News

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Cecelia Tecu — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:24:22 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Cecelia Tecu Mon, 01/12/2026 - 11:24

Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Faculty Publications

Ann Lipton, The Legitimation of Shareholder Primacy, 51 J. Corp. L. 83 (2025).

Jennifer Hendricks, Being Pregnant in Someone Else's Body, 20 FIU L. Rev. 598 (2025).

T. Markus Funk (Colorado Law adjunct), Freedom vs. Dignity: What U.S. and German Defamation Law Protect (and What They Sacrifice), SSRN.com (Dec. 8, 2025).

Media Mentions

[Chris Winter, GWC], Bobby Magill, Interior to Spend Holidays Studying Refuges for Possible Closure, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 22, 2025).

Caroline Llanes, Drought Conditions on the Colorado River are Getting Worse Because of Climate Change. How Will Leaders Respond in 2026?, KUNC (Dec. 31, 2025).

Caroline Llanes, 2025 Brought Big Changes for Public Lands and Environmental Regulations. Could 2026 Bring More?, KUNC (Jan. 4, 2026).

Bobby Magill, Alaska Seeks Control of Waters on Federally Protected Lands, Bloomberg Law (Jan. 6, 2026).

Mark Squillace & Cody Perry, Cmmon Waters: Inside the Fight for Stream Access in Colorado, Center for Western Priorities's the Landscape podcast (Dec. 18, 2025).

Shanna Lewis, The Search is on For Valuable Minerals in Southern Colorado, Here's What Happens if they are Found Under Your Land, Colorado Public Radio (Dec. 29, 2025).

[Govind Persad], 2025 Greenwall Foundation Year in Review, Greenwall Foundation (Dec. 2025).

Hannah Albarazi, Drugmakers Fight Multifront Legal Battles over GLP-1s, Law360 (Jan. 6, 2026)(access through Lexis here).

[Ann Lipton], Maria Aspan, How President Trump Reshaped Capitalism in 2025, NPR (Dec. 22, 2025).

Jeff Feeley, Sabrina Willmer, & Jennifer Kay, Musk 2018 Pay Plan Reinstated After 7-Year Legal Fight, Bloomberg News (Dec. 19, 2025).

Jennifer Kay, Delaware Looks to Future Without Musk as Blue Bell Trial Looms, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 24, 2025).

Jeff Montgomery, Top Delaware Chancery Cases and Trends to Watch in 2026, Law360 (Jan. 2, 2026).

Martina Barash & Gillian R. Brassil, Investor Arbitration, Class Status, AI, Shake Up Securities Bar, Bloomberg Law (Jan. 2, 2026).

Professor Ann Lipton on the State of Corporate Governance, Bloomberg's ESG Currents (Jan. 7, 2026).

Gillian R. Brassil, Zillow Investor Class Rehearing Denial Spurs High Court Question, Bloomberg Law (Jan. 7, 2026).

[Doug Kenney, GWC], Alan Gionet, New Report Paints Grim Picture of Water Use Problems with the Colorado River, CBS News (Dec. 21, 2025).

Caroline Llanes, Drought Conditions on the Colorado River are Getting Worse Because of Climate Change. How Will Leaders Respond in 2026?, KUNC (Dec. 31, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], Hamed Aleaziz, Stephen Miller Cites Children of Immigrants as a Problem, NY Times (Dec. 23, 2025).

[Rebecca Ciota], Ryan Warner, Jan. 7, 2026: History of CU's First Black Law Students, Colorado Public Radio (Jan. 7, 2026)(from 10:53 through 19:54).

[Violeta Chapin], Angeline McCall, Trump Administration Halts Green Card Process for 19 Countries, Issuing Additional Vetting, 9 News Denver (Dec. 22, 2025).

[Kristen Carpenter], Tom Hamburger, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Native American Senator, Dies at 92, Washington Post (Dec. 30, 2025).

[Paul Campos], Michael Hiltzik, Here's How Trump Gets Away With Using Questionable Numbers, LA Times (Dec. 19, 2025).

[University of Colorado Law's Criminal Defense Clinic], Dan Slepian & Mike Hixenbaugh, How Rob and Michele Reiner Formed a Remarkable Bond with a Texas Man Once Sentenced to Death, NBC News (Jan. 5, 2026).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Sloan Speck, TaxProf Blog posts available here.

Andrew Schwartz, How Elon Musk Won Back His Tesla Competition, Columbia Law School's Blue Sky Blog (Dec. 22, 2025).

