More than a century ago, Louis D. Brandeis authored the “Brandeis Brief,” a precedent-setting document that broadened the way in which cases could be argued before the Supreme Court. And today, graduates of the University of Louisville law school named in his honor show that same pioneering innovation in the practice of law.
One such lawyer is Christopher Wise, Brandeis Law School Class of 2018 and owner/president of the Louisville firm of Wise & Associates. Specializing in family law, Wise has developed a distinctive approach that emphasizes transparency and collaboration with clients. His is the first firm known to utilize a staged-fee structure that Wise developed. And, he has created what is believed to be the first-ever family law artificial intelligence bot.
“I saw firsthand the challenges individuals face during family law disputes and realized that traditional law firm practices were no longer equipped to handle the evolving needs of their clients,” Wise said. “The legal profession hasn’t really changed much in 100 years. The idea of staged fees and proactive communication came from listening to people discuss what they hated most about law firms. Through that process, I realized that lawyers are really in the hospitality industry, and this belief drives everything we do.”
His staged fee structure simplifies how clients pay for legal services. Wise & Associates charges flat rates that cover most cases without the need for additional fees or a complex schedule of charges. Cases that require mediation, court appearances, or trial have additional fees than those that don’t which is why the fee structure is termed staged.
The firm’s AI bot has no fee associated with it; it is offered free of charge to anyone who signs up on the firm’s website. Called the “Pocket Lawyer,” the bot provides general guidance on family law in the states served by Wise & Associates: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee.
“The Pocket Lawyer can never take the place of a human lawyer of course,” Wise said. “However, it is available 24/7 for family law questions and helps our clients obtain clarity and guidance on their situations.”
Wise developed his innovative spirit while at Brandeis. He finished on an accelerated schedule of his own making in 2018 after two years, taking summer classes in addition to fall and spring semester work. He cites three professors who made a difference in his education.
“I did a lot of work with Laura McNeal,” he said. “She was a huge influence on me. We talked a lot about the law and how the industry works. My conversations with Laura are the reason why I now bill differently than other law firms.”
He also cites two other professors – now Emeritus H. Edward Harter Chair of Commercial Law Manning G. Warren III and current Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Jeffrey Metzmeier – as important motivating factors also.
“My Civil Procedure class was my favorite,” he said, “and I had lots of conversations about the legal industry with Professor Warren and in my internship with Jeff Metzmeier. He wasn’t on the faculty then but I learned so much working with him.”
For the future, Wise believes that clients will want more interactions with their attorney without the threat of being charged for every minute they spend in consultation. “Even though AI is changing the world, simply providing answers to common questions is not enough. People want and deserve to work with other people but they shouldn’t have to pay more for doing so.
“The law profession needs to become more personable with our clients. For example, we need to provide insight into how a judge reached a decision versus simply stating what the law that applies to that decision says. I think AI will actually force attorneys to focus on the overall outcome of each case rather than the strategy and case law used to get there. And our clients deserve to have us fully engaged and participating in communicating with them. That’s my mission: to revolutionize the legal profession so clients receive the best possible representation.”
Assistant Professor of Law Dan Canon, left, and Sister Petty Davis
Lambda Law Caucus raised almost $1,800 through its “Drag Me to Class” event with Director of Externships and Assistant Professor of Law Dan Canon winning the coveted opportunity to present the Drag Story Hour on Feb. 27.
Funds raised will support travel expenses for Brandeis School of Law students attending the Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair to be held in Washington Aug. 7-9.
In January and February, donors could give funds to several Brandeis Law School faculty members hoping to be selected as the Drag Story Hour honoree. “It was a very close contest, and various professors were in the leading spot at different times over the month. Professor Canon scored the winning votes in the last day of the competition, ultimately becoming the ‘Drag Me to Class’ fundraiser winner,” Lambda Law Caucus President Norma Redman said.
Canon presented the story, “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” with Sister Petty Davis of the Derby City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – AKA Christopher McDavid – who shared recommendations on drag activism at the event.
“LGBTQ+ law students are studying the law each day in an environment where our very existences are under attack in courts, state legislatures and political contests across the nation, so efforts like this to find joy in community and support our LGBTQ+ students are especially impactful,” Redman said.
“We hope this will be the first of many future similar fundraisers. Lambda Law Caucus had a lot of fun planning and executing ‘Drag Me to Class,’ and I think that our joy radiated out to the law school community, just as we hoped.”
Dr. Craig Anthony “Tony” Arnold, the Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, has been elected to membership in Sigma Xi, the national science research society.
