2024 Nieman Symposium: The Fight for FOIA

The Dietrich College of Communication presents the 2024 Nieman Symposium, The Fight for FOIA: Conversation About the State of Government Transparency, which will be held in the Lubar Center on Tuesday, April 2.

The Freedom of Information Act, the federal law recognizing the public’s right to government information, is more than 50 years old but faces challenges old and new. The advent of the internet and digital records has created a new world of opportunities and impediments for laws originally designed for a hard-copy era. The panel, comprised of a leading FOIA scholar and two investigative journalists, will consider the state of freedom of information laws, including enduring problems like delay and access to law enforcement as well as potential solutions.

Follow the link to sign-up on EventBrite here. (For those interested in attending virtually, use the same sign-up. A Microsoft Teams link will be provided in the days leading up to the event.)

Lubar Center's Get to Know: Joan Johnson, Milwaukee Public Library

Please join us on Wednesday, April 3, to continue our series at Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education: “Get to Know.” Derek Mosley, director of the Lubar Center, will welcome Joan Johnson, director of the Milwaukee Public Library.

Johnson, who has been with the Milwaukee Public Library since 2006, became its director in 2020. Over the years, the services of libraries have grown as social safety nets have been stretched. Not only are libraries a place for books and research, but they are also a critical component of vibrant communities. As we celebrate Library Week, learn more about Ms. Johnson, what brought her back to Milwaukee, and what exciting things are happening at the Milwaukee Public Library.

The “Get to Know” series, as envisioned by Director Mosley, is “more late-night talk show than ‘Meet the Press.’” The program will begin promptly at 12:15 p.m. It will include lunch, conversation, and community in Eckstein Hall. Please register here to attend.

Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Final Arguments

Please join us for the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Final Arguments on April 10, 2024.

Guests should be seated by 5:50 p.m., and the program begins promptly at 6 p.m.

• A light dinner for registered guests will be available in the Zilber Forum from 5 to 5:45 p.m.
• A reception will follow the competition.

Come out to show your support to your classmates! Register today for this complimentary event HERE.

While of course we cannot yet know which students will be presenting the Final Round arguments, we are honored that the following individuals will judge the round:

• Hon. John K. Bush, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Hon. J.P. Stadtmueller, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Hon. Maria Lazar, Wisconsin Court of Appeals

The Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition is the capstone event of the intramural moot court program at Marquette Law School. Twenty-four students participated in the competition based on their performance in the Appellate Writing and Advocacy course last fall. 

The competition is named in honor of the late James G. Jenkins, the first Wisconsin judge of the Seventh Circuit (1893–1905) and the first dean of Marquette Law School (1908–1915).

2024 Nies Lecture: Generative AI Is Doomed

Please join us for the 2024 Nies Lecture in Intellectual Property.

Generative AI Is Doomed

Presented by Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Research, and Director of the High-Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University

April 16, 2024 | 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. | Eckstein Hall | 1 CLE offered

The event is complimentary, but registration is required. Click HERE. 

This talk will compare today’s proliferation of generative AI with the internet’s commercialization in the mid-1990s. In each case, it was clear that the technology would have revolutionary but uncertain impacts on society. Yet the public sentiments toward the innovations have differed radically. The internet arrived during a period of widespread techno-optimism, creating a regulatory environment that fostered the internet’s growth. Generative AI, in contrast, has arrived during widespread techno-pessimism and following decades of conditioning about the dangers of “AI.” The difference is consequential: The prevailing regulatory and legal responses to generative AI will limit or even negate its benefits. If society hopes to achieve the full potential of generative AI, we’ll need quickly to adopt a new regulatory approach.

Eric Goldman is professor of law, associate dean for research, and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University’s School of Law. He received his degrees from UCLA: a B.A., summa cum laude, in 1988 and a J.D. and M.B.A. in 1994. He practiced law for eight years in Silicon Valley, first as an internet and technology transactions attorney at Cooley Godward LLP and then as general counsel of Epinions, Inc. From 2002 to 2006, before joining Santa Clara, Goldman served as assistant professor of law at Marquette University.

This annual lecture remembers the Honorable Helen Wilson Nies, who served as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1982 until 1996 (chief judge 1990 –1994).

Marquette Law School Awards Reception & Conferral

Help us celebrate their achievements! Marquette lawyers making a difference.

• Charles W. Mentkowski Sports Law Award: Kerri Cebula, L’06
• Howard B. Eisenberg Service Award: Marvin C. Bynum, L’10
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Julianna “Julie” Ebert, L’81
• Alumnus of the Year Award: Gregory “Greg” J. Heller, L’96

Marquette Law School Awards Reception & Conferral

• April 18, 2024
• 5 to 6 p.m., reception
• 6 to 6:50 p.m., conferral
• Marquette Law School, Eckstein Hall, Zilber Forum

Complimentary event: however, registration is requested HERE.