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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.
Dean Tamara F. Lawson and the UW School of Law hosted “Presidential Power,” part of the Provost's "Democracy in Focus" lecture series leading up the 2024 Presidential Election.
“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.”
“It really kind of wipes clean what has been the major domestic vehicle for addressing climate change in this country,” University of Washington law professor Sanne Knudsen said.
A Trump administration move Thursday to axe the centerpiece of federal climate policy jeopardizes state-level efforts to control pollution from motor vehicles as well. Sanne Knudsen, professor of environmental law at the UW, is quoted. This story was republished on OPB.
Twenty years ago this week, a Seattle startup called Zillow launched the first public website showing on- and off-market property values. Since then, and throughout waves of controversy and housing ups and downs, Zillow hasn’t just survived — it’s dominated. Douglas Ross, professor from practice of law at the UW, is quoted.
President Trump this morning announced the latest in his administration's push to stop the country from fighting climate change. His administration has overturned an Obama-era Government finding that the gases that cause climate change are a danger to human welfare. Sanne Knudsen, professor of environmental law at the UW, is interviewed.