[Scott Skinner Thompson], Top Contributor Essays of 2025, The Regulatory Review (Dec. 29, 2025)(Skinner-Thompson's Correcting the Common Sense of "Biological Sex").

Govind Persad (panelist), Innovation vs. Access? The Legal, Ethical, and Economic Dimensions of U.S. Drug Pricing, Silicon Flatirons, the Daniels Fund, & Davis Graham (upcoming Jan. 15, 2025).

Melanie Kay (moderator), Innovation vs. Access? The Legal, Ethical, and Economic Dimensions of U.S. Drug Pricing, Silicon Flatirons, the Daniels Fund, & Davis Graham (upcoming Jan. 15, 2025).

Ann Lipton, Business Law Prof Blog, blog posts available here.

What Activists are Doing Right Now, (Dec. 10, 2025), & Tesla, Activist Board Nominees (Jan. 7, 2025) Shareholder Primacy (with Mike Levin, Apple podcasts link).

[Laura Dolbow], Top Contributor Essays of 2025, The Regulatory Review (Dec. 29, 2025)(Dolbow's Recent E-Cigarette Decision Leaves Unanswered Questions).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money, blog posts available here.

[Getches-Wilkinson Center's Water Law Fellow Daniel Anderson], Colorado River Continues to Bring Unlikely Parties Together at CRWUA, Colorado Law (Dec. 29, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Media Mentions and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 15:45:23 +0000

ICYMI: Media Mentions and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Tue, 01/06/2026 - 08:45

Media Mentions

[Ann Lipton], 'A Whole Sequence of Attacks': White House Increases Heat on Proxy Advisors with New Executive Order, Law.com (Dec. 12, 2025)(Lexis login required).

T. Markus Funk [Colorado Adjunct] and Hope Anderson, Courts Navigating AI Defamation Opens Legal Risks for Companies (Bloomberg Law, Dec. 17, 2025).

[Violeta Chapin]. Elizabeth Hernandez, Kids Left Without Representation in Colorado Immigration Court After Federal Funding Cuts, Denver Post (Dec. 15, 2025).

[GWC's Colorado River Research Group], Jasmine Laws, Lake Mead Warnings Issued by Multiple Experts, Newsweek (Dec. 15, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Sloan Speck, TaxProf Blog posts available here.

[Pierre Schlag], Yussef Al Tamimi & Kerttuli Lingenfelter, International Law's Problem of Evil, EJIL Talk! Blog of the European J. Int'l L. (Dec. 16, 2025).

Ann Lipton, Business Law Prof Blog, blog posts available here.

2026 Predictions with Matt Moscardi & Damion Rallis of the Proxy Countdown Podcast, Shareholder Primacy (Dec. 17, 2025)(with Mike Levin, Apple podcasts link).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money, blog posts available here.

[Dan Anderson, Water Law Fellow], The Shoshone Instream Flow Acquisition: Public Process Carves a Path Forward, GWC (Dec. 15, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 19:06:32 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 12/15/2025 - 12:06

Faculty Publications

Michael Pappas, Sally Richardson, and Peter Gerhart, Property: Principles, Values, and Tradoffs (1st ed., American Casebook Series, 2025).

Prof. Emeritus Susan Nevelow Mart & Tom O'Brien, eds., Legal Research Unbound: A Comic (2025).

Media Mentions

[Doug Spencer], Nick Coltrain, President Trump Claims to Pardon Tina Peters--A Power He Does Not Have, Experts Say, Denver Post (Dec. 11, 2025).

[Ann Lipton], Sujeet Indap, Alexandra White, & Patrick Temple-West, Donald Trump Drives Historic Shift of Power From Investors to Boardrooms, Financial Times (Dec. 8, 2025)

Sujeet Indap, Ructions Test Delaware's Primacy as Favored State of Incorporation in US, Financial Times (Dec. 8, 2025)(get direct access to the Financial Times through your CU email).

Jennifer A. Dlouhy & Leah Nylen, Trump's Warner Bros. Meddling Pushes Limits of Executive Power, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 11, 2025).

Maryam Jamshidi, CU Law Professor Discusses Law Used to Justify Venezualan Boat Strikes, 9News (Dec. 5, 2025).

