News
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Michael Oswalt Appointed Associate Dean for Research and Faculty DevelopmentProfessor Michael Oswalt has been named as Wayne State University Law School’s next Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, following Professors Jonathan Weinberg and Christopher Lund. An expert in labor law, Dean Oswalt came to Wayne Law in 2022 from Northern Illinois University College of Law. He combines a strong academic background with a set of rich experiences in legal practice—most notably four years in the Office of the General Counsel at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and a clerkship with then-judge Sonia Sotomayor when she served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Since entering academia, Dean Oswalt has become an influential scholar known nationwide, publishing articles in top law reviews and faculty-edited journals like the California Law Review, Law and Contemporary Problems, the Minnesota Law Review, and the U.C. Davis Law Review, and also co-authoring two casebooks. Several of his pieces have been featured in Jotwell, a forum for top scholars to review important new scholarly work. He has also written shorter pieces for a wide variety of outlets, including the American Constitution Society, the Law and Political Economy Blog, and Huffpost.
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History-making SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has prestigious Harvard bona fidesIt was a monumental moment in history Friday, as the first Black woman is nominated to the US Supreme Court. -
First Black woman nominated to SCOTUS, Ketanji Brown Jackson earns raves from Detroit legal communityA monumental moment in history Friday, as the first Black woman is nominated to the US Supreme Court. "What really went through my mind - it’s time," said Judge Deborah Bledsoe Ford.
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Finding a funding solution for the district courtsWhat if there wasn’t a court to go to if you had to deal with a traffic ticket or a legal case. In the communities covered by the 48th District Court – Birmingham, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Sylvan Lake, Orchard Lake and Keego Harbor – it's not a farfetched consideration as the communities bicker over funding for the court and consider opting out of subsidizing it entirely, despite statutory requirements mandating financing the court.
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‘Driving While Black’: Law professor discusses ‘racial territoriality’ and racism on America’s roadsBlack people are two times more likely to be killed by police than white people, according to Jamila Jefferson-Jones, professor of law at Wayne State University. To discuss the phenomenon of Black people facing obstacles while driving, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, dean of BU School of Law, invited Jefferson-Jones to speak as part of the Congresswoman Barbara Jordan Speaker Series on Race, Law, & Inequality.
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Black Men in Law Leave a Legal LegacyBlack History Month is a time to reflect on the accomplishments, advancements, and struggles of African Americans. Though Black populations have made progress throughout history, there is still much work to be done across every sector, particularly law. Several Black attorneys have paved the way for not only new legislation but for Black students who aspire to practice law, leading to a push for equality from the courtroom to the boardroom.
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A Data Broker Has Millions of Workers' Paystubs; See If They Have YoursWho sees your paystub each payday? Just you, your boss, the IRS, and… a data broker? That's right. There's a good chance a private data company is getting your paystub, too. What we're about to explain is likely surprising and new to you. But it's probably not at all new to execs in your company. It's profitable and it's growing fast.
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Two Wayne Law students named Fellows of ABA ConsortiumSecond-year Wayne State University Law School students Dominica Convertino and Kawkab El-Moussaoui were named American Bar Association (ABA) Legal Education Police Practices Consortium (LEPPC) Fellows.
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Lance Gable - All Talk with Jordan and DietzWayne State Law Professor, Lance Gable, talks with Kevin and Tom about the Canadian Convoy protestors and arrests.
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DOJ recognizes Wayne Law for increasing housing stability and access to justice in DetroitLast week, the White House and the Department of Justice convened 99 law schools who responded to the Attorney General’s Call to Action to the Legal Profession to address the housing and eviction crisis. Ninety-nine law schools in 35 states and Puerto Rico immediately committed their law schools to help prevent evictions. In just a few months, law students across the country dedicated nearly 81,000 hours to provide legal assistance to households and communities across the country.
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Levin Center to host Feb. 17 panel of Rep. Elijah Cummings’ staffersIn January 2022, the Levin Center at Wayne Law released "Portraits in Oversight" short profiles that describe important congressional investigations and trace the work of key figures in the history of legislative oversight. The portraits explore congressional oversight from 1792 to the present day, including inquiries into the Civil War, covert CIA operations, Enron, and Watergate and such figures as Senators Harry Truman and Joe McCarthy, and Representatives John Dingell and Elijah Cummings. As part of Wayne State University Law School's Black History Month programming, the Levin Center will conduct a panel discussion featuring Rep. Elijah Cummings' former staffers who will focus on his oversight work. The webinar will take place Thursday, February 17, from noon to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.
