FIU Law hosts visiting legal scholars from institutions worldwide to provide insight and encourage discussion on myriad legal topics. The purpose of the Faculty Workshops series is to encourage interactive discussion between FIU Law faculty on current legal issues, and provide an open forum through which such discussion can take place. Each workshop features a different legal subject, and is lead by a scholar in that field.
The FIU Faculty Workshop Series started archiving presentations from visiting legal scholars in October 2015. When possible, the workshops were recorded and are provided here. When available, the working drafts of works in progress discussed at the time of the Workshop were also obtained and archived. For access to those hidden works, please contact the eCollections administrator.
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Popular Constitutionalism in a Populist Age
4-9-2025
Tom DonnellyAssistant Professor of Law Tom Donnelly from the University of Richmond presented his work Popular Constitutionalism in a Populist Age. This paper reimagines popular constitutionalism as a practical reform agenda that empowers democratic self-governance and curbs judicial and executive overreach. Drawing on 19th-century agrarian populists, it calls for institutional, doctrinal, and cultural changes to better reflect the people’s constitutional voice.
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Legal Strategies to Foster Global Accountability in Prosecuting Human Trafficking
2-19-2025
Tiffany Williams BrewerAssistant Professor Tiffany Williams Brewer from Howard University presented her work, Legal Strategies to Foster Global Accountability in Prosecuting Human Trafficking. The paper examines human trafficking as modern slavery, highlighting its disproportionate impact on Black women and girls. Brewer advocates for stronger global legal mechanisms, urging the ICC to take a more active role in prosecution. She addresses inconsistencies in anti-trafficking laws, challenges in international cooperation, and the need for a victim-centered approach to ensure justice and restitution.
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Revisiting the Federal Circuit En Banc
3-20-2024
Ryan VaccaProfessor Ryan Vacca from the University of Missouri presented his work Revisiting the Federal Circuit En Banc. The paper examines the Federal Circuit’s historical use of en banc review in shaping patent law and its sudden abandonment of the practice in 2018. Vacca explores potential causes for this shift, including the rise of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), increased congressional and Supreme Court involvement in patent law, and changes in the Federal Circuit’s judicial composition. He argues that restoring en banc review is crucial for maintaining consistency in patent law and effectively guiding patent stakeholders.
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From Redlining to Greenlining
3-12-2024
Danielle StokesAssociate Professor Danielle Stokes from the University of Richmond presented From Redlining to Greenlining. The paper explores how discriminatory land use policies have historically marginalized communities, leading to environmental and economic disparities. Stokes introduces "greenlining" as a framework for equitable land use planning, aiming to address historical injustices while promoting sustainability, environmental justice, and community investment.
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Innovations in Pleasure: Patents & Taboo Technologies
3-3-2024
Andrew GildenProfessor Andrew Gilden from Willamette University presented Innovations in Pleasure: Patents & Taboo Technologies. The paper explores how patents influence the legitimacy and commercialization of taboo technologies, including sexual devices, psychoactive drugs, and abortifacients. It examines how patent law interacts with shifting social norms and legal frameworks, highlighting the role of patents in normalizing controversial innovations.
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Welfare Debt
2-21-2024
Nicole LangstonAssistant Professor Nicole Langston from Vanderbilt University presented her work, Welfare Debt. The paper examines how past-due child support debt, often owed to the government rather than custodial parents, disproportionately burdens low-income individuals, particularly Black men. Langston critiques the welfare cost recovery system, which traps noncustodial parents in cycles of debt and incarceration. She highlights disparities in the bankruptcy system, where welfare debt remains nondischargeable while tax debt, primarily carried by wealthier individuals, can be forgiven. The paper advocates for policy reforms to align the treatment of welfare debt with tax debt, ensuring greater financial relief for vulnerable populations.
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The Submerged Administrative State
2-12-2024
Gabriel SchefflerProfessor Gabriel Scheffler from the University of Miami School of Law presented his work The Submerged Administrative State. The paper addresses the reputation crisis of the US government, attributing it to the public's unfamiliarity with the administrative state. It proposes to make administrative agencies more visible and comprehensible to rebuild trust in government.
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Judicial Imperialism: The Supreme Court’s Assault on Tribal Sovereignty and the Rule of Law
2-7-2024
Adam Crepelle -
The Phantom Menace to Professional Identity Formation and Law Success: Imposter Syndrome
1-18-2024
David A. GrenardoProfessor David A. Grenardo from the University of St.Thomas School of Law presented his work The Phantom Menace to Professional Identity Formation and Law Success: Imposter Syndrome. This article highlights the growing focus on professional identity formation in legal education and underscores the importance of addressing imposter syndrome among law students to foster genuine professional development.
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Toxic Narratives, Toxic Communities and the Administrative Violence of Environmental Enforcement
10-12-2023
Alyse BertenthalProfessor Alyse Bertenthal from the Wake Forest University School of Law presented her work Toxic Narratives, Toxic Communities and the Administrative Violence of Environmental Enforcement. This paper explores the concept of "administrative violence" in the enforcement of environmental laws, revealing how marginalized communities continue to bear the brunt of environmental harms due to systemic bureaucratic norms, despite policy reforms.