Jessica Porter, Experts Say The Legal Justification for US Military Boat Strikes in Caribbean, Pacific, is Murky, Denver 7 (Dec. 5, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram]. Shannon Ogden, Colorado Legal Scholar Weighs in on SCOTUS Taking up Birthright Citizenship Case, Denver 7 (Dec. 10, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Sloan Speck, TaxProf Blog posts available here, including Speck Reviews Belnap, Hoopes, & Hadfied's Does Voluntary Private Tax Disclosure Reduce IRS Audit Risk? (Dec. 5, 2025).

Ann Lipton, Business Law Prof Blog, blog posts available here.

What Activists are Doing Right Now,Shareholder Primacy (Dec. 10, 2025)(with Mike Levin, Apple podcasts link).

Ann Lipton (with Jill Fisch, Sarah Haan, & Amelia Miazad), Stockholder Proposals: Law and Policy Considerations, Harv. L. School Forum on Corporate Governance (Dec. 9, 2025).

Kristen Carpenter (moderator), UN Declaration in Action: International and Domestic Strategies to Protect the Apache Sacred Site of Oak Flat, The Implementation Project (upcoming, Dec. 16)(Register for the Zoom link here).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money, blog posts available here.

[Getches-Wilkinson Center's Colorado River Research Group], Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing with Deadpool, Colorado Law (Dec. 3, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

STUDENT ORG SPOTLIGHT - Finance and Tax Law Association

Cecelia Tecu — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:02:26 +0000

STUDENT ORG SPOTLIGHT - Finance and Tax Law Association Cecelia Tecu Mon, 12/08/2025 - 09:02

Cecelia Tecu

Colorado Law is home to nearly 50 active student organizations. These organizations empower law students to increase their knowledge, gain leadership experience, network, and collaborate with the legal community—all while building connections with classmates that will last throughout their careers and beyond.

In this series, we are highlighting extraordinary organizations run by Colorado Law students.

Meet the Finance and Tax Law Association (FTLA) at Colorado Law.

FTLA Co-President Natalie Phillips ’26 and Vice President Anona Striker ’26 shared their insights into this new student organization.

“We had the idea for it [the organization] in spring 2025, when Anona and I had a class together,” Phillips said. “This is our inaugural semester.”

FTLA was approved by the Student Bar Association for the fall of 2025. Alongside Phillips and Striker, the Executive Board is composed of Co-President Johnathan Khoriaty ’26, Secretary Nick Haggestad ’26, Treasurer Tyson Agla ’26, SBA Representative Trent Dawe ’28, and Program Director Xandra Gonzales ’27. Professor Sloan Speck, Professor Nadav Orian Peer, Professor Amanda Parsons and Professor Rabea Benhalim are the faculty advisors.

The primary goal of the FTLA is to get students introduced and exposed to the areas of bankruptcy, tax law, consumer and corporate finance, and securities. As these areas are not always covered in law school courses, particularly in 1L year, Phillips and the other board members aim to introduce these areas of study to their peers early on.

“We want to show future employers that these students have an interest in finance and tax law beyond their transcript, and help get them connected with attorneys that are actively practicing in the area,” Phillips said.

FTLA hosts a variety of events to help members reach their academic and professional goals. These include networking opportunities, panels, listening events, and academic guidance. One recent listening event featured Supreme Court arguments of Learning Resources v. Trump. FTLA gathered early in the morning to listen and discuss the specifics of this case.

“We discussed whether or not the wide sweeping tariffs were legal,” said Phillips. “We had a surprisingly great turnout, especially for it being an 8 a.m. event.”

FTLA aims to help students find their unique path within the areas of bankruptcy, securities, and tax law. With assistance from board members and those in the profession, students are exposed to various opportunities and insights in this field.

“Bankruptcy, securities and tax are highly specialized areas. We are getting people exposed to different classes that help them in their career, and connecting them with different focus areas,” Phillips said.

Despite just getting started, FTLA has over 60 members, many of whom are in their 1L and 2L years. The executive board is excited to see how much FTLA can grow, even after the board members graduate from Colorado Law this spring. Because of the organization’s size, they received school funding to attend the 2026 Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition in New York City. The team competed in the 2025 Competition as well.

“The association provides opportunities for students that would be hard for them to find without it,” Striker shared. “It’s an incredible way to build professional skills, while also gaining the background knowledge to enter into these disciplines.”

To get involved with FTLA, students can email ftla@colorado.edu.

