The Marketplace of Ideas: Recent Episodes
Law & Economics Center
The Law and Economics Center at Scalia Law is proud to offer Marketplace of Ideas, a podcast series where you will get access to original, high-quality information from events hosted by the LEC.
Recorded on Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Background:
On April 17, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-0 decision in Chevron USA Incorporated, et al., Petitioners v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, et al., holding that Chevron and other energy producers may remove Louisiana coastal damage actions from state court to federal court under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C Section 1442(a)(1), because the claims relate to oil production conducted under federal direction during World War II. The Court concluded that the statue's term "relating to" has broad reach, covering even indirect connections.
The ruling allows Chevron and other energy companies to pursue removal of 42 state court lawsuits brought by local Louisiana parishes. These lawsuits, some dating as far back as 2013, seek damages and remediation funding and allege that energy‑production activities conducted by Chevron and other defendant companies, including activities related to federal contracts, caused coastal land loss and increased hurricane vulnerability.
Panelists:
Mike Fragoso, Partner, Torridon Law PLLC Melissa Landry, Research Analyst and Policy Expert Simone Maloz, Campaign Director, Restore the Mississippi River Delta Michael R. Williams, Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia
Moderator: Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Recorded on Friday, May 29, 2026 Background: Prediction markets—only a few years ago relegated to academic discourse—are now in the news almost daily and at the center of a vibrant policy debate. Bringing together subject matter experts to examine this fast-moving legal landscape, this webinar explored how these markets operate and how they have evolved into platforms for trading on real-world outcomes. Panelists addressed key questions surrounding the boundaries between state and federal jurisdiction, the intersection of gaming law and derivatives regulation, market structure, consumer protection, and insider trading. Panelists: Dan Berkovitz, Vice Chairman, External and Regulatory Affairs, Millennium Management; Former Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Ferdisha Snagg, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Joshua Sterling, Partner, Milbank LLP Brian Quintenz, Director, KalshiEx and Kalshi Klear; Former Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Moderator: Paolo Saguato, Professor of Law; Founder and Director of the Program on Financial Markets, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Event Page on the LEC Website
Recorded on Wednesday, February 11, 2026
The past year has seen major shifts in privacy policy at both the FTC and in the states. Under the Trump administration, the FTC has abandoned some prior approaches while preserving others, creating a mix of change and continuity. At the same time, state lawmakers continue to move quickly on privacy and AI regulation.
In this virtual webinar, our panelists broke down the key developments from the past year and looked ahead to what's coming in 2026.
Panelists:
Maneesha Mithal, Partner, Data, Privacy, and Cybersecurity, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Andrew Stivers, Managing Director, National Economic Research Associates, Inc. James C. Cooper, Professor of Law and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Event Page on LEC Website
Recorded on Tuesday, September 23, 2025
On June 16, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Chevron USA Incorporated, et al., Petitioners v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, et al., Nos. 23-30294, 23-30422, agreeing to decide during this October Term 2025 whether defendant energy producers are entitled to remove the cases filed in state courts to a federal forum to resolve the nature of their federal rights and immunities as federal contractors.
Background
Since 2013, local Louisiana parishes have filed forty-three lawsuits alleging that energy company activities associated with energy production caused harm by, among other things, dredging and maintaining a network of canals to access wells located on coastal or marsh lands and to transport resources to serve federal contracts and the energy needs of the region. These lawsuits, which have lingered in one stage or another in the state courts, seek damages and remediation funding for coastal land loss and increased hurricane vulnerability. Many of the alleged wrongful acts targeted were conceived, authorized, and paid for by state, local, and federal authorities. Oftentimes, the energy producers being sued were conducting activities on Louisiana coastlands as direct federal contractors, supporting the military capabilities of the United States during World War II, especially in the provision of refined gas. Consequently, they have tried to remove the state cases, but federal district courts have largely remanded. These cases raise serious concerns regarding the scope of tort law; federal preemption; due process and retroactivity; traceability; causation and attribution; the proper role and ethical responsibilities of government litigators; and separation of powers; and the limits of the judiciary; among others.
Listen to This Important Discussion of the Underlying Claims
This webinar brought together a group of experts who have closely followed these cases and examined the underlying claims in the lawsuits, their implications, and the questions SCOTUS will consider in the case before it.
Panelists:
James Baehr, Special Counsel, Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Mike Fragoso, Partner, Torridon Law PLLC
Melissa Landry, Director of the Pelican Center for Energy, Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Michael R. Williams, Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia
Moderator: Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
https://masonlec.org/?p=6754
Recorded Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Time Stamp of Cases Previewed (in Order of Discussion):
(05:03): Berk v. Choy, No. 24-440
(15:32): Hain Celestial Grp. v. Palmquist, No. 24-724
(25:44): Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Par., No. 24-813
(43:50): Coney Island Auto Parts Unlimited v. Burton, No. 24-808
Q&A: (54:41)
Description:
With the Supreme Court starting to hear cases for the upcoming year on October 6, a balanced panel of experts previewed some of the most interesting and potentially consequential cases for the coming year. The panelists focused on the civil justice-related cases on the docket, the cases where economic analysis is most at play, and those cases likely to have the most substantial economic impact or require adjustment to business activity.
