News by Topic

May 30, 2023

On the eve of a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on the fate of affirmative action in higher education, University of Virginia School of Law professor Joy Milligan set out to unravel the mystery of why programs aimed at repairing past discrimination are failing in federal courts.

April 27, 2023

Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, a nationally acclaimed education law and policy expert, has won an All-University Teaching Award from the University of Virginia.

April 12, 2023

Professor John Barbee Minor led the Law School from 1845 to his death in 1895. Dr. Randi Flaherty discusses Minor's role in not only expanding the law curriculum and UVA Law's regional prominence, but also in promulgating a curriculum that justified slavery and white supremacy.

March 29, 2023

At its founding in 1819, Thomas Jefferson wanted UVA Law to prepare leaders and lawyers to serve the new nation, but students desired more practical legal training. Professor David Konig joins us to describe the shifting landscape of early nineteenth-century legal education.

March 17, 2023

Second-year law student and Black Law Students Association President Keegan Hudson discusses building community, “mowing your own grass” and tuning out misinformation when it comes to applying to law school.

March 17, 2023

Professor Bertrall Ross leads a conversation on the different sources and consequences of “participatory inequality” in elections between the rich and the poor, and discusses whether campaigns are evolving to address the problem and whether law can offer a solution. The lecture was sponsored by the Law School Foundation. Dean Risa Goluboff provides an introduction.

February 22, 2023

UVA Law professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson discusses her co-edited book “The Enduring Legacy of Rodriguez: Creating New Pathways to Equal Educational Opportunity,” in which scholars also propose federal, state and local reforms. Professor Richard Schragger moderated the event, which was part of the 2023 Virginia Law Review Online symposium, “50 Years After San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez: New and Old Fights for Equity in Public Schools.”

February 21, 2023

St. Mary’s University law professor Albert Kauffman discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court case San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez continues to affect school funding. Kauffman, who delivered the keynote address for the 2023 Virginia Law Review Online symposium, was introduced by Angela Ciolfi ’03, executive director of the Legal Aid Justice Center. Kauffman represented the plaintiff in Rodriguez, Demetrio Rodriguez, and others in a number of influential state court cases on the same issue following the Supreme Court decision.

February 13, 2023

A symposium at the University of Virginia School of Law will explore how a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has shaped clashes over equity in education, both past and present.

February 10, 2023

Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit discusses the importance of diversity and accountability in the legal profession, then joins a conversation with Mark C. Jefferson, UVA Law’s assistant dean for diversity, equity and belonging. The event was part of the Breaking Grounds Speaker Series, sponsored by the Black Law Students Association as part of Black History Month.

January 30, 2023

John Charles Thomas ’75 (Col ’72), the first Black justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia, discusses the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and how his struggles reverberate today. Dean Risa Goluboff interviewed Thomas and presented the Gregory H. Swanson Award to Yewande Ford ’23. Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui introduced Thomas. The event was part of the University’s 2023 Community MLK Commemoration.

January 27, 2023

Yewande Ford, a third-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, is this year’s recipient of the Gregory H. Swanson Award, which recognizes courage, perseverance and a commitment to justice within the community.

January 19, 2023

The seventh annual Shaping Justice conference, aimed at inspiring students and lawyers to promote justice through public service, will take place Feb. 3 at the University of Virginia School of Law.

January 10, 2023

Retired Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas will speak Jan. 26 at the University of Virginia School of Law about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and how his struggles reverberate today.

November 16, 2022

Professors Scott Ballenger ’96, Kim Forde-Mazrui, Kimberly Jenkins Robinson and George Rutherglen discuss the future of affirmative action after two cases were argued at the U.S. Supreme Court. Biruktawit “Birdy” Assefa ’24 moderated the panel. The event was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Law, the Black Law Students Association, the Latin American Law Organization and Women of Color.