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Cecelia Tecu — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:49:49 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Cecelia Tecu Mon, 12/08/2025 - 08:49

Faculty Publications

Michael Whitlow, Evaluating Decisis: A Free Resource for CBA Members, Colorado Lawyer 16 (Dec. 2025).

Govind Persad, Ethical Issues in Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, in Disease Control Priorities 4: Investing in Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response 427 (Ole Norheim et al. eds., 2025).

Siddhanth Sharma, Stefano M. Bertozzi, Victoria Y. Fan, Dean T. Jamison, Ole F. Norheim, Hitoshi Oshitani, Brett N. Archer, Till Bärnighausen, David E. Bloom, Donald A. P. Bundy, Simiao Chen, Maddalena Ferranna, Rachel Glennerster, Julian Jamison, Sun Kim, Nita K. Madhav, Jonna Mazet, Ben Oppenheim, Govind Persad, John Rose, Linda Schultz, Gabriel Seidman, David A. Watkins, Bridget Williams, & Muhammad Ali Pate, Responding to Pandemic Risk: What Countries and Regions Can Do Within the Constraints of Limited Global Cooperation and Solidarity, in Disease Control Priorities 4: Investing in Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response 9 (Ole Norheim et al. eds., 2025).

Helen Norton, Suspicion, Deference, and the First Amendment, 6 J. Free Speech L. 641 (2025)(featured on Reason).

James D. Cox, Donald C. Lagevoort, Ann M. Lipton, & Patrick Corrigan, Securities Regulation: Cases and Materials (11th ed., 2025).

Maryam Jamshidi, Securitizing the University, 110 Minn. L. Rev. 301 (2025).

T. Markus Funk [Colorado Law adjunct faculty], Sean Lyons, & Kevin Spencer, Tax Disputes with the IRS Need an Upgrade-- More ADR for Better Tax Administration (added to SSRN Nov. 20, 2025).

Kristen Carpenter & Angela R. Riley, Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Migration, in Oxford Handbook of Economic and Social Rights (2025).

Jonathon Booth, Religious Police Forces with Public Powers, JOTWELL (November 24, 2025) (reviewing Grace Watkins, Piety Police, 134 Yale L.J. 2645 (2025)),

Media Mentions

Chris Winter, We Need Courage to Change Course on the Colorado River, Denver Post (Nov. 22, 2025).

Bobby Magill, Trump Logging Plans Stretch "Emergency" Definition, Suits Claim, Bloomberg Law Dec. 1, 2025).

Bobby Magill, Trump Logging Plan Threatens Centuries-Old Trees, Fuels Lawsuits, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 3, 2025).

[Mark Squillace], Bobby Magill, Congress Risks Chaos on Federal Lands After Tossing Biden Plans, Bloomberg Law (Nov. 26, 2025).

[Doug Spencer], Quentin Young, The Redistricting Debate in Colorado Has Shifted, Colorado Newsline (Nov. 20, 2025).

Isaiah Poritz, Trump Squares Off With San Francisco in Sactuary City Rematch, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 5, 2025).

[Ann Lipton], Tatyana Monnay, et al, Elite Shareholder Suits Firm's Nasty Divorce Comes at Tough Time, Bloomberg Law (Dec. 5, 2025)

[Doug Kenney, GWC], Mark Heinz, Hageman Says California Needs to Get in Gear, Stop Going After Wyoming's Water , Cowboy State Daily (Nov. 21, 2025)

T. Markus Funk [Colorado Law adjunct faculty] & Carolyn Gurland, C-Suite’s Rising Legal Exposure Demands Stronger Safeguards (Bloomberg Law, Nov. 28, 2025)

T. Markus Funk & Hope Anderson, From Hallucinations to Harm: The Defamation Risks Posed By AI Systems (SSRN, November 10, 2025 – Forthcoming in Bloomberg Law)

[Jonathon Booth], Ava Kian, Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Accused Shooter Dies in Custody, Colorado Public Radio (Nov. 25, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

[Chris Winter, GWC], Getches-Wilkinson Center Joins Law Scholars in Defense of Public Lands Rule, CU Boulder Today (Nov. 25, 2025).

[Heidi Todacheene, AIlP] AILP Welomes Heidi Todacheene as a Visiting Practitioner, Colorado Law (Dec. 3, 2025)

Harry Surden made HeinOnline's most cited in Law, Science, & Technology list & most cited in Human Rights Law (Nov. 2025).

Sloan Speck, TaxProf Blog posts available here.

