An expansive and deep legal education begins with exceptional faculty. Our faculty are recognized experts in fields across law, including in business and technology, constitutional law, criminal law, health law, intellectual property, international and human rights law, Native American law, sustainability, and taxation.
Jevan Hutson, director of the Technology Law & Public Policy Clinic, on machine unlearning’s implications for privacy law.
Professor Peter Nicolas on how his case study course on “The Wizard of Oz” explores the evolution of copyright law across more than a century.
The Global Business Law Institute is pleased to share that the article “Exploring the Future of Global ESG – Disclosures and Reporting Requirements” was published in the Global Governance, Compliance & Integrity Yearbook 2025.
The textbook serves as one of the most comprehensive sources on legal research, writing and analysis — the area in which Stephen teaches.
WSBA President Sunitha Anjilvel spoke with professor Spitzer about when and how lawyers have been called upon to uphold their highest ambassadorial obligation to preserve the rule of law.
When Gov. Bob Ferguson revealed his picks for the Washington Supreme Court, he lauded the two appointees, Colleen Melody and Theo Angelis, as exceedingly qualified. Hugh Spitzer, associate dean emeritus and retired professor in the UW School of Law, is quoted.
President Donald Trump has suggested that the federal government should take over federal elections, especially in Democratic-leaning states. I rarely agree with President Trump, but the basic concept of national control of national elections has merit.
“These officers were involved in taking money and drugs,” said Owens, a partner at civil rights firm Loevy & Loevy. “The idea is that if you plant the drugs on the innocent person they won't have anything to say about how or where this stuff came from. If you steal from the drug dealers, they can't complain either, because they're drug dealers. So it is really a breathtaking scheme.”
"As of early Tuesday, the Legislature appeared poised to pass Senate Bill 6346, which would impose a 9.9 percent tax upon annual household earnings of more than $1 million. Washington is one of nine states that does not have an income tax, although the Legislature did pass a capital gains tax in 2021," writes The Columbian's editorial board. Hugh Spitzer, associate dean emeritus and retired professor in the UW School of Law, is quoted.
“Either you accede to the demands of the White House, or you are going to get fired,” said Douglas Ross, an antitrust-law professor at the University of Washington. “Ferguson has figured that out.”
Most states do not treat income as property, and even at the time, the decision in Culliton misstated how such a tax was treated by courts in most of the country, said Hugh Spitzer, an emeritus law professor at the University of Washington and a state constitutional expert. Holcomb, in his 1933 majority opinion, said most courts nationally had reached a consensus that income is a form of property.
Terry Price, associate teaching professor at the University of Washington School of Law, said he isn’t as concerned about these bills amounting to mission creep. Pointing to the fiscal notes, he said he doesn’t see money there to hire a bunch of people to serve such administrative subpoenas.
Studies have shown that longer days of sunshine can lead to positive health impacts. Steve Calandrillo, a professor of law at the University of Washington, also pointed to research that less daylight can impact the number of traffic fatalities during the evening commute.
Five of the nine seats on the Washington Supreme Court are turning over as major constitutional fights — including a proposed millionaire tax — head toward potential legal challenges. Hugh Spitzer, associate dean emeritus and retired professor in the UW School of Law, is quoted.
Senate Bill 5855 passed the House Tuesday evening after a passionate debate and will head to the governor’s desk if the Senate approves final changes. Jeremiah Chin, assistant professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
Some say Washington’s bill may not encounter the same challenges because it includes both state and federal officers in its language. Experts like Jeremiah Chin, an assistant professor of law at the University of Washington, expects it will still hit some snags in court, but they ultimately believe this bill will be enforceable.
“Data released last week showed a tenfold increase in total arrests by immigration officers of Washington state residents since January of 2025,” UW Law Professor Angelica Chazaro said. “Our highways and roads have become a hunting ground for ICE and CBP.”
Spitzer said legislators also set eligibility standards for elected judges and prosecutors, who can lose their seats if they are disbarred by the state bar association for misconduct. They can appeal those decisions to the Washington Supreme Court.
Real-life therapists have a legal requirement, called a duty to warn, to report a patient’s plan to harm others, said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington.
Native nations have stepped up to provide their tribal citizens with proper documentation through tribal ID pop-ups with escalating immigration raids and more reports of Native people being questioned, detained or arrested. However, it has many Native people asking if blood quantum should be a tribal citizenship criterion, as many Native people need it to obtain a tribal ID. Jeremiah Chin, assistant professor of law at the UW, is quoted.
“The Tribe has inherent sovereign authority, confirmed in the Tribe’s Constitution, to protect its cultural resources and practices, as well as the health and welfare of Tribal members reliant upon cultural waterways,” said Professor Monte Mills, Director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington Law School. “The Tribe’s forward-looking request for cooperation to find solutions for sharing the limited and diminishing water resources on which we all depend is to be applauded.”