November 4, 2022

Part of the “Narrating Rap/Narrating Law” symposium on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, this panel included Professor Darryl Brown ’90, Molly Conger, Eden Heilman and Mac Phipps. Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui and Keegan Hudson ’24 moderated. The event was sponsored by the Sound Justice Lab, Center for the Study of Race and Law, Black Law Students Association, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Carter G. Woodson Institute, UVA Department of Sociology and UVA Department of Music.

October 28, 2022

Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui of the University of Virginia School of Law discusses two U.S. Supreme Court cases about using race as a factor in college admissions policies.

October 27, 2022

New courses offered this winter and spring at the University of Virginia School of Law include International and Comparative Family Law, Dignity Law, and Trade Secret Law.

September 7, 2022

UVA Law professor Micah Schwartzman ’05 and Slate editor Dahlia Lithwick discuss the legacies of the events of Aug. 11-12, 2017, in the national landscape of American law and politics. UVA Jewish studies professor James Loffler moderated. The event was sponsored by the UVA Jewish Studies Program and Karsh Center for Law and Democracy.

August 26, 2022

Terry Allen, whose scholarship focuses on the role of police in schoolchildren’s lives, is the first Race, Place and Equity Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law.

July 27, 2022

New courses offered this fall at the University of Virginia School of Law include Chinese Law, Law and Artificial Intelligence, and Property, the Police Power and Emergencies.

July 21, 2022

University of Pennsylvania law professor Anita Allen discusses her framework for stopping surveillance, fraud and exclusion targeting Black Americans online.

July 21, 2022

Privacy expert Anita L. Allen discusses her framework for stopping surveillance, scamming and exclusion in Black Americans’ digital lives in the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.

May 26, 2022

UVA Law graduate Doriane Nguenang ’21 discusses her Virginia Law Review article on employment litigation and natural hair and protective hairstyles for Black workers.

May 26, 2022

Litigation has not stopped discrimination against Black women who wear their hair naturally, a University of Virginia School of Law graduate explains on the latest episode of “Common Law.”

March 30, 2022

During the 2022 McCorkle Lecture, Professor Randall L. Kennedy of Harvard Law School discusses triumphs and defeats for racial justice during the civil rights era.

March 14, 2022

Civil rights scholar Randall L. Kennedy will deliver the McCorkle Lecture on “From Protest to Law: Triumphs and Defeats in Struggles for Racial Justice, 1950-1970” at the University of Virginia School of Law on March 23.

March 8, 2022

Students at the University of Virginia School of Law recently contributed to a report with ideas on how to reduce the racial wealth gap in the state.

March 1, 2022

Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui, director of the Center for the Study of Race and Law, discusses the history of race and the importance of equality in higher education. The event was held as part of the Black Law Students Association’s Black History Month celebration, and was co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and the Law.

February 2, 2022

Several alumni of the University of Virginia School of Law have helped open doors to generations of Black lawyers at the school and beyond. In honor of Black History Month, here are some of their stories.

January 27, 2022

As part of the University’s 2022 Community MLK Commemoration, a panel explores the successful civil lawsuit against organizers, promoters and participants in the 2017 Unite the Right rally. The panelists are plaintiffs Marissa K. Blair, Elizabeth Sines ’19 and Devin Willis; co-lead plaintiffs’ attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Karen L. Dunn; and Deborah Lipstadt, an Emory University history professor who gave expert testimony on antisemitism at the trial. Professor Kim Forde-Mazrui, director of the Center for the Study of Race and Law, moderated the panel. This event also included the presentation of the Gregory H. Swanson Award, named in honor of UVA and the Law School’s first Black student, by Dean Risa Goluboff.

January 18, 2022

A panel hosted by the University of Virginia School of Law will explore a successful civil lawsuit against organizers, promoters and participants in the 2017 Unite the Right rally.

November 23, 2021

Elizabeth Sines, a 2019 University of Virginia School of Law alumna, and her fellow plaintiffs have prevailed in the civil suit against white supremacists who organized the violent Unite the Right rally in 2017.

June 9, 2021

Professor Emerita Mildred Robinson of the University of Virginia School of Law received the Armstead Robinson Faculty Award on Tuesday.

