Volume 90 Members Earn Writing Honors

In the spring of 2016, four members of Volume 90 received highly prestigious legal writing accolades. Laura Cannon (’16), Volume 90’s Senior Managing Editor, garnered the coveted Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award for her comment, Indecent Communications: Revenge Porn and Congressional Intent of §230(c).  Conferred upon only 15 students nationwide each year, the Burton Award commemorates “the authors of legal articles that demonstrate creativity, knowledge, and know-how [who] display true understanding and mastery of the law and contribute to the field's need for clarity and reform in writing.” On May 23, Laura was invited to the annual Burton Awards Annual Awards Program and Gala at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the Gala’s featured address, while fellow Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg memorialized the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Laura is the second Tulane Law Review alumna in three years to claim a Burton Award, following Annalisa Cravens (’14) who won in 2014. Laura’s comment is featured in Issue 3 of Volume 90.

Miles O. Indest (JD/MBA ’16), a Guest Editor for Volume 90, was named one of ten winners nationwide of Bloomberg’s 2016 Write-On Competition. His article, Healthcare Employers Must Strengthen Internal Compliance Programs to Address DOJ and SEC Enforcement Trends, is featured in the 2016 issue of the BNA Health Law Reporter.

Samantha Pfotenhauer (’17) won the Louisiana State Bar Association Environmental Section Essay Contest. The judges selected her essay, A Limited Defense of EPA’s Water Transfer Rule: Seeking a Brighter Line, as the unanimous winner. The paper focused on the Clean Water Act and pollution discharge regulation. Fellow Junior Member Amanda Crawford (’17) earned third place in the competition for her piece, Nutrient Pollution and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone: Will Des Moines Water Works be a Turning Point?

Congratulations to Laura, Miles, Sam, and Amanda!

Christopher Lewis Peterson Delivers Sher Garner Keynote Address

During the Sher Garner Keynote Address in Commercial Law, Professor Christopher Lewis Peterson discussed the origins, purpose, and benefits of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the scope of its regulatory authority. Professor Peterson is the John J. Flynn Endowed Professor of Law at the University of Utah and currently serves as Special Advisor to the Director of the CFPB. He presented original statistics that demonstrated the increasing amount of enforcement actions initiated by the CFPB since its inception and the related growth in the amount of monetary redress that the CFPB has been obtaining from violators. Professor Peterson also highlighted a number of key enforcement actions that the CFPB has brought, including actions brought against a for-profit college; an owner of tax-preparation franchises who illegally steered his customers to high-interest tax-anticipation loans that he also sold, which was brought in conjunction with the Navajo Nation; and Citibank for engaging in illegal credit card add-on practices. Professor Peterson posited that the CFPB has been an effective voice for consumers and that the CFPB’s success in protecting the interest of consumers will only continue to expand. The Sher Garner Keynote Address in Commercial Law was given as part of the Tulane Law Review’s symposium, entitled “The Promise and Perils of Convergence in Financial Regulation and Consumer Protection,” which took place at Tulane Law School on Friday, November 13, 2015. The keynote address was made possible through the generosity of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., and their recent endowment of the Sher Garner Fund for the Advancement of Commercial Law. The Tulane Law Review is sincerely grateful for Sher Garner’s support of student intellectual life at Tulane Law School.

Tulane Law Review 2015 Symposium Schedule

Special Thanks to the 2015 Banquet Sponsors

Tulane Law Review Member Wins Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing

Annalisa Cravens, Senior Articles Editor of the Tulane Law Review, was recently selected for a Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing. Cravens' winning piece, "This Is Not the System Congress Created": Rethinking Louisiana's Immigration Law After Arizona v. Unites States, was published in Issue 1 of Volume 88. The piece argues that Louisiana's Prevention of Terrorism on the Highways Act, which makes it a felony to drive while in the United States illegally, is an improper state foray into immigration regulation.

Cravens, along with the other 14 students chosen for the award, will be honored on June 9 at the Library of Congress.

2013-14 Tulane Law Review Award Recipients

Charlotte Garden, Annalisa Cravens, Benjamin Berman, Jeffrey Gelpi, Rebekka Veith, Kathryn Munson, John Slater, and James Miller received awards at the Tulane Law Review's annual banquet on April 3, 2014.

• John Charlotte Garden: Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence in Legal Scholarship. Awarded to the author of the best lead article in the current volume.

• Annalisa Cravens: Robert E. Friedman Law Review Award. Established in honor of Robert E. Friedman, a 1935 graduate of Tulane Law School and Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review in 1934-35. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and was a former member of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He retired as head of the legal department of Mobil Oil of California. It is awarded annually on the nomination of a committee to the student submitting the best comment appearing in the current volume of the Tulane Law Review.

