavored Plaintiffs in District Court Patent Proceedings.” Chandel Boozer ’18 took third place for her article, “Does Artificial Intelligence Embody Humanity? A Look into the Copyrightability of Artificial Intelligence-Created Works.” Seth Fenster ’18 earned an honorable mention for his submission.
Jason Kaner ’19 enrolled in the JD/MBA program and in his 2L year found a way to combine his legal and business career pursuits with his interest in sports and entertainment law. After working with the legal department on NFL Films, he is spending the summer in Los Angeles working in a different capacity in the league, now working on the media team as a club media policy associate.
Andrew Brandt, Professor of Practice and the Executive Director of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law, provided expert commentary to numerous national media outlets regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Murphy v. NCAA regarding sports betting. In addition to the topic of sports betting, Brandt recently weighed in on the sale of the Carolina Panthers football team amidst the National Football League’s investigation into misconduct by Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.
Alyssa Pooler ’19 was one of thirty students, and the only law student from the United States, selected for the Inter-Policy School Summit at the University of Chicago. As the only American law student in the program, Pooler was amongst international students from Australia, Turkey, India and Brazil.
Villanova Law graduates can be found leading law firms, businesses, nonprofits and government organizations in roles from partner to board member. Alum Ashe Puri ’02, partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, who was recently elected Co-President of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (SABA-SC), exemplifies this tradition of leadership.
Students seeking hands-on work experience during their law school education have over 200 externship opportunities at Villanova Law. In choosing an externship, students are encouraged to align their personal and professional goals while developing and enhancing their legal skills. LaVelle King ’18 was able to do just that when she externed with Gift of Life, a nonprofit organization that coordinates life-saving and life-enhancing organ transplants.
The impressive graduates of the Class of 2018 joins a tight-knit community of more than 10,000 Villanova Lawyers. Before they embark on their next big adventure, we asked members of the Class of 2018 to share more about their Villanova Law experience.
Omeed Firouzi's ’18 devotion to public interest service led him to be named a 2018-2020 American Bar Association Section of Taxation Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellow. The Fellowship, which supports Firouzi’s work as an attorney in Philadelphia Legal Assistance’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, will begin in September 2018.
Mark C. Alexander, The Arthur J. Kania Dean of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, announced that Judge Joseph A. Greenaway of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will address the Class of 2018 as the School’s commencement speaker and will also receive the Villanova Law Medallion Award.
At Villanova Law, our students utilize their legal skills while turning their passions into practice. In the summer of 2017, Marlena Smith ’18 landed a coveted externship with the film production company, Lucasfilm, Ltd. LLC, which is responsible for classic film franchises such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is not a distant problem affecting only people in the developing world. It is a problem that exists locally, throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Over the past several years, a number of groups and organizations have stepped up the fight against trafficking. Since its launch in 2015, the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE Institute) has provided educational training and services and impacted key legislative efforts in the fight to support survivors of trafficking in Pennsylvania and beyond.
As Advanced Certified Interns in Villanova Law’s Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES), Melisa Buchowiec ’18 and Omeed Firouzi ’18 gained hands-on client experience and won asylum for a deserving client.
Ross Douthat, Columnist, The New York Times, will examine "Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism" in a conversation moderated by Michael Moreland, University Professor of Law and Religion and the Director of The Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy.
Mark C. Alexander, The Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law, recently announced the appointments of Christine Speidel as Assistant Professor and Director of the Federal Tax Clinic, and Amy Emerson as Assistant Professor and Director of the Law Library. Both were hired after rigorous nationwide searches and will join the Law School in July.
Sports have the ability to transcend barriers, whether they be socio-economic, geographical or political. But what happens when sports, politics and social movements collide? The 2018 Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Symposium—Sports, Politics & Social Movements—examines the hard-hitting legal and political issues dominating sports and the national news media.
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law will hold its annual Donald A. Giannella Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, April 24 at 3 p.m. in Room 201. Anthony T. Kronman, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School will present.
Six teams from Villanova Law’s Moot Court found recent success at competitions across the United States. Each team was comprised of two students from the Moot Court Board. The Board is the principal oral advocacy organization at the Law School and aims to enhance and showcase students’ courtroom advocacy skills.
