From the Director
Greetings from the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession. We hope you are staying safe and healthy during this very trying time.
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting every aspect of our lives, we wanted to highlight the various contributions relating to the crisis made by several of our Center colleagues. These subjects include bankruptcy, employment law, legal education and pedagogy, and the legal profession. The Center has also recently posted a timely immigration paper on the rights of non-citizens seeking to claim asylum during this current moment.
We are grateful to all of our friends and supporters. Please take good care.
Jayanth K. Krishnan
Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law
Director, Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession
Professor Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt
In mid-March, when many decision-makers in the U.S. were just beginning to confront the effects of COVID-19, Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, Willard and Margaret Carr Professor of Labor and Employment Law, was quoted by Rachel Feintzeig and Chip Cutter in The Wall Street Journal article “The Coronavirus and Your Job: What the Boss Can—and Can’t—Make You Do.” The article provided insight for employees regarding how much control employers may have over vacation and personal plans during the pandemic.
As the situation developed, he was again asked to offer commentary for a follow-up article by Rachel Feintzeig, “The Coronavirus and the New Workplace: Your Rights, Your Responsibilities,” providing information for at-will and contract employees regarding whether employers can send them home without pay as part of a quarantine response to COVID-19.
Even more recently, he has been quoted in an article by Marcy Kreiter for International Business Times, “Coronavirus Economy: Will Pandemic Change Employer-Employee Relationships? What Experts Had to Say,” where he suggested that a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of unions like the United Food and Commercial Workers and their ability to protect employees and their rights.
Professor Pamela Foohey
In reaction to the passage of the CARES Act in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Professor Pamela Foohey, an expert in bankruptcy and consumer finance, published three pieces critiquing the Act’s provisions designed to support American households. She co-authored all of the pieces with Professors Dalié Jiménez and Christopher Odinet.
In Time is Running Out to Protect Americans’ Relief Payments from Debt Collectors, published in the Harvard Law Review Blog, they identify a significant oversight in the CARES Act that will allow debt collectors to garnish people’s direct relief payments. They propose a simple solution to fix the project.
In The CARES Act Could Put People on the Street—Here’s a Solution, published as part of Bloomberg Law’s Insight series, they detail deficiencies in the CARES Act’s foreclosure and eviction moratoria coverage, and how eligible households may be forced out of their homes once the moratoria are lifted. They propose a plan to ensure all Americans don’t lose their mortgages or get evicted.
Finally, in CARES Act Gimmicks: How Not to Give People Money During a Pandemic and What to Do Instead, 2020 U. ILL. L. REV. ONLINE 81 (April 2020), they provide an in-depth evaluation of the CARES Act’s limitations to get people needed money and money-like relief. They outline ideas for how Congress can provide more robust help to Americans in subsequent legislation.
Ms. Lara Gose, Stewart Center Coordinator
As COVID-19 has prevented international travel, Ms. Lara Gose has been working with employer-partners of the Law School’s Stewart Fellows Overseas Externship Program to arrange remote internships for students where feasible. She has adapted the curriculum she originally developed for students participating in overseas internships to focus on the needs and challenges faced by the students in the 2020 cohort who will be working remotely with internationally located employers. She has also played a role in both JD and graduate admissions by taking part in Zoom sessions sponsored by those admissions offices.
The Center also supports the Law School’s Office of Graduate Legal Studies by providing essential information for new graduate and exchange students related to professional development and the legal profession.
Professor William D. Henderson
During the 2019–20 academic year, William D. Henderson, Stephen F. Burns Professor of Law, continued his work with the Institute for the Future of Law Practice (IFLP, pronounced i-flip). IFLP is an education nonprofit that combines sophisticated training in modern law practice (law + data, process, technology, product design, business operations) with paid internships for law students. It was founded in 2018, with Indiana Law as one of the inaugural member schools.
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, IFLP has transitioned to a virtual boot camp format that will run from May 15-29. Professor Henderson is currently working on long-term funding options so that IFLP training can be scaled to benefit more law students and mid-career professionals. His ongoing research on legal innovation continues to be published in Legal Evolution at legalevolution.org.
Professor Carwina Weng
The COVID-19 crisis has forced teachers to move classes hurriedly into remote learning contexts. While the move has focused much of our attention necessarily on an easy transition to technology, Professor Carwina Weng has also worked to assist teachers to think through the content they cover and the teaching methods they use through technology.
At IU, most teachers are using a combination of Zoom, Kaltura, and Canvas (a course management system). Professor Weng has provided workshops and follow-up assistance to faculty, in particular our adjuncts, many of whom are now working from home in at least two jobs. With remote learning in place through the summer and possibly into the fall, her expertise in course design and use of technology will continue to be in demand as teachers begin to develop courses specifically with live and remote learning in mind.