• Benjamin Berman: Gertler Law Review Award. This award was established by Judge David Gertler (graduate of Tulane Law School). It is offered annually on the nomination of a faculty committee to the first-year member of the student Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review who published the best case note in the current volume.

• Jeffrey Gelpi: Dean Rufus C. Harris Civil Law Award. Established in 1974 by Colonel and Mrs. John H. Tucker, Jr., to promote interest in Civil Law Scholarship.  This award is presented at the Banquet each year to the student author of the best case note or comment on a civil law subject.

• Rebekka Veith & Jeffrey Gelpi: Charles Janvier II Award. Awarded to the junior and senior members of the Review who have made the most significant contributions to production excellence.

• Kathryn Munson: Class of 2000 Law Review Award. Awarded to the senior member of the Board of Student Editors of the Tulane Law Review who in the judgment of their fellow members has most effectively contributed to the success of the year’s publication program and whose writing has most significantly improved in professional quality.

• John Slater: Conrad Meyer III Law Review Award. The Conrad Meyer III Law Review Award is presented in honor of Conrad Meyer III (who served with distinction as Chairman of the Advisory Board for twelve years) at the Banquet each year to the member who has consistently exhibited outstanding leadership skills and dedication.

• James Miller: Class of 2000 Academic Leadership Award. The Academic Leadership Award is given at the Banquet each year to the outgoing Editor in Chief, in appreciation for their work in leading the Review for the year.

Special Thanks to Our Banquet Sponsors

The Law Review is grateful to those who contributed to the annual banquet held on April 3, 2014. The 2014 Tulane Law Review Annual Banquet is Proudly Sponsored by:

Patrons

Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, L.L.C.

Flanagan Partners L.L.P.

Jones Walker

Krebs Farley & Pelleteri P.L.L.C.

Liskow & Lewis

Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard

Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C.

Susman Godfrey L.L.P.

 Benefactors

Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley Willis & Swanson L.L.P.

Gordon Arata McCollam Duplantis & Eagan L.L.C.

Phelps Dunbar L.L.P.

Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford, L.L.C.

Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson L.L.C.

Warren Burns

Daniel Charest

Eric Mayer

  Sponsors

Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer L.L.C.

Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, L.L.C.

Patrick Miller L.L.C.

Wall, Burlington & Cook, L.L.C.

Friends

Slattery, Marino & Roberts 

David Oestreicher II

Walter Stuart

Remembering Michael Berenson

Michael Berenson, member of the Law Review’s Board of Advisory Editors passed away on November 30, 2013. A true renaissance man, Michael Berenson was an engineer, a rocket scientist, a successful businessman, and a law partner in the firm Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel, LLC. Prior to enrolling at Tulane University Law School, Michael Berenson was a rocket scientist during the years of the Gemini and Apollo space programs. Later, he founded Quanta Data Systems, a data processing firm serving businesses in the Greater New Orleans area. After these successful careers, Michael Berenson enrolled at Tulane University Law School, where he became an editor of the Tulane Law Review, and graduated with honors in 1990.

Remembering John M. McCollam

John M. McCollam, former Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review and Professor Emeritus of Tulane University Law School, passed away on January 13, 2014.  He was an active member of the oil and gas law community and published A Primer for the Practice of Mineral Law Under the New Louisiana Mineral Code, 50 Tul. L. Rev. 729 (1976).  We are thankful for all of Mr. McCollam's contributions to the Review and the Tulane Law School community.

Case Note Competition Winners Selected

Congratulations to the six members whose case notes were selected for publication in Volume 88.

• Ben Berman - Maintain a Seaman’s Protection, or Cure a Seaman’s Fraud? Weighing the Proper Balance Between Seamen and Employers in Boudreaux v. Transocean Deepwater, Inc.

• Jeffrey Gelpi - Pociask v. Moseley: The Louisiana Supreme Court Follows the Legislature's Lead and Gives Legal Fathers More Time to Disavow

• Miles Indest - Walking Dead: The Fifth Circuit Resurrects Rational Basis Review in St. Joseph Abbey v. Castille

• Jared Pessetto - In State v. Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., the Louisiana Supreme Court Retreats from Progress in Oilfield Contamination Litigation

• Jacob Whitt - Cell Phones as an Eye of the Government: In re Application of the United States for Historical Cell Site Data

• Bailey Wilson - United States v. Scruggs: The Fifth Circuit Creates a New Method to Determine What Constitutes a "More Serious" Charge