Newsletter: Vol. 9, Issue 1, Febrary 2023
From the Director
Greetings from the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession. Since our last update, we have been very busy and have exciting news to share. Here are our latest highlights.
Best wishes-
Jayanth Krishnan
Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law
Director, Milt and Judi Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession
Global Immigration Symposium to be held February 24-25
The Institute of Advanced Study awarded the Center with a generous grant to host an important global seminar on the intersection of migration, justice, and the rights of immigrants. The Center is working with Indiana University Professors Sara Friedman (Anthropology and Gender Studies) and Irit Dekel (Germanic Studies & Jewish Studies) and the theme of the symposium is: "When Justice Migrates: How Mobility across Borders Reconfigures Rights, Equity, and Belonging." Scheduled participants include:
- Rawan Arar, University of Washington
- Ishan Ashutosh, Indiana University
- Paulina Ochoa Espejo, Haverford College
- David Hausman, University of California, Berkeley
- Maria Cecilia Hwang, McGill University
- Agnieszka Kubal, University College, London
- Nora Lori, Boston University
- Eithne Luibhéid, University of Arizona
- Damani Partridge, University of Michigan
- Emily Ryo, University of Southern California
- Juliet Stumpf, Lewis & Clark College of Law
- Rebecca Stumpf, University of Illinois
The seminar promises to generate an important set of conversations about immigration policy in the U.S. and in different parts of the world.
New immigration study released by the center
The Center has issued a new report forthcoming in the University of Illinois Law Review on the state of legal representation of immigrants who are fighting deportation in the federal appellate courts. Authored by the Center director and two Center fellows - Megan Riley and Vitor Martins Dias - the study examines over 23,000 cases heard at the federal circuit level during both the Trump and Obama Administrations. The findings are noteworthy: namely, a statistically significant difference exists in the win rates of lawyers working pro bono and coming from the largest and most profitable, corporate “Big Law” firms compared to lawyers based in other, typically more specialized immigration practice settings. Specifically, during the Trump Administration, Big Law lawyers won at nearly three times higher a rate than non-Big Law lawyers in the federal appellate courts. During the Obama Administration, Big Law lawyers won over three times more often. The report discusses how wide disparities in resources between Big Law and non-Big Law firms help explain this outcome and what the access-to-justice implications are for immigrants seeking relief in the federal courts.
Center's work in India continues
This past November, the Center was invited to be part of a historic conference in New Delhi, India that recognized the legal advocacy of the eminent Indian Supreme Court lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Professor Jay Krishnan delivered a keynote talk on Mr. Singhvi’s contributions to Indian jurisprudence. In addition, Professor Krishnan traveled to Jaipur, India, where he was part of a conference entitled "Globalizing Indian Higher Education: Shaping the Careers and Futures of Indian Students." And he was invited to be part of the celebration involving the inauguration of India’s 50th Chief Justice, Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud.
Congratulations to Center Fellow Vitor Martins Dias
This fall our terrific Stewart Center fellow, Vitor Dias, will be starting as an assistant professor of sociology at Butler University in Indianapolis. Vitor has been a fantastic contributor to many of our Center’s published studies, and he currently holds a prestigious post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame. Congratulations Vitor!
Center faculty participate in 2023 AALS conference
Several Stewart Center faculty colleagues were part of this year’s annual AALS conference in San Diego. Participating in different workshops were Christiana Ochoa, Shruti Rana, Lauren Robel, and Jay Krishnan. The conference marked the first time since the pandemic that the meeting took place in person.
Stewart Center faculty research news
We are always proud to feature some of the latest publications by our esteemed Center faculty. Here is a sample of their most recent work:
- Professor Ken Dau-Schmidt (with Xiaohan Sun and Phillip J. Jones) published "The American Experience with Employee Noncompete Clauses: Constraints on Employees Flourish and Do Real Damage in the Land of Economic Liberty," 42 Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 585 (2022).
- Professor Charles Geyh will be publishing "Judicial Ethics and Identity," 36 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (forthcoming 2023).
- Dean Christiana Ochoa (with Kacey Cook and Hanna Weil) published "Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Project, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help," Minnesota Law Review (2023).
- Professor Jeffrey Stake (with Michael Alexeev) is publishing "Perceptions of 'Just Compensation,'" that is forthcoming in Evolution and Human Behavior (2023).