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Supreme Court rejects Trump’s blocking of Jan. 6 docs: 3 key takeaways from rulingIn a legal blow for Donald Trump, the Supreme Court has cleared the way for presidential records dating from his time in office to be turned over to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
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Peter Henning, ex-federal prosecutor and legal scholar, dies at 65: 'He was my hero'If Peter Henning could help someone, he did. Henning, a former federal prosecutor and legal scholar who made a name for himself as a white-collar crime expert who locked up criminals, educated and inspired young lawyers, explained complex legal issues for the media and fought for tougher ethics in his beloved profession, has died. He was 65.
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Peter Henning, longtime lawyer turned scholar who focused on white collar crime, dies at 65As a former federal prosecutor and law professor, Peter Henning had expert insight on white-collar crime and an array of legal issues. Whether in the classroom or during interviews with the media, he imparted that knowledge in memorable ways.
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Peter Henning, ex-federal prosecutor and legal scholar, dies at 65In courtrooms, in classrooms and on television, no one knew the law better than Peter Henning. During a career that spanned four decades, he helped put away white collar criminals, pushed for stronger ethics in the legal field and helped train the next generation of lawyers. Henning died Sunday following a battle with dementia. He was 65.
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Revealed: the Flint water poisoning charges that never came to lightA team of prosecutors and investigators leading the investigation into the Flint water crisis from 2016 through 2018 were assembling a racketeering case against the architects of a bond deal that residents and experts say sparked the health disaster, sources familiar with the criminal investigation have told the Guardian.
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Wayne State Professor weighs in on Supreme Court vaccine mandate hearingFLINT, Mich - Months of back and forth about federal vaccine mandates will come to a head Friday during a special hearing at the Supreme Court. The justices will hear oral arguments in two cases disputing vaccines mandates: one issued on Nov. 5 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for employers of 100 workers or more that includes a weekly testing option, and another by the Department of Health and Human Services for healthcare staff at facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding.
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Wayne Law names Lund new associate dean for research and faculty developmentProfessor Christopher Lund has been named Wayne State University Law School’s new associate dean for research and faculty development.
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Carl Levin: The Senator Who Mastered OversightIf you serve six terms in the U.S. Senate — ranking among the 20 longest-serving members in that body’s history — you tend to get stuff named after you in your home state. For Joe Biden, an Amtrak station in Delaware. For Hawaii’s Daniel Inouye, a highway, a lighthouse and a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration center, among many other things (he got federal funding for all three). For West Virginia’s Robert Byrd, king of congressional pork … well, there’s so much named after him in the Mountain State that “List of places named after Robert Byrd” has its own lengthy Wikipedia page. But how do you memorialize a man like Carl Levin, whose legacy was not in bringing home pork, but in the less-glamorous work of advocating for governmental oversight?
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House committee investigating Capitol insurrection has a lot of power, but it’s unclear it can force Trump to testifyAssociate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Kirsten Carlson, wrote an article for The Conversation. “In the intensely partisan atmosphere surrounding the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, will the committee be able to get the information it needs? The American people, said Republican House member Liz Cheney, “deserve the full and open testimony of every person with knowledge of the planning and preparation for Jan. 6.” In opening statements link takes to a paywall at the first hearing held on July 27 by the House select committee investigating the attack, Cheney and other committee members said that an accurate record of the events on Jan. 6 - and in the time that led up to it - is essential to understanding the factors contributing to the attack so that future attacks may be prevented. The committee has several tools for shedding light on the events of Jan. 6 and ensuring that the American people learn the truth about what happened. Transparent, research-based, written by experts – and always free.”
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Levin Center expert takes part in panel on insurance oversightState legislators from across the country learned about the importance of insurance oversight from a National Conference of Insurance Legislators panel entitled, “The Delicate Balance of Legislative Oversight.” One panelist was the Levin Center’s Ben Eikey, an expert on state legislative oversight. “Oversight can play a critical role in state legislatures seeking to promote a healthy insurance sector and so that families and businesses can obtain effective insurance at a fair price,” said Eikey. “Legislative oversight can help identify and analyze problems, encourage best practices, and help make sure financial help is there if disaster strikes.” The Levin Center at Wayne Law is named in honor of former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan’s longest-serving U.S. senator who retired in 2015 after 36 years in the Senate conducting fact-based, bipartisan oversight investigations. Levin serves as the chair of the center which is headquartered at Wayne State University Law School. The center’s mission is to promote high quality oversight in Congress and the 50 state legislatures through oversight workshops, research, events, and other activities.