June 7, 2021

A historic African American schoolhouse a University of Virginia School of Law clinic has worked to help preserve was recognized Thursday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, improving the chances the site may be saved.

June 1, 2021

Why are many K-12 schools still struggling with racial inequity and the legacy of segregation almost 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education? UVA President Jim Ryan ’92 discusses the role of the Supreme Court, public policy and higher education in addressing the issue.

June 1, 2021

The nation’s schools will need funding and other resources to combat the lasting effects of segregation, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan ’92 says on the season finale of “Common Law,” a UVA Law podcast.

May 7, 2021

Joy Milligan, a scholar at the intersection of law and inequality, will join the University of Virginia School of Law faculty.

April 27, 2021

Professors Sarah Krakoff (University of Colorado) and Gerald Torres (Yale School of the Environment) discuss issues at the intersection of environmental governance and the rights and interests of Native American peoples. UVA Law professors Michael Livermore and Jon Cannon introduced and moderated the event.

April 23, 2021

Black communities experience lasting “cultural trauma” from the lack of accountability for police and vigilante violence, explains Boston University School of Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig.

April 23, 2021

Black communities experience lasting “cultural trauma” from the lack of criminal convictions for police and vigilante violence, explains scholar Angela Onwuachi-Willig on the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.

April 21, 2021

UVA Batten School Dean Ian Solomon, UVA Police Diversity Officer Cortney Hawkins and Batten School Social Equity Advisor Marrissa Jones co-moderate a panel directly following the announcement of the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin. This panel featured a discussion of the verdict between community organizers, activists and scholars with expertise in organizing advocacy efforts, collective healing and trust-building in response to instances of racial injustice. The panelists are UVA Law professor Anne Coughlin; Brian N. Williams, an associate professor of public policy at UVA's Batten School; Burke Brownfeld, founder of Sig Global Services; Gene Cash, founder and CEO of Counseling Alliance of Virginia; Wyatt Rolla, interim director of the civil rights and racial justice program at the Legal Aid Justice Center; Valerie Lemmie, director of exploratory research at the Kettering Foundation; and Tia Sherèe Gaynor, an assistant professor of the University of Cincinnati and founding director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation. This event was the third of a four-part series examining Derek Chauvin’s trial for the death of George Floyd and was co-sponsored by UVA Law’s Center for Criminal Justice, the UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, and the UVA Police Department.

March 23, 2021

From interracial marriage to LGBTQ rights, when the Supreme Court decriminalizes private behavior, other forms of regulation step in, says New York University School of Law professor Melissa Murray.

March 23, 2021

As the Supreme Court has struck down laws that criminalized private behavior, other forms of legal and social regulation have taken their place, argues New York University School of Law professor Melissa Murray on “Common Law,” a podcast sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law.

March 10, 2021

A health law expert focused on civil rights, Craig Konnoth will join the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in the fall.

March 5, 2021

Recent University of Virginia School of Law graduate Jordin Dickerson ’20 and third-year student Eli Jones ’21 are teaching at their undergraduate alma maters, with help from lessons learned in law school.

February 26, 2021

Berkeley Law School professor Abbye Atkinson and UVA Law professor Andrew Hayashi present research on how the law interacts with issues of race in business and finance, following an introduction by University of Chicago Law Dean Thomas J. Miles. Aneil Kovvali of the University of Chicago Law School moderated the event, which was sponsored by UVA Law’s John W. Glynn, Jr. Law & Business Program and the University of Chicago Law School’s Center on Law and Finance.

February 24, 2021

Faculty share insights on discussing and teaching issues relating to race in business law courses, following an introduction by UVA Law School Dean Risa Goluboff. The panelists are Afra Afsharipour of UC Davis School of Law, Carliss Chatman of Washington and Lee University School of Law, Cathy Hwang of UVA Law and Elizabeth Reese of the University of Chicago Law School. The event was sponsored by UVA Law’s John W. Glynn, Jr. Law & Business Program and the University of Chicago Law School’s Center on Law and Finance.