Prof. Emeritus Pierre Schlag made HeinOnline's most cited in Legal Education and Practice & most cited in Economics (Nov. 2025).

Mike Pappas made HeinOnline's most cited in Insurance law (Nov. 2025).

Ann Lipton, Business Law Prof Blog, blog posts available here.

Proxy Advisors and Activism, Shareholder Primacy (Dec. 3, 2025)(with Mike Levin, Apple podcasts link).

Margot Kaminski made HeinOnline's most cited in Law, Science, & Technology; most cited in Tort s; most cited in Property; & most cited in Administrative Law lists (Nov. 2025).

[Dean Inniss], Faculty, Staff, Celebrate Completion of Fourth Floor Renovations, Colorado Law (Dec. 3, 2025).

Deep Gulasekaram made HeinOnline's most cited in Immigration Law (Nov. 2025).

T. Markus Funk, Moderator, Fireside Chat with Chief US District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, White & Case Senior Leader Summit: Overcoming Legal and Business Challenges in a Global Economy (Nov. 19, 2025).

Moderator, Hot Topics in SEC and DOJ Enforcement and Litigation - Chicago (Moderator, Nov. 20, 2025).

Presenter, New DOJ Playbook: Minimizing FCPA Risk | CLE Course (Barbri, Nov. 13, 2025).

Kristen Carpenter made HeinOnline's most cited in Property Law (Nov. 2025).

CNAIS Core Faculty Member, Kristen Carpenter, Named CU Distinguished Professor, Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (Dec. 1, 2025).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money, blog posts available here.

Prof. Emeritus Harold Bruff made HeinOnline's most cited in Administrative Law lists (Nov. 2025).

James Anaya made HeinOnline's most cited in Human Rights Law & most cited in International and Comparative Law (Nov. 2025).

[Korey Wise Innocence Project], Cass Garner's Story Featured at KWIP's Stories of Innocence Gala, Colorado Law (Dec. 1, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

Faculty, Staff Celebrate Completion of Fourth Floor Renovations

Emily Battaglia — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 19:32:27 +0000

Faculty, Staff Celebrate Completion of Fourth Floor Renovations Emily Battaglia Wed, 12/03/2025 - 12:32

Fourth floor flex space

On October 20, faculty and staff convened on the fourth floor for a small celebration in honor of the newly renovated multi-use space. This renovation includes the Colloquium room, a flex space, kitchen, and two rooms available for reservation by faculty and staff. In addition, plenty of comfortable seating and new AV technology have provided significant upgrades to the area.

The need for updating the space was initially recognized by Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss, who noticed that there was no communal gathering space for faculty and staff.

Dean Inniss shared: “When I first arrived at Colorado Law in May 2021—before I formally assumed the deanship—I was seated on the fourth floor among my new colleagues. During breaks and in the in-between moments of the day, it quickly became clear that there was no real gathering space where faculty and staff could come together informally to talk, collaborate, or simply build the everyday relationships that make an academic community strong. That early observation stayed with me, and it underscored the importance of creating a shared environment that supports connection, creativity, and the sense of belonging that our mission demands.”

Faculty and staff are incredibly grateful for the refreshing update and the new collaborative space provided by the renovation. We look forward to the chance to use the space to connect with colleagues, host trainings and events, and build community amongst faculty and staff.

On October 20, faculty and staff convened on the fourth floor for a small celebration in honor of the newly renovated multi-use space.

Off

Traditional

White

AILP Welcomes Heidi Todacheene as Visiting Practitioner

Emily Battaglia — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:05:18 +0000

AILP Welcomes Heidi Todacheene as Visiting Practitioner Emily Battaglia Wed, 12/03/2025 - 09:05

The American Indian Law Program (AILP) at the University of Colorado Law School welcomes Heidi Todacheene as Visiting Practitioner in Residence. Todacheene (Navajo) recently concluded her Presidential appointment as Senior Advisor on Indigenous and international issues to Deb Haaland, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and first Native American to serve as a U.S. cabinet secretary. Todacheene will spend six months with the AILP, from November 2025 to April 2026, mentoring students in professional development, while working with faculty on Indigenous Peoples’ issues, as they arise in tribal, state, federal, and international contexts.

“The AILP is thrilled to host such an accomplished expert in the areas of American Indian and Indigenous Peoples’ law and policy,” said Kristen A. Carpenter, the AILP’s Director. “Ms. Todacheene’s willingness to share insights about work in the federal government, where so much of Indian law practice occurs, presents an incredible learning opportunity for our students and faculty alike.”