The event took place at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School. It was open to the general public and offered in-person and live-streamed.
Our two expert panelists brought distinct experiences representing business interests and progressive litigants before the U.S. Supreme Court. Together, they offered a robust discussion informed by key countervailing perspectives on the civil justice issues the Supreme Court was set to address.
Panelists:
John H. Beisner, Of Counsel, Litigation; Mass Torts, Insurance and Consumer Litigation, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Robert S. Peck, President, Center for Constitutional Litigation, PC (CCL)
Moderator: Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Recorded on Friday, May 30, 2025
https://masonlec.org/events/delaware-disrupted-the-battle-for-corporate-america/
Delaware has long been the unrivaled home of American corporate law—but Senate Bill 21 may signal the start of a shift. This webinar examined the controversy surrounding SB 21 and what it reveals about deeper tensions in Delaware’s approach to corporate governance and litigation. Our panel of experts analyzed recent legislative moves and their potential consequences, and asked: Is Delaware’s dominance in jeopardy, and if so, who—or what—might come next?
Panelists: Michal Barzuza, Professor of Law and Director, John W. Glynn Jr. Law & Business Program, University of Virginia School of Law
Kyle Lachmund, Director, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A.
Ann Lipton, Michael M. Fleishman Professor in Business Law and Entrepreneurship, Tulane University School of Law
Sean MacDonald, Associate, Hogan Lovells
Moderator: Paolo Saguato, Professor of Law, Founder and Director, Program on Financial Markets, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
This discussion was Panel 4 of the 28th Annual George Mason Law Review Antitrust Symposium.
Moderator:
- Abbott (Tad) B. Lipsky, Jr., Assistant Professor; Director of Competition, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Panelists:
- Dennis W. Carlton, Senior Managing Director, Compass Lexecon; David McDaniel Keller Professor of Economics Emeritus, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- Debbie Feinstein, Partner, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
- W. Robert Majure, Vice President, Cornerstone Research
On Wednesday, March 26, the Law & Economics Center held a roundtable on Third Party Litigation Financing & Litigation Transparency, discussing transparency in our civil justice system, especially when it comes to third party litigation financing (TPLF)—an increasingly used and similarly scrutinized mechanism for financing lawsuits.
Speakers included
- Moderator: The Honorable Trevor N. McFadden, Judge, US District Court for the District of Columbia
- Seth Katsuya Endo, Vice Dean of Intellectual Life and Associate Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law
- Jamil N. Jaffer, Founder & Executive Director, National Security Institute and Assistant Professor of Law & Director, National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
- Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
- Maya Steinitz, Professor of Law and R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law, Boston University School of Law
This discussion was Panel 2 of the 28th Annual George Mason Law Review Antitrust Symposium.
Moderator:
- Ai Deng, Director, Advanced Analytics Lab, Berkeley Research Group; Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University; Editor, American Bar Association; External Expert; Romanian National Council for Scientific
Panelists:
- Mark Gray, Copyright Policy Counsel, OpenAI
- Daryl Lim, H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law; Associate Dean for Research and Innovation; Director, Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Innovation Initiative, Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law
- Elena Ponte, Attorney, Bureau of Competition, US Federal Trade Commission
- Kristian Stout, Director of Innovation Policy, International Center for Law and Economics
FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak joined Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the DC Circuit Court for a fireside chat. This converation ended the 29th Annual George Mason Law Review Antitrust Symposium.
A panel of experts provides a discussion on some of the important developments under the Biden administration, and what to expect in this area from the new Trump administration.
With the Court starting to hear cases for the upcoming year on October 7, 2024, a balanced panel of experts previewed some of the most interesting and potentially consequential cases for the coming year. The panelists focused on the civil justice-related cases on the docket, the cases where economic analysis is most at play, and those cases likely to have the most substantial economic impact or require adjustment to business activity.
Panelists:
John H. Beisner, Of Counsel, Litigation; Mass Torts, Insurance and Consumer Litigation, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Robert S. Peck, President, Center for Constitutional Litigation
Donald J. Kochan, Moderator, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center
This one-hour talk examined the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint against Apple, which alleges that Apple has designed and structured its iPhone platform in a manner that violates Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Join us as Professor James Cooper of George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Professor Erika Douglas of Temple University Beasley School of Law, Professor Thom Lambert of the University of Missouri School of Law, and moderator Professor John Yun of George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School discuss the scope of a platform’s duty to deal, the relevance of privacy considerations in antitrust matters, and the applicability of the seminal Microsoft case in determining the likely outcome.
Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Donald J. Kochan, moderates a discussion about Climate Change Lawsuits and Preemption or Displacement of State Law: An Analysis of the Sunoco Cert Petition. This conversation, recorded in May, 2024, features Phil Goldberg of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Catherine M. Sharkey of New York University School of Law, and John Yoo of University of California at Berkeley School of Law, who analyzed, from diverse persepectives, the merits of the Sunoco Cert Petition and the arguments surrounding it.
Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Economics Center at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Donald J. Kochan, moderates a discussion about the Standards for Judicial Education on Scientific Topics. This conversation, recorded in January, 2024, features David Faigman of the University of California College of Law, Jonathan Klick of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Gary Marchant of the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, and Charles R. Santerre of Clemson University, who provide their expertise on teaching judges about science and how to understand scientific methodology, how to evaluate scientific topics as a non-expert, and how to consider the admissibility of expert testimony.
What standards can be employed to ensure that the teachers of judges remain objective educators rather than using the podium to teach the judges how to achieve policy outcomes and overcome scientific barriers to those outcomes? What is appropriate and what is not in educating judges about science? What should be the objective of this kind of specialized judicial education – is it to empower the judges to understand science or to provide tools for activism from the bench? How do you remain objective as an instructor and in the curriculum? What standards should be used when teaching science to ensure that you do not cross the line into helping judges manipulate science to achieve preferred policy objectives? What are some good and bad models of judicial education on science, and how can judges identify them? These and other questions were explored.
Luncheon Panel at the Fifteenth Annual Judicial Symposium on Civil Justice Issues in Charleston, SC
This is the third episode in the LEC's Native American Heritage Month series, "Reclaiming the Narrative: Voices from Indian Country." In this series, tribal leaders share their perspectives and discuss a wide range of issues from indigenous history to tribal courts.
This is the second episode in the LEC's Native American Heritage Month series, "Reclaiming the Narrative: Voices from Indian Country." In this series, tribal leaders share their perspectives and discuss a wide range of issues from indigenous history to tribal courts.
This is the first episode in the LEC's Native American Heritage Month series, "Reclaiming the Narrative: Voices From Indian Country." In this series, tribal leaders share their perspectives and discuss a wide range of issues from indigenous history to tribal courts.
Forum on the Economic & Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith; Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Forum on the Economic and Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith; Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Forum on the Economic & Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel Laureate Vernon L. Smith; Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Forum on the Economic & Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith; Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Forum on the Economic & Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith; Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Forum on the Economic & Legal Foundations of Capitalism, with Nobel laureate Vernon Smith
Cosponsored with the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
Panel on Privacy, Data, and Competition Policy at the 9th Annual Symposium on the Law & Economics of Privacy & Data Security.
Panel Members:
David LeDuc, Vice President of Public Policy, Network Advertising Initiative
Alison Pepper, Executive Vice President of Government Relations, The 4As
Lindsey Barrett, Fritz Family Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown
University Law Center
Ari Levenfeld, Senior Manager, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google
Panel on Perspectives on Surveillance Capitalism at the 9th Annual Symposium on the Law & Economics of Privacy & Data Security.
Panel Members:
Jane Bambauer, Professor of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of
Law
Neil Chilson, Senior Research Fellow, Charles Koch Institute
Moderator:
Andrew Stivers
Associate Director, NERA Economic Consulting
Panel on Privacy, Data, and Competition Policy at the 9th Annual Symposium on the Law & Economics of Privacy & Data Security.
Panel Members:
Erika Douglas, Assistant Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Michael Kades, Director of Markets and Competition Policy, Washington Center for
Equitable Growth
John Yun, Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law
School
Fireside Chat with FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips moderated by James C. Cooper at the 9th Annual Symposium on the Law & Economics of Privacy & Data Security.
Keynote Luncheon Address from Jon Fasman, US Digital Editor, The Economist at the Ninth Annual Symposium on the Law & Economics of Privacy & Data Security.