February 17, 2021

University of Virginia School of Law community members recognize trailblazing African American legal heroes.

February 12, 2021

Author Richard Rothstein will address how governments in the U.S. imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas in a Feb. 25 speech co-sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law.

February 11, 2021

Students in a University of Virginia School of Law clinic made significant contributions to a new state commission report recommending policy changes to reduce racial inequity in Virginia.

February 9, 2021

UVA Law professor Deborah Hellman discusses her work on how algorithms can compound injustice, and the evolution of her theory on discrimination.

February 9, 2021

In the latest “Common Law” episode, University of Virginia School of Law professor Deborah Hellman explores how bias can compound injustice through algorithms that shape our daily lives.

February 8, 2021

The library at the University of Virginia School of Law has launched a website exploring the history of the school’s connection to slavery.

February 3, 2021

Scholars and UVA Law students discuss the history of race and sex/LGBT equality movements during the symposium “From the Equal Rights Amendment to Black Lives Matter: Reflecting on Intersectional Struggles for Equality.” The panelists are Serena Mayeri of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, UVA Law students Trust Kupupika ’22 and Hayley Hahn ’21, and Julie Suk of the City University of New York. UVA Law professor Naomi Cahn and Paula Monopoli ’83 of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law served as moderators. The event was part of the University’s 2021 Community MLK Commemoration.

February 3, 2021

Law scholars discuss community activism and pursuing social justice in today’s intersectional movements for equality during the MLK Day symposium “From the Equal Rights Amendment to Black Lives Matter: Reflecting on Intersectional Struggles for Equality.” The panelists are Adrienne Davis of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Melissa Murray of New York University School of Law, UVA Law student Rachel Slepoi ’22 and Camille Gear Rich of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. UVA Law professor Anne M. Coughlin moderated the panel.

January 26, 2021

What role can law play in making society more equitable? "Common Law" hosts Risa Goluboff and Leslie Kendrick will explore how inequities touch our lives, sometimes in unexpected ways. Tune in Jan. 26 for the first episode.

January 26, 2021

Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy discusses past and present visions for a “promised land” on race, and what law can do to shape it.

January 26, 2021

“Common Law,” a podcast sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law and hosted by Dean Risa Goluboff and Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, returns for its third season with a focus on “Law and Equity.”

January 21, 2021

“Common Law,” a podcast sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law and hosted by Dean Risa Goluboff and Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06, will return for its third season Jan. 26 with a focus on “Law and Equity.”

January 15, 2021

A symposium hosted by the University of Virginia School of Law will explore intersectional struggles, as part of UVA’s 2021 Community MLK Celebration.

January 8, 2021

Professor Rachel Harmon, director of the Center for Criminal Justice at the University of Virginia School of Law, has some joint recommendations on federal policing reform for the new administration.

December 18, 2020

The University of Virginia School of Law and members of the Law School community have recently been singled out for excellence.

November 19, 2020

David Troutt of Rutgers Law School and Thad Williamson of the University of Richmond discuss pathways to racial and economic equity, with a focus on the effects of local and regional housing, employment and anti-poverty policies. UVA Law professor Richard Schragger moderated the event, hosted by PLACE: The Program in Law, Communities and the Environment. The event was the third in the program’s “PLACE and Power” series of virtual conversations exploring connections between human place-based relationships and the law and politics of environmental governance.

November 18, 2020

Professor Thomas Frampton of the University of Virginia School of Law teamed with a former juror for an amicus brief currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

November 16, 2020

Alumni of the University of Virginia School of Law with experience in the criminal justice system discuss what’s working and what needs to change.

November 12, 2020

If the Supreme Court were to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act, it would essentially be interfering with the authority of Congress, Professor Michael Doran of the University of Virginia School of Law argues in a new paper.

October 21, 2020

Virginia Sen. Jennifer McClellan ’97 discusses the challenges of making policies to address racial inequities.

October 19, 2020

Women are profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic at work and at home, but the health crisis also presents an opportunity for lawmakers to improve women’s lives in the long term, University of Virginia School of Law professor Naomi Cahn finds in new research.

