Buffalo Law Review

Noteworthy: News and Announcements

Brendan Conley's comment was selected from our 2016–17 Note & Comment competition. It focuses on the transient legal setting in which fantasy sports betting has been developing. Concurrent with its publishing, the Supreme Court made its decision in the case he follows. As expected, the Court ultimately did rule in favor of New Jersey on May 14, 2018, striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in Murphy v. NCAA, 584 U.S. ___, Nos. 16-476, 16-477, 2017 WL 684747 (2018). More on Murphy can be found here.

Paul Larkin's article on the implications of changing marijuana laws was featured in his testimony to the Canadian Parliament on the same subject matter. Paul has a particular focus on how, as governments are legalizing marijuana in different ways, and at different rates, there are coordination issues when citizens have freedom to travel between the jurisdictions of those governments. His full statement can be found here.

Nick Fram and Thomas Frampton's article on the unionization of college athletes is getting notice again after student-athletes from Northwestern University petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for the right to form a union. A recent New York Times Op-Ed, Unionized College Athletes?, describes Fram and Frampton's argument in favor of classifying college athletes as employees, noting that the athletes still face "an uphill struggle."

On September 28, a Time Magazine online editorial titled College Athletes Need to Unionize Now, cited Nick Fram and Thomas Frampton’s A Union of Amateurs: A Legal Blueprint to Reshape Big-Time College Athletics. The Time article referenced Fram and Frampton’s theory that college athletes at public institutions should be considered university employees. The Buffalo Law Review published A Union of Amateurs in August 2012 (60 Buff. L. Rev. 1003).

The International Arbitration Club of New York awarded Professor Charles H. Brower II the Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for best scholarly article in the field of international arbitration for his article Arbitration and Antitrust: Navigating the Contours of Mandatory Law, which appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Buffalo Law Review (59 Buff. L. Rev. 1127).

Todd E. Pettys's article Judicial Retention Elections, the Rule of Law, and the Rhetorical Weaknesses of Consequentialism, 60 Buff. L. Rev. 69 (2012), has generated a lot of discussion:
- The Press-Citizen Editorial Board agrees with Pettys, saying "Iowa’s current judicial nominating system ... all but ties the hands of judges from defending themselves."
- Jordan M. Singer reflected on the uncertain future of judicial retention elections in BLR's The Docket.
- Pettys's article was featured in an editorial, "Judges Need to Learn to Defend Themselves," in the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

The Buffalo Law Review proudly honored Jean C. Powers '79, Partner at Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel LLP, and David E. Franasiak '78, Principal of Williams & Jensen, at its Twenty-Third Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at the Buffalo Club in Buffalo, NY. Find out more about the Law Review's activities and achievements in the 2012 Alumni Newsletter.

Should NCAA players unionize in an effort to get paid? A Union of Amateurs: A Legal Blueprint to Reshape Big-Time College Athletics by Nick Fram and Thomas Frampton presents surprising research regarding state-level paths to player unionization and pay. A recent article in Salon, "Madness of March: NCAA Gets Paid, Players Don’t," relies heavily on their cutting edge research to suggest an avenue to empower student-athletes: "Rather than corrupting 'amateurism,' Fram and Frampton argue, unionization offers a path to preserve its best aspects: protecting the league from legal crisis while providing players a forum to defend their academic pursuits and their physical and emotional health."

Justice Scalia cited Susan Randall's influential article, Judicial Attitudes Toward Arbitration and the Resurgence of Unconscionability, 52 Buff. L. Rev. 185 (2004) in his majority opinion in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion.  Professor Randall's article used groundbreaking empirical research to demonstrate increased use of the unconscionability doctrine in courts since the Federal Arbitration Act was passed. 

The Daily Record, a premier Western New York legal, business, and real estate news source, recently highlighted Gary Muldoon's article, Understanding New York's "Mode of Proceedings" Muddle, 59 Buff. L. Rev. 1169 (2011).  A pay-walled version of The Daily Record's article is available here.

The Buffalo Law Review honored Justice Julio M. Fuentes and Garry M. Graber at the Twenty-Second Annual Law Review Dinner. Find out more about the Law Review's activities and achievements in the 2011 Alumni Newsletter.

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