SWLAW Blog | Faculty Features
April 10, 2025
Faculty Accomplishments, Spring 2025
In Spring 2025, Southwestern Law School faculty and scholars made significant contributions across a wide range of academic and professional platforms.
On March 25, 2025, Patty Nieberg and Jeff Schogol authored a piece, When rank-and-file troops leak secrets, they often end up in the brig, published in Task & Purpose (a news organization founded in 2014 as a voice for the military community). In the piece, Rachel was quoted discussing the common repercussions for service members when they leak classified information, situating these consequences in the context of the dangerous war plans leaks by top Trump officials.
On March 6, 2025, Rachel was interviewed as part of NPR’s national evening news program, All Things Considered, for a segment entitled: Understanding Defense Secretary Hegseth’s contempt for Judge Advocate General officers. Commuters heading home after work across the nation could hear Rachel discussing the impact of Defense Secretary Hegseth’s abrupt (and in conflict with federal law) firing of top military lawyers in the services on military justice and independence of military lawyers.
On February 25, 2025, Kelsey Baker authored a piece, The most shocking Pentagon firing wasn't the top general, legal experts say. It was the lawyers, published in Business Insider. In the piece, Rachel was quoted for her expertise about the role of military lawyers, specifically in the context of the Trump Administration’s firing of top military lawyers and its decisions to replace them with sycophants.
On March 4, at the Skadden offices in Century City, Jyoti was featured as one of two panelists at the Skadden Fellows Reunion Symposium--an event for current and former Skadden Fellows to gather each year (with approximately 50 attending this year). Jyoti spoke on the panel: Transforming Experiences of System-Involved Youth. Jyoti discussed how lacking data about vulnerable populations perpetuates faulty policies and tangible harms, and she illustrated how lawyers and academics can access data in novel ways. Jyoti shared her own path for obtaining data (via a Research Petition & Order with the LA Superior Court) as part of her Girls/Gender Expansive Youth Project.
On March 6, Jonathan led a virtual discussion about his pedagogical experiences using the case method with 86 (mostly law) faculty members and graduate students from the National University of Tucumán in Tucumán, Argentina: Charla Abierta Sobre el Metodo de Casos (An Informal Discussion About the Case Method).
On March 10, at the end of an episode of the Strict Scrutiny podcast (co-hosted by Professors Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, and Kate Shaw), Melissa featured Hila’s forthcoming Wisconsin Law Review Article, Due Care in A Conservative Court, in a segment highlighting work each host read during the prior week and felt inspired to share with their audience. A link to Hila’s Article was also included in the episode’s description everywhere it is available for streaming. Strict Scrutiny is an award-winning legal podcast with thousands of listeners, and, on a personal note, I loved the surprise of hearing Hila’s shoutout on one of my recent morning commutes.
On March 5, Hila presented Due Care in A Conservative Court to an audience (attending both in-person and virtually) of dozens of sociology, anthropology, history, and law scholars at the American Bar Foundation as part of its Speaker Series in Chicago, IL. Hila offered a robust and nuanced discussion of her forthcoming Article for roughly fifty minutes, which led to a rich forty-minute interdisciplinary conversation with the attendees.
That same day, Hila was an invited speaker at the University of Chicago Law School’s Workshop on the Regulation of Family, Sex, and Gender. Hila’s invited presentation, U.S. v. Skrmetti and What It Means, drew from her forthcoming Article regarding the pending case at the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans under the Equal Protection Clause. Professor Melissa Murray was the commentator for Hila’s piece, and attendees included both faculty and students.
On March 7, Richard presented at a symposium, Plaintiff-Side Litigation: Scholars and Practitioners in Dialogue, in Chicago, IL. The symposium was hosted by the American Bar Foundation in collaboration with the UC Berkeley School of Law Civil Justice Research Initiative, with additional support from the American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment. Richard spoke on the panel entitled: The Changing Role of the Civil Jury and its Implications for Practice. Richard discussed the recent changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence governing expert testimony, explaining how the new rules appear deeply informed by a disrespect of the capabilities of lay jurors.
On March 30, K.J. presented at the annual San Diego Music Thing – Music and Media Conference and Festival on UCSD's downtown campus. K.J. presented on the Songs and Syncs panel, where he discussed exclusive copyrights and royalty streams in musical compositions.
On March 29, Andrea presented at the 2025 EPOCH Symposium, Our Not-So-Colorblind Constitution, at the Seattle University School of Law. Alongside Professor Britta Redwood of Seton Hall Law School, Andrea spoke on a panel entitled: The Constitution and Everyday Life: Who Wins, Who Loses?
On March 11, Andrea was the featured guest in a conversation about her latest book, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground, at Yale Law School. Her co-discussant was Yale Law Professor Monica Bell, and the conversation was moderated by student Lexi Holden.
That same day, Andrea also participated in a community conversation about her book at the Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore in New York, NY. Andrea’s co-discussant was Kimani Paul-Emile, Professor and Robert L. Levine Distinguished Research Scholar at Fordham Law School.
On March 10, Andrea was the featured guest in a conversation about her book at Harvard Law School. Her co-discussant was Aziza Ahmed, the Daniel P.S. Paul Visiting Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard. Andrea discussed the concept of "food oppression," how the weaponization of food has contributed to racial and social inequality, the targeted marketing of unhealthy food to marginalized communities, and health disparities along racial lines.
On March 29, Meera was recognized at the 5th Annual Orange County Women Making a Difference Awards brunch. The event honored Orange County women who inspire and uplift their communities.
On March 26, Meera and her LSSSE colleagues hosted a webinar to share findings from the LSSSE 2024 Annual Report, Twenty Years of LSSSE: Sharing Trends in Legal Education. During the webinar, Meera and her colleagues discussed data on debt, diversity, learning outcomes, career preferences, and satisfaction. The event was well attended by academics, student services staff, and journalists.
In her capacity as Director of LSSSE, Meera joined with the National Center for State Courts’ CLEAR Committee and the heads of other legal education and legal professional organizations to spearhead an event to be held at the University of Cincinnati College of Law entitled: Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR) National Convening on the Future of Legal Education and Admissions. On March 14, Meera met with a select group of deans and other leaders in legal education to discuss access to justice and bar licensing reform. The group agreed on its next steps in advance of the CLEAR Committee’s recommendations (forthcoming summer 2025). Meera is pictured below with Utah Law Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Rodina Cave Parnall, Executive Director of the American Indian Law Center.
On March 20, Luke attended the symposium, Obergefell v. Hodges: 10 Years Later, at the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law in Highland Heights, KY. The symposium featured personal accounts of the litigation from plaintiff Jim Obergefell, defendant Richard Hodges, the Honorable Timothy Black of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (who struck down Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban following a trial), and the attorney who argued Obergefell before both the district court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Luke presented his Boston College Law Review Article, Exclusionary Expressive Conduct, on a panel entitled: Free Speech & Equal Protection – Where the First & Fourteenth Amendments Meet. Luke is pictured below with Jim Obergefell (right) and Professor Ryan Thoreson of the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
