2019-2020: Law, Language, & Technology
The theme of Michigan State Law Review’s 2019-2020 Symposium was Law, Language, and Technology. Language is the raw material that comprises the law—whether that law take the form of an opinion, a statute, or a constitution. The language employed in a particular legal document—and how that language is interpreted—is the essence of legal practice. Technology is providing new lenses through which legal professionals can view and understand the intersection of law and language. Our Symposium invited top scholars to publish and present pieces related to the theme of law, language, and technology and was co-sponsored by Professor David Blankfein-Tabachnick, Professor James Chen, and Professor Daniel Barnhizer.
Symposium Scholars
Anya Bernstein, a professor at the University of Buffalo School of Law, teaches and writes about administrative law, civil procedure, legal interpretation, and the cultures of bureaucracy. With training in both law and anthropology, Bernstein uses approaches from both disciplines to explore how judges and administrators legitimize their actions and imagine their government. She has done extensive research in both the United States and Taiwan, giving her work a comparative perspective.
Professor Anya Bernstein
Michael A. Livermore joined the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in 2013. He teaches environmental law, administrative law, regulatory law and policy, and advanced seminars on these topics. His research focuses on environmental law, regulation, bureaucratic oversight and the computational analysis of law. He frequently collaborates on interdisciplinary projects with researchers in other academic fields, including economics, computer science and neurology.
Professor Michael A. Livermore
James Ming Chen is an attorney and professor of law with a quarter-century of experience in the law of regulated industries, economics, and regulatory policy. He holds the Justin Smith Morrill Chair in Law at Michigan State University College of Law and is of counsel to the Technology Law Group, a Washington, DC–based firm specializing in telecommunications law. Professor Chen is a prolific scholar and leader in the legal academy. He served as dean of the University of Louisville School of Law from 2007 to 2012. In November 2012, National Jurist magazine named Chen one of the 25 most influential people in legal education. Professor Chen is a highly productive and influential scholar whose works spans topics such as administrative law, agricultural law, constitutional law, economic regulation, environmental law, industrial policy, legislation, and natural resources law.
Professor James Ming Chen
Andrew W. Torrance is the Paul E. Wilson Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law, and a winner of a 2015 University Scholarly Achievement Award at the University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University in 1997, J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2000, and Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University (Canada) in 1991. Torrance teaches and conducts research in patent law, intellectual property, innovation, food and drug regulation, biotechnology law, biodiversity law, biolaw, and empirical, experimental, and big data approaches to the law. Specific research foci include open, user, and collaborative innovation, design, and legal issues surrounding genes, biotechnology, genetically-modified organisms, synthetic biology, conservation biology, and de-extinction. Torrance has given more than 100 scholarly presentations at numerous universities, research organizations, governments, and intergovernmental agencies in seven countries.
Professor Andrew Torrance