During her 2021 to 2025 appointment, Todacheene successfully facilitated U.S. negotiations in the first international treaty for Indigenous Peoples’ intellectual property protections at the United Nations, and oversaw high-level policies and programs implementing legislation she previously drafted in Congress. These efforts included the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and the Not Invisible Act Commission on the missing and murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis, among others. Todacheene also served as the Department’s first Executive Director of the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC) where she oversaw government relations with the 574 federally recognized Tribes.

Previously, Todacheene served in the 116^th U.S. Congress as the Director of the bipartisan Congressional Native American Caucus, and as Legislative Counsel for former Rep. Haaland (NM-01) where she helped secure more than $10 billion in COVID relief for Tribes. She has also worked as an associate judge, civil litigation attorney, at the country’s first state-level cabinet Indian Affairs Department, and for her Tribe, the Navajo Nation.

Todacheene is the first in her family to attend law school, graduating with honors from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C. and New Mexico.

Learn more about Heidi Todacheene in the Q&A below:

What inspired you to pursue a career in Indian law?

HT: In my early 20s, I was the victim of a domestic violence incident that nearly took my life. When the case went to court, I didn’t have the resources to hire an attorney and had to represent myself leaving me in a vulnerable position. Being revictimized in court was one of my worst experiences, but it motivated me to apply to law school a few months later. I was the first person in my family to go to law school, and graduated with honors.

Looking back, I’m thankful for that experience because it gave me deep compassion for the people that my work impacts, especially the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis (MMIP) where victims are often ignored. I know what it’s like to be voiceless in a system that treats you like you don’t matter. I feel very fortunate to have helped draft the victim resources amendments and criminal jurisdiction expansion for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) that the President signed into law in 2022. This is also why I worked so hard on the bipartisan Not Invisible Act legislation in Congress, and the Not Invisible Act Commission at the Interior Department. It shows that we’ve reached a turning point where we have the ability to change outdated laws that perpetuate violence as a step forward towards a fairer system. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s an option that didn’t exist for Indigenous people a few generations ago.

What are you most looking forward to during your time at Colorado Law?

HT: It’s an honor to be invited to partner with AILP as one of the top American Indian law and international Indigenous rights programs in the country. I’m looking forward to working with the dedicated CU faculty who are passionate about their students and the future of federal law and policy. I am most excited to work with students who are interested in pursuing a career in Indian Country and/or international Indigenous issues. Coming from a family that didn’t have legal or political connections, I understand how daunting it can be navigating a career in these sectors. I’m looking forward to passing on my unique experience and lessons learned at the tribal, state, federal and international levels and hopefully serve as a stepping stone to anyone who wants to fight the good fight.

What did you enjoy most while working with Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland?

HT: It was humbling to be selected to lead the Indian Country portfolio for Deb when she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 as one of the first Native American women in Congress, including Sharice Davids. After 230 years, we finally had Native women in the same institution that tried to exterminate us! I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to shape federal Indian and international policies as her Legislative Counsel in Congress and as her Senior Advisor when she made history again in 2021 as the first Native American Cabinet Secretary in U.S. history.

Serving under a historic figure has so many enjoyable moments because you get to witness your community break barriers for the first time, which is rare to witness in two branches of government. But what I enjoyed most during these 6 years was growing legislative seeds in Congress into national initiatives that she championed at the Department of the Interior.

There are two pieces of legislation that I worked especially hard on to draft in Congress that ultimately grew into national movements that I helped implement at the Interior Department included the U.S. Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and the Not Invisible Act Commission addressing the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis. Public service jobs are tough, but when you have these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to uplift underrepresented communities, and work with talented teams of people who personally identify with the cause, it gives you hope that resolving structural inequities is achievable.

There were so many other domestic and international policies that we worked on to advance Indian Country that I can’t name them all. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs Tribal Advisory Committee Act; PROGRESS Act; Native American Business Incubators Program Act; and the Not Invisible Act, were her bills in Congress that the President signed into law then executed after her appointment. Or the Interior tribal co-stewardship initiative, voting registration designations, or even appointee-level Indigenous representation at the United Nations was critical for our international relations.

Serving for Deb over the years showed me how much representation matters. None of this would have happened without Deb Haaland in office to lift up our voices and I am extremely privileged to have been part of teams that cared so deeply in the mission.

