Dec. 18, 2025

Professor Rana publishes new article on how populist governments engage with international bodies

Assistant provost and professor Shruti Rana recently published a new article in the Melbourne Journal of International Law examining how populist governments in constitutional democracies often challenge, de-legitimize, or withdraw from treaty-based and other international bodies. Rana’s article, written alongside co-authors Peter Danchin, Jeremy Farrall and Imogen Saunders, proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing contemporary patterns of state engagement and disengagement with international law and institutions amid rising populist backlash against the post-1945 liberal order. To read the full article, click here.

Dec. 18, 2025

Professor Boyack connects scholarship and real-world legal challenges

by Tanner O’Neal Riley Professor Andrea Boyack continues to advance legal scholarship that bridges theory, teaching and practical policy challenges, with a focus on housing, consumer protection and economic inequality. Her work – including her two current book projects, classroom engagement innovations, op-eds, and comparative research – offers insights into how law shapes everyday life. Professor Boyack is writing an ambitious book called Framing Housing Law and Policy, a project based on collaborative research with retired Professor Tim Iglesias of San Francisco. The book will examine how the way legal rules are conceptualized (or “framed”) affects both policy and…

Dec. 15, 2025

Associate Dean Lietzan speaks at Food and Drug Law Institute conference

Associate Dean Erika Lietzan spoke at the annual Enforcement, Litigation, and Compliance conference of the Food and Drug Law Institute earlier in December. She addressed the likely impact on FDA of several recent Supreme Court administrative law cases, including SEC v. Jarkesy (relating to an agency’s ability to adjudicate civil money penalties administratively) and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (which overruled the Chevron decision and established that courts must consider questions of law de novo rather than deferring to an agency’s interpretation of the statute it administers).  Among other things, Professor Lietzan discussed her new paper on the impact of Loper Bright (available…

Dec. 12, 2025

Professor Sperino spends week training federal judges

This week, Professor Sandra Sperino performed multiple trainings for federal judges on employment discrimination law. On Dec. 9, Professor Sperino provided a five-hour interactive training sessions on labor and employment law at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland as part of that court’s Titus Employment Law Seminar. She discussed the structure of discrimination law, recent Supreme Court cases in the field, causation doctrine, and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. On Dec. 12, Professor Sperino served as a faculty member for the Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C. She provided…

Dec. 5, 2025

Prof. Rhodes Publishes Article on Tort Causation’s Constitutional Dimensions

Professor Charles “Rocky” Rhodes and his co-author, Professor Cassandra Burke Robertson, have published a new article in the Texas A&M Law Review entitled “Causation’s Due Process Dimensions.” This article argues that the Supreme Court’s punitive damages and personal jurisdiction due-process decisions provide a framework for navigating the tension between tort compensation for victims of mass harms and fairness to defendants when causation is difficult to prove. The Supreme Court’s due-process holdings regarding both punitive damages and personal jurisdiction emphasize the relationship between a plaintiff’s harm, the defendant’s conduct, and the state’s regulatory interests. The authors contend that this…

Dec. 4, 2025

Professor Henson quoted in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted Professor Renee Henson, a University of Missouri School of Law expert in products liability, insurance law, and AI risk and regulation, in its recent coverage of Bayer’s lawsuit against AIG. In the article, Professor Henson called the lawsuit “a fascinating case” and noted that “there is so much on the line, potentially,” given the scale of the Roundup and PCB litigation. Read the full article here.

Nov. 19, 2025

Faculty Spotlight – Charles W. “Rocky” Rhodes

By Tanner O’Neal Riley When it comes to constitutional scholars, few blend intellect and accessibility quite like Charles W. “Rocky” Rhodes. A nationally recognized expert on constitutional law, Rhodes joined the University of Missouri School of Law this fall as the Edward H. Hunvald Professor of Law and Wall Fellow in Constitutional Law. For Rhodes, Mizzou represents a fitting culmination of a lifelong conversation about justice, power, and the meaning of the foundational elements of the law that shape our society. “It’s a rare opportunity,” Rhodes said. “Mizzou Law has an exceptional balance of scholarship, teaching, and service to the…

Nov. 14, 2025

Professor Boyack quoted in article on mobile home property rights

Professor Andrea Boyack was quoted extensively in a feature story in the Columbia Missourian discussing property rights for mobile home owners and the land their homes sit on. Read the full story here.

Nov. 10, 2025

Professor Sperino presents on employment discrimination law

Last month, Professor Sandra Sperino gave a presentation on recent changes in employment discrimination law to judges and law clerks in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She also discussed two recent Supreme Court cases and their far-reaching implications for the structure of employment discrimination law as part of the Alabama Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section annual CLE.

Nov. 4, 2025

Professor Trachtenberg lectures his way through Asia

Professor Ben Trachtenberg spent the end of October giving lectures in Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan. In Korea, Professor Trachtenberg spoke at Seoul National University on the topic, “Grand Juries in the United States: A Real or Illusory Check on Prosecutors?” In Tokyo, Professor Trachtenberg spoke to law faculty at Sophia University on “The Current Situation and Challenges of Legal Education in the United States.”…