Listen in to the LEC's Judicial Symposium on Scientific Methodology and the Admissibility of Expert Testimony to hear an insightful panel discussion on "The Challenge of Recognizing Good Science in the Courtroom" featuring:
David E. Bernstein, University Professor and Executive Director, Liberty and Law Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Edward Casmere, Partner, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP
Jeffrey S. Parker, Professor of Law (Retired), George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Thomas Sheehan, Partner, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Moderator: Erin O’Hara O’Connor, Dean and McKenzie Professor of Law, Florida State University College of Law
To watch a full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Civil Remedies: Developments in Damages and Nationwide Injunctions to hear a panel discussion on "Issues in Documenting and Calculating Damages:The Debate Over Medical Financing and “Phantom” Damages" featuring:
Nicholas C. Johnson, Of Counsel, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
Drew LaFramboise, Partner, Ashcraft & Gerel
Lee Mickus, Partner, Evans Fears & Schuttert LLP
Caitlin F. Saladrigas, Partner, Holland & Knight
Moderator: William C. Mims, Justice, Virginia Supreme Court
To watch a full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Civil Remedies: Developments in Damages and Nationwide Injunctions to hear a panel discussion on "The Controversy over Trends in High Damage Awards: A Discussion on Causes and Consequences" featuring:
David Ball, Trial Consultant, Malekpour & Ball Litigation Strategy
Mark A. Behrens, Co-Chair, Public Policy Practice Group, Shook Hardy & Bacon
John H. Beisner, Partner, Litigation, Mass Torts, Insurance, and Consumer Litigation
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Laura Frank Sedrish, Partner, Jacoby & Meyers
Moderator: Brock A. Swartzle, Judge, Michigan Court of Appeals
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Civil Remedies: Developments in Damages and Nationwide Injunctions to hear a panel discussion on "Developments in Punitive Damages" featuring:
Eric D. Holland, Owner and Partner, Holland Law Firm, LLC
Evan M. Tager, Partner, Mayer Brown
W. Kip Viscusi, University Distinguished Professor of Law, Economics, and Management and Co-Director, PhD Program in Law and Economics, Vanderbilt Law School
Navan Ward, Principal, Beasley Allen
Moderator: Harris L Hartz, Circuit Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Civil Remedies: Developments in Damages and Nationwide Injunctions to hear a panel discussion on "An Update on the Ongoing Debate over Nationwide Injunctions, Especially with a Change in Presidential Administration" featuring:
Samuel L. Bray, Professor of Law, The Notre Dame University Law School
Scott A. Keller, Former Solicitor General
State of Texas (2015-2018)
Amy Marshak, Senior Counsel, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Michael T. Morley, Associate Professor, Florida State University College of Law
Moderator: Trevor N. McFadden, District Judge, US District Court for the District of Columbia
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Pharmaceutical Regulation: Emerging Issues to hear a panel discussion on "Emerging State Interventions in Patent Settlements and Other Intellectual Property Matters Affecting Pharmaceuticals" featuring:
Adam Mossoff, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
David Reichenberg, Co-Chair, Antitrust, Cozen O’Connor
Richard Samp, Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Melissa Feeney Wasserman, Charles Tilford McCormick Professor of Law, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Pharmaceutical Regulation: Emerging Issues to hear a panel discussion on "Federal Efforts to Control Pharmaceutical Prices" featuring:
James W. Kim, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
William Padula, Fellow, University of Southern California Schaeffer Center and Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, University of Southern California School of Pharmacy
Serra J. Schlanger, Director, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara PC
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Pharmaceutical Regulation: Emerging Issues to hear a panel discussion on "State Price Controls for Pharmaceutical Products" featuring:
Kirsten Axelsen, Senior Policy Advisor, DLA Piper and Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Sarah Kaminer Bourland, RN, BSN, MPH Legislative Director, Patients for Affordable Drugs
Peter Maybarduk, Director, Public Citizen
Steven Horwitz, Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise and Director, Institute for the Study of Political Economy, Ball State University
To watch the full video recording of the panel discussion, click here.
Listen in to the LEC's virtual Symposium on the Economics and Law of Pharmaceutical Regulation: Emerging Issues to hear from Kenneth I. Kaitin, Senior Fellow and former Director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development at Tufts University School of Medicine.
To watch the full video recording of Professor Kaitin's Lecture, click here.
Today’s episode of The Marketplace of Ideas brings you a conversation between two of the leading minds in the academy on cost-benefit analysis.
Caroline Cecot is an Assistant Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. She teaches administrative law, environmental law, and torts. Professor Cecot has published widely in leading journals, and is a co-author of the casebook Environmental Law and Policy, 4th Ed. (Foundation Press, 2019).
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Cecot was a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Law and Economics at Vanderbilt Law School and clerked for the Honorable Raymond J. Lohier, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She was also a Legal Fellow at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Professor Cecot is an affiliated scholar at the Atlantic Council, the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, the Institute for Policy Integrity, and the Technology Policy Institute. She also regularly serves as an instructor in Law & Economics Center educational programming. She currently serves on the US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board’s Economic Guidelines Review Panel.
Professor Cecot earned an AB degree, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College, a JD from Vanderbilt Law School, and a PhD in law and economics from Vanderbilt University. During her graduate studies, she received the Robert F. Jackson Prize and the Archie B. Martin Memorial Prize for her grades; and she was elected to Order of the Coif.
Click here to read Professor Cecot’s recent article, and the focal point for today’s episode, on “Deregulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis and Regulatory Stability.”
