Dicta – NYU Law Magazine

Pro Bono Star

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

Last fall Marshall Camp ’02, a partner at Irell & Manella, argued the first case under California’s Fair Sentencing for Youth Act—and won. As a result, one man who has served 22 years in prison now has the possibility of parole in three years or less.

Signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown in 2012, the act allows those sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as minors the opportunity to apply for a reduced sentence of 25 years to life. Camp, who formerly served as a federal prosecutor, argued for a reduced sentence on behalf of Edel Gonzalez, who participated in a 1991 carjacking resulting in the death of the robbery victim. Although Gonzalez, then age 16, was unarmed during the robbery, he received the same life sentence as the adult offender responsible for pulling the trigger.

Gonzalez “lived a model life in prison, avoiding gangs, drugs, and violence, while taking advantage of educational opportunities and finding religion. I can’t imagine how someone could do that with no realistic prospect of ever getting out,” said Camp in an interview with Super Lawyers.

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Chevron Two-Step

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

Some people study using note cards and outlines. Lewie Briggs ’15 uses song and dance. While a 1L in Professor Adam Cox’s course on Legislation and the Regulatory State, Briggs came up with a rap song about Chevron’s two-step analysis, based on the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The lyrics, Briggs notes, were actually helpful in studying for exams. This year Briggs developed a dance for the song and recruited fellow students to film a music video. The result? A viral video that earned praise from Above the Law and administrative law professors at NYU and beyond.

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Fear of Detection

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

Question: Why are Americans the most compliant taxpayers in the world? Answer: They are afraid of getting caught.

A Bloomberg writer/artist duo used a 2010 Virginia Law Review article by Joshua Blank LLM ’07 and Daniel Levin as the basis of a cartoon published on Tax Day. The strip, “The American Way to Pay,” cites Blank and Levin’s data that shows a flurry of IRS press releases about audits in the weeks before April 15.

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Appointed

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

The White House has tapped Lily Batchelder, professor of law and public policy on leave, as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director at the National Economic Council. No stranger to high-pressure positions, the taxation and social insurance expert was recently part of the Senate Finance Committee’s tax team, advising chairman Max Baucus, who praised her “wide range of experience and expert knowledge of tax and public policy.”

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From Passion to Action

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

Asia Society named Rajeev Goyal ’06 and Winston Wenyan Ma MCJ ’98 two of its 2013-14 Asia 21 Young Leaders, tasked with focusing on solutions to transnational issues facing Asia. They were among 30 leaders under the age of 40.

A rural development activist, Goyal helped build a water pump for a village in Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer, then successfully lobbied Congress to increase funding for the Peace Corps. Now he has founded the Koshi-Tappu Kanchenjunga Biodiversity Education Land Trust Project to build a conservation corridor that protects thousands of species of flora and fauna in eastern Nepal.

Ma, a Chinese national who studied capital markets law as a Hauser Fellow, is managing director of China Investment Corporation, a $575 billion sovereign wealth fund. Ma landed at CIC after successful stints at Davis Polk & Wardwell, JPMorgan, and Barclays Capital. In April, the University bestowed its Distinguished Alumni Award on him.

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The Long Lens on the Law

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

New Yorkers Lawrence Lederman ’66, of counsel at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and former chairman of its global corporate practice (left), and Len Speier ’52, a veteran copyright lawyer, have been getting attention for the more colorful documents they have produced. This year, both lawyer-photographers had solo shows: The Presence of Trees: Photographs by Larry Lederman, an exhibit of landscapes at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Len Speier: A Life in Photography, at Chelsea’s Calumet Gallery.

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Who’s Your Kale Daddy?

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:07 +0000

Studying for the bar can be stressful. Sophie Milrom ’13 sweetened her experience by concocting the perfect study snack: homemade juice-based popsicles. Now an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, Milrom passed the bar. But the JD/MBA grad didn’t let the time spent procrastinating, er, experimenting with recipes, go to waste. Instead, she started Innocent Ice Pops, vegetable and fruit juice-based alternatives to ice cream and other summer treats. Milrom’s pops, now sold at a number of New York City locations, are available in four flavors: Green Juice, Kale Daddy, Topicarrot, and Sweet Beets.

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Change of Venue

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:10:06 +0000

For nine years, the Forum on Law, Culture & Society (folcs.org) has enriched the cultural life of New York City through its lively, public conversations with such luminaries as President Bill Clinton, film director Oliver Stone, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. This fall, the forum moved downtown from Fordham Law School to NYU Law, where it will continue its public and online conversations that shine a spotlight on the relationships among law, politics, and society. “Our hope is that this move will lead to more expansive programming, even larger audiences, and the potential to reach beyond our home in New York,” said forum founder and director Thane Rosenbaum.

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Sticks and Stones

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:09:40 +0000

After hazing on his team came to light last fall, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross LLM ’66 approached Dean Trevor Morrison, Professor Troy McKenzie ’00, and University Professor Arthur Miller to discuss ways to increase civility in sports. The NYU Sports and Society Program, led by Miller, issued a white paper, held an anti-bullying summit, and commissioned research firm Ipsos to conduct a survey of more than 1,000 Americans, ages 13 to 54, that produced interesting insights into public perception of bullying in youth sports.

17% bullied someone

36% were bullied in a sports setting

52% admitted to not stopping someone from bullying another while playing or coaching a sport

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A Witness for Brazil’s Haitians

Gina Rodriguez — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:05:08 +0000

As an inaugural Ford Foundation Law School Fellow, Gabrielle Apollon ’15 worked at Conectas Human Rights in São Paulo during the summer of 2013. Just two months later, she testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about the difficult journeys Haitian migrants undertook to reach Brazil.

While Brazil offers humanitarian visas for Haitians, migrants typically paid racketeers $3,000 to $5,000, unaware of or misinformed about visa requirements. Along the route, the migrants were often arrested and extorted by Brazilian state authorities. “Many told me, ‘We’ve already spoken out about what’s happening in our journeys here,’” Apollon, who speaks Kreyòl and French, testified. “‘We’ve told journalists, we’ve told government leaders, but every day we hear that our brothers and sisters who come after us are going through the same things.’” With Apollon’s testimony, that might change.

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