California Western Faculty Highlights – January 2025

President and Dean Sean M. Scott 
Dean Sean Scott presented during two sessions at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco:  

AALS Discussion Group: The ABA Reexamines Faculty Employment Security and Status, and the Academy Needs to Pay Attention.

AALS Workshop for Pretenured Law School Teachers of Color - Session Two: Navigating the Path to Tenure and Promotion. 

Dean Steven R. Smith Professor of Law, Susan Bisom-Rapp 
Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp was quoted in Bloomberg Law’s “Employers Face Higher Penalties for Workplace Safety Violations”.

Professor Bisom-Rapp's quotes from Bloomberg Law were also featured in Bloomberg Tax’s “Punching In: Biden GCs Remain in Place After Trump's First Week”.

Professor Bisom-Rapp will be attending “Employment in the Era of AI and Digital Platforms: Understanding and Regulating Transitions”, a conference hosted by the Marco Biagi Foundation at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy on March 19th, 2025. She will serve as both chair and discussant for “The Role of AI in HRM: Challenges, Remedies, and Employee Rights” panel and commentator for “Final Plenary Panel”.  

Professor of Law, James Cooper 
Professor James Cooper was quoted in TechTarget’s “OpenAI faces backlash for its Economic Blueprint for U.S.”.

Professor Cooper and co-author Kashyap Kompella published “The U.S. response to Chinese advances in artificial intelligence”, an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Professor Cooper and co-author Kashyap Kompella’s book, A Short and Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, was featured in Law.com’s The Recorder, “'A Human in the Loop': Authors of Lawyer's Guide to AI”.

Professor Cooper and co-author Kashyap Kompella’s book, A Short and Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, was featured in San Diego Business Journal’s Special Report: Law’s “Experts Write a Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers”.

Professor Cooper and co-author Kashyap Kompella published an op-ed in USA Today that was featured in Yahoo News and Yahoo News Canada.  

Professor Cooper moderated a panel, “The Future of Artificial Intelligence”, at Davos Worldwide on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. 

Professor Cooper and co-author Kashyap Kompella’s book, A Short and Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, was listed Number One on Amazon’s Best Sellers list for Science and Technology Law.  

Professor of Law, Shawn Fields 
Professor Shawn Fields spoke at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco in the Criminal Law Session for Works-in-Progress. 

Executive Director of the California Western Innocence and Justice Project and Associate Professor of Law, Amy Kimpel 
Professor Amy Kimpel spoke at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco in the AALS Open Source Program Session: “Professional Identity” as Teachers Accounting for Trauma and Emotions in Law Teaching. 

Louis and Hermione Brown Professor of Law, Kenneth (Ken) Klein 
Professor Ken Klein spoke to the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia to present his research on underinsurance, and to engage in a series of follow-up discussions including with members of the Federal Reserve Board. The presentation focused on his article, “The Unnatural Disaster of Insurance, Underinsurance, and Natural Disasters”, in Connecticut Insurance Law Journal.  

Professor Klein moderated and participated in First Steps for Disaster Relief: A “Navigating Insurance” Webinar providing information to Los Angeles fire survivors to aid in navigating their recovery journey.  

Professor Klein provided advice for Los Angeles fire survivors across CWSL social media channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky.  

Professor Klein volunteered his expertise for the Disaster Recovery Center in Pasadena to aid Alta Dena fire survivors and in their recovery journey, and has provided aid by phone to Palisades fire survivors as well. He will continue to lend his expertise as part of an MCLE panel hosted by the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA).  

Professor Klein was quoted in AP News’ “Georgia Gov. Kemp wants to limit lawsuits. But would that keep insurance rates from rising?”. 

Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Law, Erin Sheley 
Professor Erin Sheley spoke at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco in the Criminal Procedure (co-sponsored by Evidence) Session: Looking Back—and Forward—After Twenty Years of Crawford v. Washington.

ProFlowers Professor of Internet Studies Professor of Law, Brenda Simon 
Professor Brenda Simon’s article, “Bespoke Regulation of Artificial Intelligence”, has been published in Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.  

Professor of Law, Kristen van de Biezenbos 
Professor Kristen van de Biezenbos was an invited participant in the First Annual Pan Pacific Sustainability Law Scholars Workshop, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law (Jan. 16-17, 2025).