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The Jurisprudence of Baseball: Rules Versus Standards
10-3-2023
Ahmed TahaProfessor Ahmed Taha from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law presented his work The Jurisprudence of Baseball: Rules Versus Standards. His paper analyzes the use of rules and standards in baseball laws, applies legal theory, and suggests changes, emphasizing precise rules for common situations and standards for more complex ones.
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FIU Law and University of Miami School of Law Co-Hosted the Second Workshop in a Zoom Summer Brown Bag
8-8-2023
Alex Erwin and Caroline M. CorbinFIU College of Law and University of Miami School of Law co-hosted the Second Workshop in a Zoom Summer Brown Bag.
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FIU Law and University of Miami School of Law Co-Hosted the First Workshop in a Zoom Summer Brown Bag
7-18-2023
Amber Polk and William H. WidenFIU College of Law and University of Miami School of Law co-hosted the First Workshop in a Zoom Summer Brown Bag.
Amber Polk (FIU College of Law) presented Toxic Battery: Pollution as a Dignitary Tort, this paper argues that a restaurant's discharge of nonharmium should be considered offensive battery, polluting our bodies, and calls for its legal recognition to address pollution cases where traditional laws fail.
William H Widen (UM School of Law) presented two of his papers, A Reasonable Driver Standard for Automated Vehicle Safety and Winning the Imitation Game: Setting Safety Expectations for Automated Vehicles.
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Death by Withdrawal
4-12-2023
Taleed El-SabawiDr.Taleed El-Sabawi of the FIU College of Law presents her work Death by Withdrawal. The article argues that the failure to medically manage drug withdrawals in jail and prison custody constitutes a violation of Fourteenth and Eighth Amendment protections.
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Kids, Cases, and Consequences: Child Sexual Abuse Reported to the Criminal Justice System
4-11-2023
Stephanie BlockDr. Stephanie Block from UMass Lowell presents her work Kids, Cases, and Consequences: Child Sexual Abuse Reported to the Criminal Justice System.
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Risk and Resistance: How Feminists Transformed the Law and Science of AIDS
3-21-2023
Aziza AhmedProfessor Aziza Ahmed of Boston University Law School presents the first two chapters of her work Risk and Resistance: How Feminists Transformed the Law and Science of AIDS. This book discusses the success of feminist AIDS activists in the 1980s in changing the scientific definition of AIDS used by the CDC and the impact of this on the distribution of benefits by the Social Security Administration.
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Saving Agency Adjudication
3-14-2023
Christopher J. WalkerProfessor Christopher J. Walker of University of Michigan Law School presents his work Saving Agency Adjudication. The article discusses the potential crisis facing agency adjudication in the US due to recent court rulings and proposes alternative solutions to creating a new agency or expanding Article I or III courts, arguing for the use of independence-enhancing tools provided by the Constitution to address the perceived threats to agency adjudicator decisional independence.
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A First Amendment Defense for Protest
2-15-2023
Jenny E. CarrollProfessor Jenny E. Carroll of the University of Alabama School of Law presented her work A First Amendment Defense for Protest. The article argues that defendants facing criminal charges that may impact their speech should be allowed to present a First Amendment defense, giving the citizen jury decision-making power and challenging the current First Amendment landscape that subjugates marginalized speakers' rights.
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The Privilege Gap
2-8-2023
Jessica L. RobertsProfessor Jessica L. Roberts of the University of Houston presented her work The Privilege Gap. The article discusses how privilege contributes to inequality in the American workplace and argues that employment discrimination legislation fails to address privilege.
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Queer Rights After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
2-1-2023
Robin S. MarilProfessor Robin Maril of Willamette University College of Law presented her work Queer Rights After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. This article asks what Dobbs means for our understanding of individual liberty, specifically with respect to queer rights.
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Targets, Fields, and Tactics: Multi-Institutional Legal Mobilization in the Campaign of the U’wa People in Colombia
1-25-2023
Pablo Rueda-SaizProfessor Rueda-Saiz of the University of Miami School of Law, presented his work Targets, Fields, and Tactics: Multi-Institutional Legal Mobilization in the Campaign of the U’wa People in Colombia. The article discusses the trend of transnational indigenous mobilization against oil extraction, focusing on the U’wa indigenous group's successful campaign against oil companies.
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The Lost History of Delegation at the Founding
3-16-2021
Christine Kexel ChabotProfessor Christine Kexel Chabot, of Loyola University Chicago School of Law presented her work The Lost History of Delegation at the Founding, this article shows that there is no occasion to abandon precedent, as a more accommodating nondelegation doctrine has been with us from the start.
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The Rule of Law in the United States
2-24-2021
Paul A. GowderProfessor Paul A. Gowder, of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law presented his book project, The Rule of Law in the United States.
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Cuban Socialism 2.0: Priming Markets Through Peso Devaluation
2-9-2021
Jose GabilondoProfessor Jose Gabilondo of FIU College of Law, presented his work Cuban Socialism 2.0: Priming Markets Through Peso Devaluation, this analyzes reforms that eliminate the economic vestiges of Cuba’s past as a satellite of the Soviet Union.
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Rewritten Opinion in Rogers v. American Airlines
11-19-2020
Wendy GreeneProfessor Wendy Greene of Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, presented her rewritten opinion in Rogers v. American Airlines, this work examines black women race and sex discrimination in private and public sectors.
