Foreign Programs and Faculty and Alumni News - July 29th

Last week's blog gave me the opportunity to highlight our Cambridge Program. This week gives me the opportunity to let you know about a relationship between Cumberland and one of the top law schools in India, NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad. Cumberland joined with NALSAR in hosting an international conference held in India on children's rights. Cumberland was represented by Professor David Smolin who is an internationally recognized expert in the field of children's rights with particular expertise in inter-country adoptions. Professor Smolin speaks and writes on that topic and is a source for national and international news media. The conference brought together scholars , government officials and activists from the United States, India, Australia, the Netherlands and Hungary. It was the first ever conference of this kind and we were proud to be a part of this effort. We will be exploring a more formal relationship with the NALSAR University of Law over the course of the next year.

As the world shrinks, it is important that our students be exposed to issues of international law and our program in Cambridge, our cooperative effort with Norwich Law School at the University of East Anglia in England, our Masters of Comparative Law Program for foreign lawyers and judges and the cooperation with NALSAR University of Law do just that We will be expanding our international contacts over the coming years.

I also hope to use this blog to give you faculty and alumni news. I am heading out tomorrow for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools meeting and next week I will tell you about the activities of our faculty at that event. This week, I want to mention a recent work by Professor Brannon Denning, one of our constitutional law scholars. As you may know, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in June concerning the Second Amendment and the right to possess firearms in the home. Professor Denning is one of the nation's leading scholars on the Second Amendment. He and Professor Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee have authored what may be the first article discussing the new case in depth. The article may be found at http://www.law.northwestern.edu/lawreview/colloquy/2008/23/LRColl2008n23....

Our faculty is also involved in important law reform efforts. Professor Howard Walthall just returned from the national meeting of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws also known as the Uniform Law Commission. Professor Walthall is the reporter to a committee drafting an important new Business Organizations Act.

Last but not least, some alumni news. Jack Cox of the Cumberland Class of 1978 was appointed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Cumberland Class of 1981, to be circuit judge on the 15th Florida Judicial Circuit which is in the Palm Beach area. In appointing him, Governor Crist said

"Jack's 29 years of legal experience has demonstrated his fairness and commitment to justice. I am confident that these attributes and his desire to uphold the law will make an excellent contribution to the people of the 15th Judicial Circuit."

More next week.