Business & Entrepreneurship

Federal Judge Richard J. Leon’s recent decision ruling the National Security Agency phone surveillance program unconstitutional is absolutely correct as a matter of law, says Neil M. Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “The bulk data collection at issue in the case reveals a tremendous amount about us – who we know, who we confide in, where we go, and with whom,” he said. “It’s exactly the sort of information that should require a warrant before the government obtains it.” Richards was struck by Leon’s willingness to question whether this surveillance program was effective.

A multiweek visit to the United States by Burmese lawmakers kicked off with a two-day intensive workshop on constitutional reform conducted by David S. Law, professor of law and of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. The curriculum included mechanisms and strategies for amending a constitution; options for structuring a federal system of government; the decentralization of control over natural resources; protection of minority rights; the role of the judiciary in promoting democracy and enforcing constitutional guarantees; and strategies for promoting the rule of law. Law was selected to conduct the workshop for his interdisciplinary background and expertise on global constitutionalism, constitutional drafting, design of government institutions, and Asian constitutionalism in particular.​

Students and faculty in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis have filed an amicus brief on behalf of air pollution scientists in an important environmental case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, EPA v. EME Homer City Generation LP, involves a challenge to the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which seeks to protect the health of citizens of downwind states by placing limits on air pollution that crosses state lines. Electric power companies, several states and local governments challenged the rule as overreaching.

Clifford Holekamp oversees the entrepreneurship platform at Olin Business School but is also highly involved in the St. Louis startup scene.

“Christmas Creep,” the “technical” term for the pre-holiday appearance of retail decorations and promotions, crept into stores and marketing in October this year. Major department stores are even pre-empting Black Friday by opening on Thanksgiving Day. Is starting the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier a good marketing move or could it backfire? Four marketing professors at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School discuss this phenomenon.

Washington University in St. Louis law students have begun offering privacy and Internet safety education to local middle school students. Students, under the supervision of WUSTL law professor Neil Richards, JD, are adapting an original middle school curriculum for privacy education developed by Fordham law school’s Center on Law and Information Policy.

A team of Olin Business School graduate students recently won the $5,000 first prize in the 18th annual International Case Competition organized by Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. In addition, the team of four MBA students and one master’s in supply chain management student tied with MIT for the “Best Presentation” Award.

Washington University in St. Louis School of Law’s trial competition team placed first at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy 2013 Tournament of Champions, held in Birmingham, Ala.

A partnership between Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, will give undergraduates from any American college or university a firsthand look this summer at the burgeoning Israeli startup scene. Students have until Feb. 15 to sign up.

Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School and School of Engineering & Applied Science have announced a partnership with the startup-focused news organization Techli to promote the growing entrepreneurship community in and around St. Louis.