Founded in 1886 at Cornell University, Sigma Xi is an international, multidisciplinary community of scientists and investigators dedicated to the practice of research excellence, the promotion of public engagement with science, and the fostering of the next generation of researchers. The society is considered among the premier associations devoted to research and has nearly 60,000 members in over 500 chapters around the world. Throughout its history, more than 200 Sigma Xi members have been awarded Nobel Prizes.
Membership is by invitation only through the nomination of new members by existing ones.
“Brandeis Law congratulates Dr. Arnold on this prestigious honor,” Melanie B. Jacobs, Brandeis School of Law Dean, said. “While most of the society’s members come strictly from the sciences, Dr. Arnold has distinguished himself by shepherding scholarship that combines the law and urban planning with the environmental sciences. We are thrilled that Sigma Xi has recognized the value of this interdisciplinary work by selecting him as a member.”
Arnold has been at the University of Louisville since 2005. In addition to holding the Boehl Chair, he is director of the law school’s Resilience Justice Project and is an Affiliated Professor of Urban Planning in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Arnold’s research and teaching are at the intersection of land use, water, the environment, public policy, evolving governance institutions and social and racial justice. His scholarly innovations have included:
Arnold’s current research effort is funded by a multi-institutional grant of $75,000 from the National Sea Grant Law Center through NOAA’s National Coastal Resilience Fund. His Resilience Justice Project is examining coastal urban adaptation in Boston, Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, Savannah, Seattle and Tampa to see how these cities ensure that their climate adaptation plans are equitable and fair across all neighborhoods. Under Arnold’s direction, Resilience Justice Fellows from UofL and researchers at Georgetown University and Georgia State University are collaborating on the project.
“We are assessing plans, policies and laws affecting climate adaptation in these eight coastal urban areas with an eye towards addressing the vulnerabilities of low-income neighborhoods of color,” Arnold said. “We’ll then use our assessments to produce a guidebook of best practices and a series of webinars so that any city can use the information to make their climate adaptation planning equitable for all neighborhoods.”
Damon Hewitt, president/executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, will deliver the 2024 Breonna Taylor Lecture on Structural Inequality on Wednesday, April 10, addressing “Democracy Forward: Advocacy, Empowerment, and Inclusion.” The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Speed Art Museum, 2035 S. Third St.
The Breonna Taylor Lecture on Structural Inequality was established by the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law in 2022 as an annual lecture series and tribute to the life of the Louisville woman who was killed in a police shooting in 2020.
At the lecture, the Brandeis School of Law also will announce the 2024 recipient of the Darryl T. Owens Community Service Award and the law student recipients of the Breonna Taylor Legacy Fellowship.
The Owens Award, named in honor of the late groundbreaking Kentucky state representative, is presented to individuals who make a lasting impact and contribution to the Louisville community. The Breonna Taylor Legacy Fellowship also was established in 2022 through a gift endowment from artist Amy Sherald, who painted Taylor’s portrait featured on the cover of the September 2020 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Proceeds from the sale of the portrait fund the fellowship which is presented annually to two to three law students who participate in social justice work over the summer.
Additional details about the event will follow this spring. For more information, email lawcomm@louisville.edu.
About Damon Hewitt
Damon Hewitt is a long-time civil rights lawyer, social justice strategist, philanthropist, manager and coalition-builder who was named Lawyers’ Committee president/executive director in 2021. Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Hewitt served as inaugural executive director of the Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color. He previously served as Senior Advisor at the Open Society Foundations where he coordinated funding efforts responding to the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri.
Before entering philanthropy, Hewitt worked for over a decade as an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund where he was lead counsel on litigation and policy matters and supervised teams of lawyers and non-lawyers. He led pioneering efforts addressing the School to Prison Pipeline and coordinated litigation and advocacy efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Hewitt also served as Executive Director of the New York State Task Force on Police-on-Police Shootings, an entity analyzing police practices following the deaths of off-duty African American and Latino police officers who were shot by fellow officers after being mistaken for “criminal” suspects.
Hewitt is co‐author of a book, The School‐to‐Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform, and has published numerous articles on racial justice, school discipline policy and progressive education reform. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Louisiana State University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
About Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org
“Brandeis Law School and the Commonwealth of Kentucky lost a dedicated friend and public servant today. J. Michael Brown graduated from Brandeis Law School in 1979 and then spent his law career living up to the principles of public service that are the legacy of our namesake, Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Throughout his career, he served in a multitude of public positions. Moreover, his time in private practice was spent in several specialties including labor and employment law, aviation law, administrative law, entertainment law and commercial litigation.
“His service to his profession and community extended beyond the courtroom as well. He was elected the first African-American president of the Louisville Bar Association and chaired the Kentucky Bar Association’s Task Force on Minorities. He also served on the University of Louisville’s Board of Overseers and with a number of other community groups throughout Kentucky.