Michael A. Livermore is the Edward F. Howrey Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. He teaches environmental law, administrative law, regulatory law and policy, and advanced seminars on these topics. Professor Livermore is a leading expert on the use of cost-benefit analysis to evaluate regulation, and has published widely in leading journals. He is the co-author of Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health (Oxford University Press, 2020) and Retaking Rationality: How Cost-Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health (Oxford University Press, 2008). He is also the co-editor of The Globalization of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Environmental Policy (Oxford University Press, 2013). Prior to joining the faculty, Livermore was the founding executive director of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law.
Livermore earned his JD magna cum laude from NYU Law, where he was a Furman Scholar, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and served as a managing editor of the Law Review. After law school, he spent a year as a fellow at NYU Law's Center on Environmental and Land Use Law before clerking for Judge Harry T. Edwards on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Professor Livermore is also Professor Livermore is a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Click here to read Professor Livermore’s new book with Richard L. Revesz on “Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health.”
Links
Caroline Cecot, Deregulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis and Regulatory Stability, 68 Duke L.J. 1593 (2019), https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol68/iss8/2
Michael A. Livermore and Richard L. Revesz, Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health, Oxford University Press (2020), https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780197539446.001.0001/oso-9780197539446
Listen in to the twelfth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
John H. Beisner, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Robert S. Peck, Founder and President, Center for Constitutional Litigation
Kalpana Srinivasan, Managing Partner, Susman Godfrey LLP
Moderator: Sarah E. Pitlyk, Judge, US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Listen in to the eleventh panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
James C. Cooper, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Katherine E. Charonko, Partner, Bailey & Glasser LLP
William C. MacLeod, Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Alastair Mactaggart, Board Chair and Founder, Californians for Consumer Privacy
Moderator: Jennifer Choe-Groves, Judge, US Court of International Trade
Listen in to the tenth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Phil Goldberg, Managing Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Jonathan D. Orent, Partner, Motley Rice LLC
Aimee H. Wagstaff, Partner, Andrus Wagstaff PC
Rebecca K. Wood, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Moderator: The Honorable Robert J. Colville, Judge, US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Listen in to the ninth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Alex Dahl, Founder & CEO, Strategic Policy Counsel, PLLC
David Faigman, Chancellor & Dean; John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of Law, San Francisco
Mark Spottswood, Associate Professor, Florida State University College of Law
Melissa Whitney, Of Counsel, DLA Piper
Moderator: Wendy Williams Berger, Judge, US District Court for the Middle District of Florida
In today’s episode of The Marketplace of Ideas, Donald Kochan sits down with Chris Slobogin, the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Law and Director of the Criminal Justice Program at Vanderbilt Law School, and Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, to discuss Professor Slobogin’s recent monograph titled “A Primer on Risk Assessment: Instruments for Legal Decision-Makers.”
To read and download the primer, click here.
Chris Slobogin has authored more than 100 articles, books and chapters on topics relating to criminal law and procedure, mental health law and evidence. Named director of Vanderbilt Law School’s Criminal Justice Program in 2009, Professor Slobogin is one of the five most cited criminal law and procedure law professors in the country over the past five years, according to the Leiter Report, and one of the top fifty most cited law professors overall from 2005-2015, according to Hein Online. Particularly influential has been his work on the Fourth Amendment and technology and his writing on mental disability and criminal law, appearing in books published by the University of Chicago, Harvard University and Oxford University presses and in journals such as the Chicago Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Northwestern Law Review, Pennsylvania Law Review, Stanford Law Review and Virginia Law Review. Professor Slobogin has served as reporter for three American Bar Association task forces (on Law Enforcement and Technology; the Insanity Defense; and Mental Disability and the Death Penalty) and as chair of both the ABA’s task force charged with revising the Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards and the ABA’s Florida Assessment team for the Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. He is currently an Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute's Principles of Police Investigation Project.
In recognition for his work in mental health law, in 2016 Professor Slobogin received both the American Board of Forensic Psychology's Distinguished Contribution Award and the American Psychology-Law Society’s Distinguished Contribution of Psychology and Law Award; only a total of five law professors have received either of these awards in their thirty-year history, and none has received both awards. Before joining Vanderbilt's law faculty, Professor Slobogin held the Stephen C. O'Connell chair at the University of Florida's Fredric G. Levin College of Law. Professor Slobogin holds a secondary appointment as a professor in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry.