Off

Traditional

White

Cass Garner’s Story Featured at KWIP’s Stories of Innocence Gala

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:59:31 +0000

Cass Garner’s Story Featured at KWIP’s Stories of Innocence Gala Emily Battaglia Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:59

In April, the District Court vacated the conviction of Korey Wise Innocence Project client James “Cass” Garner and ordered his immediate release. After 15 long years, Garner is now free—released from Sterling Correctional Facility. He is no longer imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. This past October at KWIP’s Stories of Innocence Gala, attendees had the opportunity to hear Garner’s story in greater detail through a video featuring his children, attorneys Kathleen Lord and Jeanne Segil, and Garner himself. View the full video below.

Garner was wrongfully convicted in connection with a 2009 nonfatal shooting at a local bar—the same night he was there celebrating his birthday. In the initial months after the shooting, none of the three victims (all brothers) identified Garner in photo lineups. But nearly three years later at trial, all three pointed to him in court—a setting that was highly suggestive, especially with Garner being the only man seated at the defense table alongside two female attorneys. To strengthen their case, Lord and Segil brought in nationally recognized experts on human memory and eyewitness identification, both of whom concluded that the trial identifications were unreliable.

Garner has always maintained his innocence. This life-changing outcome was made possible through the work of KWIP attorneys Kathleen Lord and Jeanne Segil with the assistance of Colorado Law students and alumni, including Ileana Jiménez '21, Chrysten Pacheco '27, and Jefferson Caldwell '27. Their case focused on discrediting the unreliable eyewitness identifications that had played a central role in Garner’s conviction.

We invite you to watch the video and learn more about Garner’s story.

This past October at KWIP’s Stories of Innocence Gala, attendees had the opportunity to hear Garner’s story in greater detail through a video featuring his children, attorneys Kathleen Lord and Jeanne Segil, and Garner himself. View the full video below.

Off

Traditional

White

How a Colorado law school dug into its history to celebrate its unsung Black graduates

Cecelia Tecu — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:05:43 +0000

How a Colorado law school dug into its history to celebrate its unsung Black graduates Cecelia Tecu Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:05

Rebecca Ciota

This article was published in The Conversation on November 14, 2025. View the original piece here.

Class portraits line the hallways of the University of Colorado Law School, the faces of former students gazing down at the building’s current inhabitants. In a dimly lit recess in the library hangs the 1899 class portrait. Its year is incorrectly labeled as 1898, and the students are left unnamed.

In the photo, 20 men stand. Only one of them is Black. I can tell you that he was Franklin LaVeale Anderson, a successful Boulder, Colorado businessman and landowner who entered the law school in 1896 as the university’s first known Black student.

But until recently, people working or studying at the university knew little of his story.

It’s not much different for subsequent Black law students, whose names and accomplishments also remain largely unknown to the Colorado Law community. Many of the earliest Black students’ portraits are in the back of the basement. Their accomplishments were known by their families and their communities, but their former law school had done little to record these individuals who are part of its history.

Then, in 2024, inspired by an article published by Boston College Law School, Colorado Law decided to explore its own Black history.

I’m a librarian with more than nine years of professional experience in academic settings – and I never shy away from challenging research questions. I agreed to take on the project.

Searching the archives

Like Anderson, most of the Black alumni prior to 1968 were unknown to current law school staff who were hired after they graduated.

Due to student privacy regulations as well as a lack of demographic data prior to 1970, there is no easy way of identifying all students of a certain ethnic or racial background. So my research project began with those old class portraits hanging throughout the school.

I spent several hours squinting in dark corners and climbing onto study tables to find photographs and record class years. It was an imperfect science: Some of the class photos were missing, and not all students were photographed. In the end, I identified more than 210 Black students who had attended Colorado Law from 1899 to 2024.

Among them was Franklin LaVeale Anderson. A quick internet search yielded his name.

I turned next to the university’s archives, where I pored through yearbooks and boxes of law school papers. In the archives, I read the memo to the Board of Regents recommending the students from the class of 1899 receive the Bachelors of Law degree.

Anderson’s name did not appear on the list. I never did discover why he did not receive his degree.

My visit to the archives brought about invaluable partnerships: One of the archivists, David Hayes, provided me with his unpublished research on marginalized groups at the university. This provided me with important context for what was happening at the university while each individual attended.