“I had the chance to talk with him most recently at the Brandeis Law School observance of Constitution Day in October, and I remain impressed with his dedication to, as Justice Brandeis once said, ‘realizing the promise of America through the law.’ He devoted his life to this quest.
“Brandeis Law School extends deepest sympathies to his wife Joan and his entire family.”
]]>Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jewish lawyers will be the focus of an exhibit and discussion open to the law school community.
“Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers Under the Third Reich” will be presented at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Trager Family Jewish Community Center, 3600 Dutchmans Lane. Admission is free but advance registration is required at jewishlouisville.org/event/John-Rosenberg/.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear the remarkable story of civil rights advocate John Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor and former Department of Justice lawyer who in 1970 founded the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund in Prestonburg, Kentucky.
At age 7, Rosenberg was a first-hand witness to the violence and destruction of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” on Nov. 9-10, 1938, when Nazi officials attacked German Jews and ransacked their homes, synagogues, businesses and other institutions.
Today at age 92, Rosenberg is still actively involved with civil rights causes. He will share his personal story and lead a discussion about the exhibit, which is on loan from the American Bar Association beginning on Jan. 15.
Sponsors of the event are Brandeis School of Law, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Louisville, American Bar Association, Louisville Bar Association and Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, the Federal Bar of Germany.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech, Aug. 28, 1963.
The Black Law Students Association and Brandeis Law School Professor Marc Murphy invite you to attend a screening of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech, “I Have a Dream,” on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.
The screening will be held at 11:45 a.m., Monday, Jan. 15, at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. Participants should meet in the lobby to be directed to the theater.
Admission is free and includes a panel discussion following the screening and a tour of the center’s museum.
On Aug. 28, 1963, King delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech to an estimated 250,000 people gathered on the National Mall for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Recognized as the most influential speech of King’s career, it also is recognized as one of the most stirring examples of rhetoric in the English language. The speech put growing pressure on President John F. Kennedy and later his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, to push civil rights laws through Congress and become recognized on a national level. The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by Johnson on July 2, 1964.
The American Law Institute has elected Wyatt Tarrant & Combs Professor of Law Cedric Merlin Powell among its new members who will bring their expertise to ALI’s work of clarifying the law through Restatements, Principles and Model Codes.
Powell is one of two law professors from Kentucky elected to the prestigious 54-member body. Membership is for life.
The ALI is the leading independent organization in the United States working to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law. ALI Restatements, Principles and Model Codes are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures and in legal scholarship and education.
“For the past 100 years, the American Law Institute has aspired to strengthen and improve the legal system,” said ALI President David F. Levi. “Our greatest asset has always been our extraordinary members’ dedication of time, intellect and energy to our projects. As we close out our 100th Anniversary year and enter the Institute’s second century in 2024, I look forward to seeing the ways in which this class will continue our tradition of excellence in promoting and protecting the rule of law.”
“Cedric Merlin Powell is nationally recognized for his expertise and scholarship in post-racial constitutionalism and federalism, racial justice and civil rights. His learned input will be an enormous benefit to the ALI’s review of the law in these areas,” said Melanie B. Jacobs, dean of Brandeis School of Law. “Brandeis School of Law congratulates Professor Powell on this significant achievement.”
The American Bar Association has selected Erica Costello, a 2005 graduate of the Brandeis School of Law, as director of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, effective Jan. 6, 2024. Costello has been with the commission since 2022 as senior attorney/chief counsel. She succeeds David Godfrey, a 1999 Brandeis Law graduate, who has been with the commission for 15 years, serving as director for the last two years.
The mission of the Commission on Law and Aging is to educate and advocate to protect the rights and dignity of adults as they age. The vision of the ABA Commission on Law and aging is a society where the rights of every adult as they age are acknowledged, respected and protected.
The ABA Commission on Law and Aging leads the association in strengthening and securing the legal rights, dignity, autonomy, quality of life and quality of care of older adults. The commission accomplishes its work through research, policy development, advocacy, education, training and through assistance to lawyers, bar associations and others working on aging issues. Learn more at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/
Sandra Day O'Connor at the University of Louisville, receiving the Brandeis Medal for exemplary service to the legal profession.
“Our country has lost a genuine trailblazer. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor inspired a generation when she was named the first female justice of the Supreme Court in 1981. Justice O’Connor frequently said that while she was the first woman on the Court, she did not want to be the last. Not only has the Court’s membership significantly changed over the past 40 years, so too has the enrollment of women law students, the number of women lawyers, and especially the number of women law deans – including the deans of all three Kentucky law schools.
“Justice O’Connor further served as an example of fierce independence on the Court, often casting the deciding vote in some of the court’s most momentous decisions, including decisions about reproductive freedom and affirmative action. And while some criticized her for not having a consistent judicial bent, it was clear that she thoughtfully considered each case on its own merits and judged it accordingly.
“Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville was fortunate to have visits from Justice O’Connor twice during her tenure on the court. In 1992, she was named the recipient of the Brandeis Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the school to recognize extraordinary service to the legal profession. And in 2003, she returned to Brandeis Law for a forum with our students. In both, she exhibited the commitment to public service that is the legacy of our namesake, Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Our community, and especially our students, were fortunate to have the opportunity to hear from her on both occasions.
“On behalf of the Brandeis Law School, we extend condolences to her loved ones and we express thanks for her service to the Supreme Court, our nation, and our school.”
Tony Arnold
A syllabus developed by Professor Tony Arnold has been designated as “Noteworthy Practice” by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) which accredits degree programs in urban planning. The syllabus is used in Arnold’s course Land Use and Planning Law, an interdisciplinary cross-listed class used in three courses, LAW 904, UPA 678 and PLAN 605.
With the designation, the syllabus will be added to the PAB website, “Curriculum: Required Knowledge, Skills and Values of the Profession.”
The designation came about because of PAB’s review and re-accreditation of the University of Louisville’s Master of Urban Planning degree program recently. "The Board found the syllabus for PLAN605 to be exemplary, not only in its content coverage but also the explicit identification of knowledge/skill areas associated with PAB standards. The grading rubric for both the hearing simulations and reflection papers also reflects a thoughtful approach that the instructor has developed to assess student learning outcomes,” said the PAB statement notifying Arnold about the honor.
“This recognition highlights the added value that Brandeis Law School brings to other units, other degree programs and interdisciplinary education at UofL,” Arnold said. “There aren't very many universities nationally that are featured for noteworthy practices in urban planning education on the PAB website, and now UofL will be one of this elite set.”
Arnold holds the Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use and is director of the Resilience Justice Project in the law school and is Affiliated Professor of Urban Planning in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Moot Court Coach Sam Marcosson, center, with Andrew Denning and Jeremy Stochaj at left and Irie Ewers and Rezin Tuttle at right.
Brandeis Law School national moot court team’s success in the regional rounds of the National Moot Court Competition has made it possible for it to advance to the Region IV final round.
The team, made up of 3Ls Andrew Denning and Jeremy Stochaj, advanced to the National Finals to be held in New York Jan. 29-31, 2024. Denning and Stochaj earned their place as one of only 26 teams from around the country who will represent their schools in New York.
During the tournament held Nov. 15-17 in Richmond, Va., the team faced opponents from some of the best law schools in not only the region, but the nation. In advancing to the finals, they defeated teams from Washington & Lee and Duke in the preliminary rounds and then Campbell in the quarter-finals and Wake Forest in the semi-finals. “Each of their performances was superb, earning both high praise and high scores from the judges, as well as great compliments from their opponents and other schools’ coaches,” Professor and Moot Court Coach Sam Marcosson said.
In the final round, Denning and Stochaj participated in a renewal of the Bluegrass rivalry, facing a team from the University of Kentucky. It was an extremely close round, in which the judges gave the nod to UK by less than a point. The great part of the result is that the region will be represented at Nationals by both of the Kentucky schools.
“I couldn’t have been prouder, not only of the result they achieved, but also of the quality of their performance and the literally hundreds of hours of work they put in writing an outstanding brief and then preparing for the oral arguments” Marcosson said. “It is a great example of how hard work plus talent can pay off in a wonderful victory, validating for both Jeremy and Andrew that they are more than able to compete with and succeed against the best students from law schools around the nation. They were also wonderful ambassadors for the law school, being gracious and friendly to everyone involved in the competition.
“I also am proud of our other team. It was made up of second-year students Irie Ewers and Rezin Tuttle,” Marcosson said. “They faced the major hurdle of competing against teams made up almost entirely of third-year students who had more experience and more classes under their belts to prepare them to tackle the legal issues presented. Although they didn’t advance to the elimination rounds, their work in every phase of the competition was terrific as well.”
Lawlapalooza 2023 will be held Friday, Oct. 20, at Vernon Lanes, 1575 Story Ave. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the first performance of the evening at 7 p.m. Hosted by the Louisville Bar Association, Lawlapalooza benefits the Judge Ellen B. Ewing Foundation at Brandeis School of Law. General admission is $15 and student admission is $10. For more information, check out the LBA website.
Eight faculty members from Brandeis Law are among the 81 from across the university who will be recognized at UofL's Research + Innovation Research, Scholarship and Creativity Awards on Thursday, Oct. 19. A reception will begin at 4:30 p.m. followed by the award presentation at 5:30 p.m. in the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom.
Honored from Brandeis Law will be:
To attend, register at the link found here.