Law School Briefs – 7/3/13

Law School Briefs highlights news from law schools in Indiana. While Indiana Lawyer has always covered law school news and continues to keep up with law school websites and press releases for updates, we gladly accept submissions for this section from law students, professors, alumni, and others who want to share law school-related news. If you’d like to submit news or a photo from an event, please email it to Marilyn Odendahl at [email protected], along with contact information for any follow-up questions at least two weeks prior to the issue date.

IU Maurer teams with Liberia to aid constitutional reform

The Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law has been chosen to advise the government of Liberia about amendments to its constitution. This is the first time an academic research center has been asked to provide such assistance.

Professors David Williams, the center’s executive director, and Susan Williams will lead the effort. They have been working with the Liberian government on constitutional reform since 2005.

The center’s role will focus on four sequential activities: civic education about the current constitution; public consultations to gather input from the Liberian people; helping Liberia’s Constitutional Review Committee design amendments; and public education so people can cast informed votes on the final proposed amendments.

Also, the Center for Constitutional Democracy has received a grant from the Indiana University Women’s Philanthropy Council. The funds will be used to expand the student ambassadors program by helping to cover student airfare and travel expenses. In 2013, two students will go to Liberia and two will go to Burma.

IU McKinney gets new URL address, redesigns website

The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law has unveiled its first major website redesign since the institution was renamed. The new site went live May 31.

Information on the site has been updated and rewritten to appeal to potential students as well as other constituents. Also, new videos have been added to the mix, describing programs and profiling Robert McKinney.

As part of the redesign, the school changed its URL address from Indylaw.iu.edu to McKinneylaw.iu.edu. Anyone searching for the previous address will be automatically redirected to the new IU McKinney website.

IU Maurer professor honored for sustainability workshop

An Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor is among the recipients of the Sustainability Course Development Fellowship for 2013.

Law professor Daniel Cole and Burney Fischer, clinical professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, were awarded one fellowship for their proposal, “Understanding Sustainable Social-Ecological Systems Through Institutions and Collective Action.” The pair plans to create a workshop-based class that will cover broad concepts such as public health, digital commons and sustainability.

The fellowship is intended to provide support for individual faculty members interested in expanding their teaching into topics related to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

ND law professor’s book wins national Catholic award

Notre Dame Law School professor M. Cathleen Kaveny has won a 2013 Catholic Press Award for her newest book, “Law’s Virtues: Fostering Autonomy and Solidarity in American Society.” She received a first place award in the category of faithful citizenship.

Kaveny teaches contract law to first-year students at the University of Notre Dame. She also teaches in the Department of Theology and offers a number of seminars which explore the relationship between theology, philosophy and law.•