I was also put in touch with the interim director of the University of Colorado Heritage Center, Mona Lambrecht, who has identified historical Black students that were not pictured in the class photos, including Colorado Law’s first known Black graduate, Franklin Henry Bryant, a member of the class of 1907. The Heritage Center has also done research on Black students from 1896 through the 1920s.

At this point of the research process, I had many names, biographical information and some context about the presence of marginalized groups at the university. I still needed more biographical information, so I began searching beyond the university.

The search continued

Franklin Henry Bryant earned his law degree from the University of Colorado Law School in 1907. He was the law school’s first known Black graduate and became the third Black attorney to pass the Colorado Bar Exam. Bryant went on to establish a firm in Denver. Courtesy of University of Colorado Law School

First, I collected genealogical information – birth and death dates, marriage certificates and places of residence – from FamilySearch, a subsidiary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I chose FamilySearch because it provides resources similar to the better-known Ancestry.com, but for free.

The genealogical information began to tell a story.

I learned that Anderson, the university’s first known Black student, was born a free person in Missouri in 1859 while slavery was legal in Missouri. He took up barbering while still in Missouri. He moved to Minnesota at the age of 26 and married his first wife there. The couple moved to Boulder in 1892, where they purchased multiple lots in town. Anderson continued his work as a barber. Around 1900, he spent a few years in Fort Morgan and then moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, before settling in Los Angeles. He died there in 1918.

Next, I searched historical newspapers, primarily the Colorado Historic Newspapers collection, in hopes of finding more details about Colorado Law’s Black students. The student newspaper, The Silver & Gold, revealed that Anderson joined his classmates for a party at law professor William A. Murfree’s home.

Clarence Edward Blair earned his law degree from the University of Colorado Law School in 1956 and passed Colorado’s bar exam the same year. Courtesy of the University of Colorado Law School.

Recounting history

Using the information I had gathered, in February 2025, I produced biographies about six of Colorado Law’s Black students from the law school’s beginnings in 1892 and the beginning of affirmative action at the university in 1968.

I continued my research toward the present and published “Uncovering What Was Always There: Black History at Colorado Law in October.

I hope that this research restores Anderson and other historical Black students to Colorado Law’s history. Perhaps, in the years to come, more staff and students at Colorado Law will know the name of the Black student in the 1899 class portrait. They will know he was the first known Black student at the university, and that he was a successful businessman and landowner.

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Cecelia Tecu — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 15:51:08 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Cecelia Tecu Mon, 12/01/2025 - 08:51

Media Mentions

[Harry Surden], Megan Cartwright, Kim Kardashian's Failed Bar Exam Reveals 'Dangerous' Trend, Experts Warn, Newsweek (Nov. 15, 2025).

[Andrew Schwartz], Molly Cruse, A Decade-Old Aurora ICE Detention Center Lawsuit Reaches the Supreme Court, Colorado Public Radio (Nov. 12, 2025)

[Scott Moss], Kate Tornone, Mailbag: Should We Follow EEOC's Lead on Gender Identity Policy?, Industry Dive (Nov. 19, 2025).

[Ann Lipton], Andrew Ross Sorkin, et al, A War on Top Investor Advisors is Growing, NY Times Dealbook (Nov. 13, 2025).

[Dean Inniss], Linden Butrym, Legacy in the Making: Lolita Buckner Inniss, Boulder Lifestyle Magazine (Oct. 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Sloan Speck, TaxProf Blog posts available here, including Speck Reviews Silver's The Tax Insurance Trap (Nov. 14, 2025).

[Amanda Parsons], Andrew D. Appleby, Parsons Presents "Taxing Social Data" Today at Boston College, TaxProf Blog (Nov. 17, 2025).

[Former AAP director Gregor MacGregor], Gretchen Mimekine, Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Gregor MacGregor, �� Outreach and Community Engagement (Nov. 19, 2025).

Ann Lipton, Business Law Prof Blog, blog posts available here.

Corporate Governance Authoritarianism (lecturer), Inaugural Tamar Frankel Lecture Featuring Ann Lipton, Boston University School of Law (upcoming, Nov. 24, 2025).

[Margot Kaminski], Emily Battaglia, Professor Margot Kaminski Named Moses Lasky Professor of Law, Colorado Law (Nov. 17, 2025)

[Rebecca Ciota], Kevin R. Johnson, The Conversation: How a Colorado Law School Dug Into Its History to Celebrate Its Unsung Black Graduates, TaxProf Blog (Nov. 14, 2025).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money, blog posts available here.

Off

Traditional

White