School of Law

The continuing debate over same-sex marriage has put the issue of gender at the forefront of conversations about whom the law recognizes as a child’s parents. “The shift in family law’s treatment of gender has been transformative,” says Susan Appleton, JD, family law expert and the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Charles W. Burson, JD, senior professor of practice at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, says that the midterm elections reflect a dramatic turn from the wave of aspiration that defined our politics in 2008 to the wave of grievance that defines these midterm elections. “The Tea Party movement is the embodiment of that phenomenon. In Missouri, this wave has put the seats of Democratic Congressmen Ike Skelton and Russ Carnahan at risk, but the same wave may have also put at risk the seat of Republican Representative Jo Ann Emerson.”

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District will hold a special session at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the School of Law’s Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.  

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University In St. Louis, looks at the act’s history and says changes in the American workplace and other factors raise the question of how the NLRA will adapt in the future.

The American College of Bankruptcy and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law will present a lecture by James H.M. Sprayregen, JD, one of the nation’s top restructuring attorneys, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Recent calls to cut Social Security benefits are grounded in misinformation and misunderstanding, says Merton C. Bernstein, LLB, the Walter D. Coles Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. “Cutting the program will lead to undiminished deficits, more poverty, less purchasing power, less business income and more unemployment,” he says.

The School of Law is hosting a screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary “Off and Running” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. The event is free and open to the public. In “Off and Running,” filmmaker Nicole Opper chronicles the coming-of-age story of Avery, the adopted daughter of white Jewish lesbian parents and sister to two adopted brothers — one mixed-race and one Korean.

An entrepreneur who has helped thousands of people in poverty-stricken countries throughout Africa says she couldn’t have done it without the help of students and professors at Washington University. The Blessing Basket Project bestows its annual World Changer award on WUSTL. Video history and thank you from artisans in Africa included.

Monday, Oct. 4, the opening day of the Supreme Court term, marks Elena Kagan’s first day behind the bench as a Supreme Court justice. Gregory Magarian, JD, professor of law at Washington University In St. Louis and former clerk for retired Justice John Paul Stevens, says that the experience of oral argument from the other side of the bench will be entirely new to Kagan. “There is no formal or conventional restriction on new arrivals’ participation in argument, but in all likelihood, Justice Kagan will display a bit of reserve at first while she gets used to the rhythm of questioning by nine justices,” Magarian says.

Playground, a film on child trafficking in the United States, will be screened at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, in Steinberg Hall auditorium. A panel discussion featuring Libby Spears, the film’s director, and local experts will follow the documentary.