Faculty News

The KU School of Law will host the 15th annual Federal Courts Junior Scholars Workshop, a selective national conference that brings together emerging and established legal scholars to exchange ideas, strengthen scholarship and build community within the field of federal courts. The conference will take place April 24.

KU researchers are part of Just Energy Transitions & Place Project, a national research group that has conducted studies around the country to determine that the primary barrier to energy infrastructure development is local governance and permitting, not technology, as is commonly assumed.

On April 10-11, the University of Kansas School of Law will host the 14th annual Patent Conference, the nation’s leading annual patent scholarship conference. Patent scholars from 18 institutions across 15 states and Germany will present cutting-edge research on patent law, policy and business.

Alex Platt, KU School of Law professor, has published research showing that the JOBS Act of 2012, which was intended to revive the IPO market, has had the opposite effect. Instead of making it easier for companies to go public through the IPO process, it has resulted in "dual-track bias," which has led many companies to sell to larger companies instead.

Sharon Brett, associate professor of law at the University of Kansas, has published a new case study arguing the Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo — and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurring opinion — miss the mark legally and factually and continue to make seeking relief from government misconduct exceedingly difficult.

Raj Bhala, University Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas, can talk with media about today’s Supreme Court ruling striking down President Trump’s tariffs. The ruling was “logical and foreseeable,” Bhala said, and he can discuss the ruling, what comes next and the effects it will have with media.

Legal scholars and environmental advocates will gather in Lawrence on March 6 to discuss these issues at the first biennial Environmental Law Symposium hosted by the University of Kansas School of Law.

The Association of American Law Schools has announced Stephen Mazza, dean of the University of Kansas School of Law, as the recipient of the 2026 AALS Award for Excellence in Mentoring Future Legal Education Leaders.

Raj Bhala, University Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, has written an analysis outlining how international trade law is being destroyed, not simply changing. His peer-reviewed work, published in the Transatlantic Law Journal, outlines why this is happening and examines if it can be saved.

Researchers at the University of Kansas have published a study based on the Kansas Energy Transition Atlas. The site documents wind energy regulations across all 105 of the state's counties, and findings from the study document which regions of the state tend to have enabling or blocking restrictions, how agriculture influences policy, whether voting habits play a part and more.