Listen in to the eighth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Ashley Keller, Partner, Keller Lenkner LLC
Gretchen Lowe, Partner, Westfleet Advisors
Rustin Silverstein, President & Founder, X Ante
Quentin F. Urquhart Jr., Partner, Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore LLC
Moderator: Maryellen Noreika, Judge, US District Court for the District of Delaware
Listen in to the seventh panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Terry L. Anderson, John and Jean De Nault Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Christopher E. Appel, Of Counsel, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Professor of Law & Director of Indigenous Law & Policy Center, Michigan State University College of Law
Carolyn Kuhl, Judge, Los Angeles County Superior Court
Moderator: Trevor N. McFadden, Judge, US District Court for the District of Columbia
Listen in to the sixth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Lee Mickus, Partner, Evan Fears & Schuttert LLP
Caitlin F. Saladrigas, Associate, Holland & Knight LLP
Meghan R. McMeel, Partner, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP
Moderator: Sabrina S. McKenna, Justice, Supreme Court of Hawaii
Listen in to the fifth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law
Jeremy K. Robinson, Partner, Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP
Jamie Susskind, Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Consumer Technology Association
Rachel Weintraub, Legislative Director and General Counsel, Consumer Federation of America
Moderator: J. Campbell (“Cam”) Barker, Judge, US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Listen in to the fourth panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Betsy Grey, Jack E. Brown Chair of Law, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Timothy D. Lytton, Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development; Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law
Daniel B. Rodriguez, Harold Washington Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Cary Silverman, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Moderator: Chad Readler, Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Listen in to the third panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Trevor S. Cox, Counsel, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
John Culhane, Professor of Law and H. Albert Young Fellow in Constitutional Law, Widener University Delaware Law School
Walter Olson, Senior Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Moderator: David J. Porter, Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Listen to today's episode of The Marketplace of Ideas to hear Robert Jerry, Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor Emeritus of Law at University of Missouri School of Law, and David Hyman, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Health Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, discuss Professor Jerry's recent article on "COVID-19: Responsibility and Accountability in a World of Rationing" in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences.
Robert H. Jerry, II is the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor of Law-Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law. From 1998 to 2003, he held the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professorship at the University of Missouri School of Law. From 2003 to 2014, he served as dean of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he also held the Levin Mabie and Levin Professorship (through 2015). He returned to MU Law as the Isidor Loeb Professor of Law in 2015, a position he held until his retirement on September 1, 2019 as the Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor-Emeritus. At the University of Missouri School of Law, he has been affiliated with the Center for Dispute Resolution as a Senior Fellow since 2003. As an emeritus faculty member, he maintains an active research agenda. He received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a member of the Michigan Law Review, and his undergraduate degree from Indiana State University.
Dr. David Hyman focuses his research and writing on the regulation and financing of health care. He teaches or has taught health care regulation, civil procedure, insurance, medical malpractice, law & economics, professional responsibility, and tax policy. He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles in leading legal and medical journals, and several books including Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care published by the Cato Institute in 2018 and co-authored with Charles Silver, and the Economics of Health Law published by Edward Elgar in 2016 and co-authored with Ronen Avraham and Charles Silver. Hyman received his BA, JD and MD from the University of Chicago.
Listen in to the second panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
Drew LaFramboise, Partner, Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP
Victor E. Schwartz, Co-Chair, Public Policy Practice Group, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Moderator: William C. Mims, Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia
Watch the full recordings of each Civil Justice Fest panel here, and follow the Law & Economics Center on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep up with our #12DaysofCivilJustice with posts highlighting each Civil Justice Fest webinar.
Listen in to the first panel of the LEC's Civil Justice Fest, a webinar series held throughout the month of November aimed to help make sense of America's rapidly changing civil justice environment.
This panel discussion featured:
John M. Barkett, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Caitlin G. Coslett, Shareholder, Berger Montague
Leslie M. Kroeger, Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
Nicholas P. Vari, Partner, K&L Gates LLP
Moderator: Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Deputy Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Watch the full recordings of each Civil Justice Fest panel here, and follow the Law & Economics Center on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep up with our #12DaysofCivilJustice with posts highlighting each Civil Justice Fest webinar.
On September 17, the LEC held a co-sponsored webinar with Indiana University Bloomington’s Maurer School of Law on two new books that critically examine new ideas about migration, secession, and political freedom.
Professor of Law at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Ilya Somin, argues for the expansion of people’s ability to “vote with their feet” across domestic and international boundaries in his book Free to Move. Timothy Waters, Professor of Law and Val Nolan Faculty Fellow at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and Associate Director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy, argues for a radical rethink of the opposition to secession asking in his book Boxing Pandora if secession is dangerous, or a pathway to stability?
Tune in to this episode of The Marketplace of Ideas to hear both authors present their arguments, and Professor Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair and Professor of Government at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, comment on both books.
Digital educational technology (“edtech”) has grown to become a core component of education. Most students use computers or tablets during school, and teachers routinely incorporate videos, apps, and other web-based content into their lesson plans.
Listen in to today’s episode to hear a panel discussion on the findings of a new report by James Cooper, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Economics & Privacy at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.