Was it a case of a paperwork technicality? Or was it an international criminal conspiracy? Those are the questions raised by NPR Marketplace’s podcast The Uncertain Hour as it explored the story of George Norris, an orchid enthusiast convicted in 2004 of conspiracy to smuggle into the United States protected orchid specimens from Peru. Todd Aagaard, Vice Dean and Professor of Law, spoke extensively to The Uncertain Hour about the case, which he prosecuted during his tenure with the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division.
The Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation leads cross-disciplinary workshops and discussions aimed at engaging the survivor community in the search for justice on April 5 and 6, 2018. Workshops will be led by survivors and will encourage participants to engage in problem-solving scenarios on a variety of relevant topics and current issues in legislation, law enforcement and education. he event takes place on Thursday, April 5 from 9 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. and Friday, April 6 from 9 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. at The Inn at Villanova University.
Villanova Law and the Science History Institute bring together top scholars and experienced practitioners in evidence, psychology, economics and ethics to tackle some of the field’s most pressing issues. Topics of discussion include the crisis in forensic science; the standards for admissibility of expert testimony, including statistical estimation evidence; the problem of bias in expertise; the ethical dilemmas of attorneys drafting expert reports and more. The event takes place on Thursday, March 29, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Science History Institute (315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia).
Dan Masciello and David Greenberg—LLM students in Villanova’s Graduate Tax program—recently won the ABA Section of Taxation’s 17th Annual Law Student Tax Challenge. The Villanova team was one of four in the LLM division with other represented schools including University of Florida Levin College of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law and Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
The Walter Lucas Public Interest Fellowship Program (PIFP) of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law will host its 2018 PIFP Auction on Friday, March 23 at 6 p.m. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the event, PIFP’s largest and most successful fundraiser.
"Creating and Facilitating Best Practice Alternatives to Jails and Prisons for Persons with Mental Illness" will look at the challenges facing law enforcement officials, the courts, mental health professionals and policy makers at the state and county levels. Attendees will hear from experts who have been working on the issue in Pennsylvania and around the country as they share best practices, as well as ongoing legal and practical challenges to the development of appropriate treatment options in suitable settings. The event takes place on March 16 in the Laurence E. Hirsch ’71 Classroom (Room 101).
Members of Villanova Law's National Trial Team—Alexa Arndt ’18, Samuel Cooper ’19 and Samantha Fitzpatrick ’19—recently advanced to the final round of the National Trial Competition Regional Tournament in Philadelphia.
The David F. and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance joins forces with leading criminal justice organizations to tackle this question and more as part of a daylong symposium entitled “Mass Exoneration and Ethics.” The event will bring together legal experts from around the nation—and across the ideological aisle—to discuss ways to investigate and consider large-scale reviews of cases affected by systemic errors or misconduct.
A team of students from Villanova Law recently competed and placed second in the 4th Annual Tulane Professional Football Negotiation Competition, sponsored by the Tulane Sports Law Society. This is the second time a Villanova team has advanced to the final round of this competition. A Villanova Law team previously won in 2017.
Villanova Law welcomes Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, for a conversation about her remarkable career as a private practitioner, business-owner, social entrepreneur and public advocate. The event—sponsored by the Tax Law Society and the Women’s Law Caucus—takes place on Thursday, February 15, in the Blank Rome LLP Classroom (Room 102).
On a cold January morning, 67 individuals from around the globe entered the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia for a life-changing event. An hour later they all walked out as American citizens.The Honorable Mark Kearney ’84 CLAS, ’87 CWSL, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, presided over the day’s Naturalization Ceremony. To celebrate the momentous day, Judge Kearney invited Mark C. Alexander, Arthur J. Dean of Villanova Law, and Sharon Lopez, President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, to share their thoughts on citizenship.
The Fourth Annual Fashion Law Symposium, "The Rules of Fashion: Understanding the Regulatory Side of the Fashion Industry" will bring together lawyers and non-lawyers to examine the various regulations that fashion designers and companies regularly encounter. This year’s event will include discussions on the interaction between the fashion industry and employment law, real estate, international sourcing and production.
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law will mark its annual commemoration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with a keynote lecture in January 2017 as part of a University-wide celebration. Alisha Williams, Director, LGBTQ Poverty Initiative, The Vaid Group, will deliver the address.
Industry professionals in the fields of real estate development and environmental law will gather for an engaging disgussion regarding the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in Robinson Township v. Commonweath in addition to challenges and opportunities present for project developers under the Trump Administration.
The Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance, the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township and the Villanova University Department of Sociology and Criminology will host a townhall event featuring Pennsylvania Secretary of Correction John E. Wetzel. The event will cover topics from the opioid crisis to mass incarceration.
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) recently elected Mark C. Alexander, Arthur J. Kania Dean of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, as a member of the AALS Executive Committee.
At Villanova Law, we believe that academics and professional development are intertwined and equally essential to the long-term success of our students. Today our curriculum infuses professional skills along with vital business principles and practical experience into each student’s rigorous legal training.
Recent student counselors David Hollander ’18 and Reece Cooke ’18 worked with Sanctuary Farm, an innovative nonprofit start-up that is working to develop community farm spaces that serve as venues to engage Philadelphia’s homeless and housing-unstable population with work, food and social services.
Pennsylvania State Representative Joanna McClinton ’06 was recently appointed to serve on the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. She is the first woman from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to serve on the Commission, which is charged to create and maintain a consistent and rational statewide sentencing policy through the adoption of guidelines that promote fairer and more uniform sentencing throughout the Commonwealth.
As part of its current strategic plan, the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law has enhanced its curriculum to provide graduates with the academic, practical and professional skills necessary for success in 21st-century legal practice.The recent addition of Brett Frischmann and Josephine Sandler Nelson to our faculty furthers this strategic vision and brings to campus two noted teacher-scholars whose expertise lies at the intersection of law and business.
As a student at Villanova Law, Virginia "Ginger" Hansen '17 combined that love of the arts with her passion for the law in two exciting experiential learning opportunities—externships at the renowned Philadelphia Museum of Art and with Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
This month, four Villanova Law National Trial Team students competed and finished as quarterfinalists in the University of Florida National Trial Advocacy Tournament in Gainesville, Florida. Samuel Cooper ’19, Samantha Fitzpatrick ’19, Jordan Morgan ’19 and LaVelle King ’18 competed against teams from law schools across the country.
Villanova Law is bringing to campus renowned scholars in a range of areas of law, leadership and business through the Dean’s Distinguished Fellows program. Villanova. Jonathan Klick, PhD, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Kellye Testy, President of LSAC, are joining Villanova’s academic community as the first-ever Dean’s Distinguished Fellows.
Dan Sulvetta '19 and Steven Lee '19 were awarded the John J. Duffy ’62 Advocacy Cup as winners of the 58th Annual Theodore L. Reimel ’24 CLAS Moot Court Competition. The competition is an intra-school tournament that has become a hallmark of the Villanova Law experience.
Members of the Villanova Law community gathered in October for a series of events exploring the recent “Take a Knee” movement in sports. In small group settings, faculty, staff and students came together for substantive and thought-provoking discussion.
Presented by The David F. and Constance B. Girard-diCarlo Center for Ethics, Integrity and Compliance in partnership with Cozen O'Connor, legal professionals will gatehr for a panel discussion to tackle questions about changes to the ABA Model of Rules of Professional Conduct.
Patrick McGinnis ’18 and Dana Sleeper ’18 impacted the lives of individual clients as students in Villanova’s Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic (FLAC). Now their work as researchers may influence public policy, helping to illuminate discrepancies in the availability of interpretation assistance in select Pennsylvania courts.
A recent article by Prof. Josephine Sandler Nelson has been recognized with two top awards—the Holmes-Cardozo Award for best submitted conference paper and the Distinguished Proceedings Award—by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
Villanova University Provost Patrick G. Maggitti, PhD, today announced the appointment of Michael P. Moreland, JD, PhD, as University Professor of Law and Religion. Among Villanova’s highest academic honors, the University Professor recognizes distinguished faculty whose extraordinary scholarly achievement and accomplishment spans disciplines and crosses traditional college boundaries.
Villanova University Provost Patrick G. Maggitti, PhD, today announced the appointment of Brett Frischmann, JD, as the Charles Widger Endowed University Professor in Law, Business and Economics, effective August 1. Among Villanova’s highest academic honors, the University Professor recognizes distinguished faculty whose extraordinary scholarly achievement and accomplishment spans disciplines and crosses traditional college boundaries. This interdisciplinary position, based in the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, was conceived and endowed as part of a $25 million leadership gift from Charles Widger ’73 JD.
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