Author: Eliza

Petitions of the week


By Kalvis Golde

on Nov 18, 2022
at 2:31 pm

A courier drops off a package at the Supreme Court

The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

For the second time in just over three years, the Supreme Court may determine the future of the federal watchdog agency that seeks to protect consumers in the financial sector.

Three terms ago in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the justices ruled by a vote of 5-4 that Congress violated the separation of powers when it placed the CFPB under the control of a single director removable by the president only for cause, as opposed to at will. The court, however, declined to invalidate the entire agency for this structural flaw, instead severing the for-cause provision from the rest of its authorizing statute. This

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By Paul J. Moorman

IALL 2022 was chockablock with wonderful programs and one of the best was saved for the last day with a program on “Business & Human Rights” by Stanford Law School Lecturer Jamie O’Connell.  O’Connell’s program described the origins, development, and status of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“Guiding Principles”). The Guiding Principles are the most authoritative human rights standards businesses are expected to follow. And while they are not binding, they have been shown to have significant and increasing normative force and practical effect on the behavior of businesses.

The first attempt to identify the human rights obligations of businesses began in the early 2000s with a group of experts, largely from academia, who drafted a set of binding rules.  These rules included, most controversially, a guarantee that businesses were not only responsible for following human rights obligations but also

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Dillonyang Sq

Dillon Yang, a third-year student at Notre Dame Law School, has been awarded one of the highest scholarships from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation. The foundation promotes the development, advancement, leadership, and public service of Asian Pacific Americans in the legal profession and supports law students through its scholarship programs. The $7,500 Presidential Scholarship is awarded to two law students each year. Recipients are selected based on their demonstrated outstanding leadership to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

“Uplifting and serving the AAPI community is a cause that I will work to make a change in the entirety of my legal career. I am happy that I’ve been able to positively impact my communities, and I am deeply honored that the NAPABA Law Foundation and NAPABA president AB Cruz III found me worthy of this high recognition,” said Yang.

Yang currently serves as

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The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a transformative, historic investment in lives and livelihoods across America. It represents a new opportunity for farmers, ranchers, small businesses and rural communities. It is helping the US Department of Agriculture deliver 21st century, high-speed internet for better access to markets, jobs, telemedicine and distance learning. It is increasing community resilience to climate change, drought and wildfire risks. It’s also providing innovative solutions to economic, environmental and social challenges across the nation.

“Investing in infrastructure is essential to American competitiveness and ensuring hard working Americans have the tools and opportunities to build a good life—especially for rural and underserved communities,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Since being signed into law, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is demonstrating how building up American infrastructure enhances competitiveness and improves climate resilience while building a stronger, more equitable and inclusive economy.”

The USDA continues to be a critical part

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AffiniPay, the parent company of payments platform LawPay and practice management platform MyCase, today named Catherine Dawson, a lawyer with 20 years of experience in data privacy, cybersecurity and mergers and acquisitions, as its general counsel. The news comes a week after AffiniPay named another woman to its executive suite, marketing and software executive Ana Villegas as its chief marketing officer.

The company’s C-suite already included a woman CEO, Dru Armstrong, and a woman EVP of people resources, Erin Brooks. The company was founded by a woman, Amy Porter, who remains its executive chairperson.

This news is particularly noteworthy given that women and people of color remain underrepresented among legal technology founders and executives. A survey last year by Kristen Sonday, cofounder and COO of legal tech startup Paladin, found just 57 women founders of legal technology companies.

Dawson (pictured right above)

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