The new report, titled “Elementary School Teacher Use of EdTech,” sheds light on the frequency and types of edtech used in the classroom, as well as the relationship between privacy training, edtech guidelines or state student privacy laws with the willingness to use edtech.
Please click here to read a copy of James Cooper’s report.
Click here to read the Executive Summary of the report.
Listen in to a new episode of The Marketplace of Ideas to hear a view from the Department of Justice with Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark.
In today’s episode, Deputy Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center, Donald Kochan, sits down with Jeffrey Bossert Clark to discuss the role that law and economics, including public choice, has had in his role at the Department of Justice and across his career.
Jeffrey Bossert Clark began serving as Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division on September 5, 2020. Mr. Clark also is the Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), a position to which he was confirmed in October 2018. Prior to his confirmation as Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Clark was a partner with the international law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP in its Washington, DC office. During his time at the firm, he practiced in diverse areas of law, ranging from environmental to antitrust.
From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Clark served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General within ENRD. In that role, he oversaw ENRD’s Appellate Section and the Indian Resources Section, where he reviewed, edited, and contributed to virtually every brief that ENRD filed in the Courts of Appeals, including several cases of exceptional significance that he personally briefed and argued. During his time in ENRD, Mr. Clark also worked on all environmental or natural resource cases argued in front of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Clark received his bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Harvard University and earned a master’s degree in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware. He obtained his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an editor for the Georgetown Law Journal. Mr. Clark has taught classes as an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School. From 2012 to 2015, he served as an elected member of the Governing Council of the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law Section.
For additional information, see: (1) "Using Supplemental Environmental Projects (“SEPs”) in Settlements with State and Local Governments," Memorandum from Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Assistant Attorney General, to ENRD Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals and Chiefs of the Environmental Enforcement, Environmental Defense, Environmental Crimes, Natural Resources, and Wildlife & Marine Resources Sections, Aug. 19, 2019, available at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/page/file/1197056/download.
(2) "Supplemental Environmental Projects ("SEPs") in Civil Settlements with Private Defendants," Memorandum from Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Assistant Attorney General, to ENRD Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals and Section Chiefs, March 12, 2020, available at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/page/file/1257901/download.
Should privacy be a goal of antitrust? To what extent do firms compete over privacy? And how does privacy regulation impact competition?
Tune in to today’s episode from a co-sponsored event from July 22, 2020 with the Global Antitrust Institute at Scalia Law to hear panelists address these questions.
On Thursday, July 23 the Law & Economics Center hosted a panel discussion titled, “US Supreme Court Roundup: Civil Justice and Other Economics-Related Issues from the 2019-2020 Term.” Listen in as our panel of experts provide analysis on some of the most important decisions released by the Court across its past term from the LEC’s recent “US Supreme Court Roundup” webinar.
Our panel focused particularly on cases that are most relevant for the future of civil justice, those to which economic analysis was most influential, and those from which we should expect the greatest economic impact.
In the face of new digital technologies, including the cloud and mobile devices, are the EU and the US so different in their competition laws? Whose influence has reached farther across other foreign jurisdictions, and how high are the stakes?
Listen in to hear the lively discussion between Cristina Cafarra, Vice President and Head of European Competition Practice at Charles River Associates; James Cooper, Associate Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School and Director of the Program on Economics & Privacy; Jan Rybnicek, Counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; and Hal Singer, Managing Director of Econ One Research and Senior Fellow at George Washington Institute for Public Policy.
On July 2nd, James Cooper, Director of the LEC’s Program on Economics and Privacy interviewed FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips.
Listen is as Cooper and Phillips discuss a range of issues currently facing the Federal Trade Commission, including the FTC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to the intersection between privacy and antitrust.
As states begin to reopen, both businesses and consumers face uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19 and its effect on daily life.
In this new era, should laws be drafted that limit or expand rules of tort liability in order to address the unique risks of operating business during a public health crisis?
In our June 2020 webinar co-sponsored with Scalia Law’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State panelists delve into questions regarding tort liability for businesses during COVID-19.
Join us for this episode of The Marketplace of Ideas as we take you back to our October Symposium on the Law & Economics of Marijuana Legalization to hear George Mason University Professor of Law Sean O’Connor discuss the “Fundamentals of the Marijuana Economy.”
Listen in as O’Connor lays a technical framework for the Symposium, reviews the current state of cannabis regulation, and delves into the complexities of balancing health and safety while allowing for innovation within this new, regulated industry.
This past February, panelists at the George Mason Law Review’s Twenty-Third Annual Antitrust Symposium explored the robust debate surrounding the direction of antitrust law.
Bernard Nigro, Jr, Deputy Assistant General for the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice delivered the opening remarks for the Symposium.
Tune in to today’s episode to hear his remarks, and learn how the words of Wayne Gretzky can help us determine what the future of competition enforcement should look like.
