Symposia
Spring 2012 The Asymmetry of Administrative Law: The Lack of Public Participation and the Public Interest Symposium
The Wake Forest University Law Review will host its Spring 2012 symposium, “The Asymmetry of Administrative Law: The Lack of Public Participation and the Public Interest” on Friday, March 30, in the Worrell Professional Center.
The symposium, under the guidance of Professor Sidney Shapiro, will focus on a troubling trend in governmental administrative process: a steadying decline in participation by special-interest groups.
The event, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 1312 of the Worrell Professional Center, is free and open to the public.
The 1970s saw a “reformation” of administration, as a more inclusive procedure was designed to allow participation by the public in the form of public interest groups. It was assumed, in short, that the participation of public interest groups would ensure that the administrative process would not tilt in favor of regulated entities.
However, recent research has suggested that this is not in fact that case. Empirical evidence suggests what has long been commonly known to objective observers: such groups simply do not have the resources to effectively participate in all but a few of the current administrative proceedings. It has also been shown that public interest groups are often overwhelmed by the interests of regulated organizations in the administrative process.
This symposium will consider the short and long-term effects of the decline of participation by these groups.
Fall 2011 Community Prosecution and Defense Symposium
The Wake Forest Law Review’s 2011 Community Prosecution and Defense Symposium brought together legal scholars, policy leaders, and practicing attorneys who offer a range of perspectives on “Community Prosecuting” and “Community Defense.” The Symposium, hosted by Professor Ronald Wright on November 4th, 2011, focused on the connection between communities and the prosecutors and defense attorneys who work in those communities. In particular, the Symposium focused on growth in the “community” organizational models for prosecutor offices and public defense organizations, which aim to democratize and decentralize the work of criminal justice actors, paralleling the earlier development of “community policing.”
Spring 2011 Sustainable Corporation Symposium
The Wake Forest Law Review’s 2011 Business Law Symposium brought together legal scholars and policy leaders who offer a range of perspectives on “The Sustainable Corporation.” How do business firms contribute to – or undermine – the ability of social, ecological and environmental systems to endure? The question raises issues concerning community development, corporate governance, energy policy, environmental law, institutional shareholders, labor relations, business transparency, nonprofits, and securities markets. The business community is actively engaged in understanding the practical challenges of sustainability. This Symposium seeks to create greater awareness of the legal challenges to the corporation becoming an instrument of sustainability.
Fall 2010 Symposium “Twenty Years After the 1991 Civil Rights Act: What Does the Future Hold?”
Twenty years after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, we are once again at a crossroads of the future of civil rights. The number of employment discrimination cases is declining, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in Ricci v. DeStefano, has called into question the continued viability of disparate impact claims.
The symposium focused on the 1991 Act’s ability – or perhaps its inability – to vindicate worker’s rights in employment discrimination cases and examine new approaches, both legal and non-legal, to redress employment discrimination. The symposium addressed both the practical – where do plaintiffs do best – and the theoretical – do we need a Civil Rights Act of 2011?