Intellectual Life

On October 6, 2021, Temple Law hosted Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Fellow, civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Mr. Crump, counsel for the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and other victims of police misconduct, spoke to the Temple community about his cases, career, and lawyering.

On November 8, 2021, Temple University Beasley School of Law hosted Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Visiting Fellow, Elizabeth Cabraser. An extraordinary attorney, Ms. Cabraser will discuss her career, lawyering, and paths for young lawyers and take students’ questions. Earlier this year, she was appointed Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel in the McKinsey & Co. National Prescription Opiate multi-district litigation and is now bringing a class action suit in response to the October oil spill in Southern California. Her prior cases have included topics from multi-state tobacco, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill disaster, the Volkswagen ‘Clean Diesel’ scandal, Breast Implants, to Holocaust litigation.

On September 30th, 2022, author and journalist Beth Macy visited Temple Law School to discuss the opioid crisis with a panel of experts, including host Jonathan Lipson (Harold Kohn Professor of Law), attorney Michael Quinn (counsel to a group of opioid survivors and activists) and public-health researcher Evan Anderson (Senior Fellow, Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania).

The 2022 Fogel Lecture, presented by former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, Caroline D. Ciraolo, discussed the role of the Tax Division in civil and criminal tax enforcement, how the Tax Division interacts with the IRS and other stakeholders, and the exciting employment opportunities within the Division.

The 2022 The Arlin and Neysa Adams Lecture brought together first Amendment scholars Dean Erwin Chemerinsky from the University of California, Berkeley Law School and Professor Laura Little, the James G. Schmidt Professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, to engage in a wide-ranging discussion that included freedom of expression and religion issues discussed in their individually authored books on the First Amendment. JoAnne A. Epps, Senior Advisor to the Temple University President and Professor of Law, moderated the discussion.

On October 3, 2022, Dean Rachel Rebouché and Anita Hill discussed Professor Hill’s book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence and current events through her lens of expertise.

Temple Law’s Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology (iLIT) hosted a half-day conference to provide diverse insights, direct advising, and unique engagement opportunities for students and early career professionals to learn about pathways to leadership at the forefront of rapid change as technology increasingly shapes both professional life and society. The panel included Sarah Chu, Senior Advisor on Forensic Science Policy, Innocence Project; Amba Kak, Senior Advisor on AI, Federal Trade Commission; Manar Waheed Associate General Counsel, Civil Rights Team, Facebook; and was moderated by Donald Harris. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Liaison Professor of Law.

On September 20, 2022, Temple University welcomed Dean Oren Perez of Bar-Ilan University (BIU). He delivered a lecture to students and faculty on Longtermism and the Law, where he shared his research on how law has a profound effect on the future–and the legal tools available to help solve cross-generational collective action problems such as climate change and autonomous artificial intelligence.

Professor Alice Abreu presented From the Texas Cottonfields to the United States Tax Court; The Life Journey of Juan F. Vasquez based on the biography of Judge Vasquez published by the ABA Tax Section and written by his wife, Mary Theresa Vasquez, and Anthony Head, and also led the conversation that followed with Judge Vasquez, members of the Tax Court, and the IRS Commissioner.