As states re-open and the desire to resume ‘normal life’ grows, the issues surrounding privacy in a COVID-19 world have become increasingly salient.
Most experts agree that some form of contact tracing will be necessary to safely reopen the economy, in the absence of a vaccine.
Listen in as experts from our May 14th webinar on “Balancing Privacy and Public Health in the COVID-19 Era” discuss the legitimate privacy concerns concerning these solutions and offer guidance for policymakers.
Is European Union privacy regulation being exported to the United States? How is data a commercial good? And what lessons should US policymakers draw from the EU experience?
In this episode of The Marketplace of Ideas, hear Federal Trade Commissioner Noah Philips address these questions and more in his keynote from our Program on Economics & Privacy briefing held in December 2019 in Washington, DC.
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In our last episode you heard panelists from our 2019 Symposium on the Law & Economics of Marijuana Legalization discuss the challenges of an industry that is decriminalized within a state, but not at the federal level.
This episode of The Marketplace of Ideas brings you a mock oral argument from the same 2019 Symposium.
Listen in as David A. Lopez, former Deputy Solicitor General for the Office of the Attorney General of Nebraska and Chief Deputy Attorney General and Fred Yarger, former Solicitor General of Colorado, argue the Nebraska and Oklahoma vs. Colorado Supreme Court case that never was. Following their remarks, comments from a judicial panel include The Honorable Steven Grasz, The Honorable Ryan Nelson, and The Honorable James Worthen.
On November 6, 2012 Colorado Amendment 64 passed and the Constitution of the state of Colorado was subsequently amended to outline a statewide drug policy for cannabis.
Over the past two decades, more than thirty states have legalized though the drug remains classified as a Schedule 1 drug under federal law.
Join us for this episode of The Marketplace of Ideas taken from the Law & Economics Center’s October 2019 Symposium on the Law & Economics of Marijuana Legalization, and listen in as panelists discuss the issues and challenges arising within an industry that is decriminalized within a state, but not at the federal level.
Panelists include:
James Henning, Commander, Denver Police Department; Sam Kamin, Vicente Sederberg Professor of Marijuana Law and Policy, University of Denver Sturm College of Law; Theshia Naidoo, Legal Director of Criminal Justice, Drug Policy Alliance and The Honorable Paula A. Nakayama, Associate Justice, Hawai'i Supreme Court
With no uniform federal policy in place, some states have begun searching for their own solutions to the common threat data breaches pose. On January 1, 2020 California passed the Consumer Privacy Act to provide statutory damages for individuals whose information has been compromised.
Listen in as Andrew Friedman, Elizabeth Canter, and Peter Davidson discuss the impact of this new California law on data security, and what the future may hold for consumers and the companies that are handling their data.
Episode 4 of The Marketplace of Ideas features a discussion between FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra and Scalia Law Professor Joshua D. Wright during the George Mason Law Review’s Twenty-Third Annual Antitrust Symposium in February 2020.
From the FTC’s Facebook settlement, to how the FTC ‘missed’ the 2008 mortgage crisis, Chopra and Wright delve into the broad range of complex issues facing the FTC today.
From our December Congressional Civil Justice Academy briefing on big tech, antitrust and privacy, Episode Three of "The Marketplace of Ideas" will answer the question: how big is too big?
The largest online communication, entertainment, and social media platforms have come under increasing regulatory scrutiny for intruding too much into user privacy, skewing the content viewers see, and wielding too much market power.
The FTC and Department of Justice have both announced they are investigating major tech platforms for potential antitrust violations. Congress is considering a range of legislative proposals that would address concerns over privacy, competition, political bias, and tech addiction.
Listen to our panelists John Yun, Charlotte Slaiman, Bruce Hoffman and moderator James Cooper, Director of the Program on Economics and Privacy at Scalia Law, as they discuss claims that big technology firms are too big and debate what, if anything, to do about it.
Scalia Law’s Journal of Law, Economics and Policy sponsored its 16th Annual Symposium on November 8, 2019. Ardine Williams, Vice President of Workforce Development for Amazon delivered the keynote address. Williams will lead the company’s hiring of almost 25,000 new employees to staff Amazon’s new HQ2 -- soon to be located in Arlington, Virginia.
Listen in as she shares Amazon’s vision for the future of employment and education within the digital economy, addresses advancement opportunities for workers in fulfillment centers, discusses wage stagnation, as well as, the challenges of the gig economy and the threat of automation to the job market.
At a September 2019 symposium on consumer protection, the Law & Economics Center hosted a panel of leading experts who discussed and debated the Federal Trade Commission’s approach to privacy regulation.
Has the Commission taken the right approach on privacy regulation? Should it take a stricter approach, as the European Union has done? Or would more flexibility be better? Listen in as the panelists discussed the FTC’s approach and debated alternatives.