October 13, 2020

For 50 years as of this week, the Black Law Students Association has been a force in recruiting Black students and faculty, and creating a sense of belonging for diverse community members at the University of Virginia School of Law.

October 9, 2020

As the Black Law Students Association celebrates 50 years at the University of Virginia School of Law, two founding members describe how it all began and the group’s immediate impact.

September 25, 2020

Jela Shiver ’23, a student at the University of Virginia School of Law, discusses how his grandfather’s experience with redlining piqued an interest in property law.

September 3, 2020

With anti-Semitism surging globally, scholars are convening to discuss the role of law in combating religious and racial hatred, at a conference Sept. 10 co-hosted by the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia School of Law.

September 1, 2020

New courses examining race and law will be offered at the University of Virginia School of Law for the 2020-21 academic year.

July 29, 2020

Recent University of Virginia School of Law faculty scholarship has contributed to the study of race and law, including offering pathways to reform.

June 15, 2020

UVA Law professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson foresees new fights at the Supreme Court as litigants seek fairness in public school funding across the nation. Her new book, “A Federal Right to Education: Fundamental Questions for Our Democracy,” is published by NYU Press. Robinson is the Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Professor of Law and a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute.

May 28, 2020

University of Virginia School of Law students researched racial inequality in Virginia and recently presented their findings to a governor’s commission focused on the issue.

May 21, 2020

Harvard Law School fellow Thomas Frampton, an expert in criminal law and constitutional procedure, will join the University of Virginia School of Law faculty this summer.

May 4, 2020

The Environmental and Regulatory Law Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law has joined an effort to protect a historic African American schoolhouse.

March 31, 2020

Why did colonists wear Native American costumes at the Boston Tea Party? Professor Farah Peterson investigates the history of mob protests for economic rights on the path to America’s unwritten constitution.

March 31, 2020

When she investigated why colonists dressed as Native Americans at the Boston Tea Party, “Common Law” guest Professor Farah Peterson found an untold story about an unwritten American constitution.

February 20, 2020

The University of Virginia School of Law chapter of the Black Law Students Association won chapter of the year at the Mid-Atlantic BLSA convention this month in Philadelphia.

February 19, 2020

Professor Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87 of the University of Virginia School of Law has been named the next dean of George Washington University Law School. She is the fifth woman to serve on the UVA Law faculty before becoming dean at a top law school.

February 11, 2020

Members of the Black Law Students Association at the University of Virginia School of Law returned to Cape Town, South Africa, to aid efforts aimed at reducing violence.

January 22, 2020

Erin Seagears, a third-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, was named this year’s recipient of the Gregory H. Swanson Award.

January 17, 2020

A Jan. 30-31 conference, “Healing Hate: A Public Health Perspective on Civil Rights in America,” hosted by the University of Virginia Schools of Law and Medicine, will focus on the impact of racial and ethnic discrimination in driving public health disparities.

January 13, 2020

Jennifer Eberhardt, a social psychologist at Stanford University, will be the featured speaker at the University of Virginia School of Law’s Community MLK Celebration event Jan. 21.

December 10, 2019

A new book edited by Professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson explores the possibility of a federal right to education.

October 29, 2019

A Union effort to redistribute land to former slaves during the Civil War unraveled because of the efforts of Southern lawyers, UVA Law professor Cynthia Nicoletti explains.

October 29, 2019

A Civil War-era experiment in selling white plantation owners’ land to formerly enslaved people mostly unraveled due to the actions of Southern lawyers, University of Virginia School of Law professor Cynthia Nicoletti explains in the latest episode of “Common Law.”

October 16, 2019

UVA Law professors Ashley S. Deeks, George S. Geis, Dayna Bowen Matthew ’87, Saikrishna Prakash and Micah J. Schwartzman ’05 provide an overview of their latest work. Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06 moderates the panel. This event was part of a “Back to School Night” for returning UVA Law alumni during UVA’s Honor the Future capital campaign kickoff.

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