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LAW REVIEW ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

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The Ripple Effect: Examining the Supreme Court's Impact on the Public's Confidence in the Judicial Branch

February 21, 2025

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The University of Memphis Law Review’s 2025 symposium will explore public trust in state and federal courts. Discussions will focus on the following topics and their impact on practitioners: judicial transparency, stare decisis, and religious liberty jurisprudence. This year’s keynote presentation includes a panel of federal and state judges and justices to provide a view from the bench.

CLE credit has been approved for Tennessee and Mississippi, with Arkansas pending.

Symposium Schedule

8:00–8:30                    Registration and Breakfast

8:30–9:00                    Welcome Address and Opening Remarks

9:00–9:50                    Professor Daniel Kiel, Professor of Law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law

Professor Kiel will present his article on Supreme Court transitions.  Prof. Kiel’s article identifies several instances where changes in a judge’s personnel impacted the outcome on the other side of a Court transition.  Ultimately, Prof. Kiel posits that the significance of the Court’s staff is oversized and threatens to reduce the Court’s legitimacy.

9:50–10:40                  Professor Asma Uddin, Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center; Fellow at Freedom Forum Institute and the Aspen’s Institute Religion and Society Program

Professor Uddin will discuss her scholarship about the implementation of social science to map depolarization strategies for the U.S. Supreme Court. 

10:40–10:50                Break

10:50–12:00                Stare Decisis: Historical Overview and Future Application with Nneka Ewulonu and James Bernstein

                                    Nneka Ewulonu, Attorney with the ACLU Georgia

Nneka Ewulonu will present their article entitled Welcome to the Supreme Court Where the Rules are Made Up and the Precedents Don’t Matter.  This article explores the Supreme Court’s history of overturning precedent, from the Court’s first instance in Wilson v. Daniels to the present-day example in Dobbs.  

James Bernstein, Corporate Associate Attorney

James Bernstein will present his article entitled The Rule of Law’s Lack of Rules, which critiques the Supreme Court’s reliance on judge-made standards.  Mr. Bernstein’s article argues that the Supreme Court should adopt clear rules that are faithful to the Constitution’s text and result in consistency and better protection of individual rights.

12:00-1:00                  Lunch Break

1:00-2:30                    KEYNOTE - View from the Bench

                                    Chief Justice Holly Kirby–Tennessee Supreme Court

                                    Judge Andre Mathis–Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Judge Mark Norris–U.S.  District Court of the Western District of Tennessee

2:30-2:40                    Break

2:40–3:20                    Clark Hildabrand, Attorney with Cooper & Kirk, PLLC

Clark Hildabrand will present his article entitled Judging Values:  Public Confidence in the Federal Courts’ Approach to Religion and Morality which explores  federal courts’ impact on society through the lens of the Supreme Court’s Covid-19 docket, with an emphasis on its decisions impacting religious liberties.

3:20–4:00                    Michael Gallagher, Attorney with Morgan & Morgan

Michael Gallagher will present his article entitled Snap Removal and the Absurdity Doctrine which argues that the Supreme Court should apply the absurdity doctrine to end snap removal.

4:00–4:40                    Professor Kenneth Kellner, Visiting Professor of Law at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law; Former Senior Counsel at the United States Department of Justice

Professor Kellner will address the history of ethics and anti-corruption laws in the United States by comparing the three federal branches’ different ethics rules and enforcement mechanisms  and examining new models and reforms that  the judicial branch could adopt.

4:40–5:00                    Closing Remarks

5:00–6:00                    Reception and Cocktail Hour

Check this page often for updates or contact Senior Symposium Editor, Megan Stillwell at mnstllwl@memphis.edu for more information.


The University of Memphis Law Review hosts its annual symposium every spring at the Law School. For more information about the most recent past topics and speakers, please visit the links below.

2024: The Path of Least Resistance: How Marginalized Communities Are Targeted By Harmful Infrastructure and Land Uses

2023: (How Much) Should We Pay Them? The Shifting Legal Landscape of Collegiate Competition

2022: Competition in the 21st Century: Can Existing Antitrust Laws Govern a 21st Century Digital Economy?

2021: Diagnosing America's Healthcare System: Addressing Costs and Access Now

2019: Barriers at the Ballot Box: Protecting or Limiting the Core of the American Identity?

2018: The American Addiction: Pathways to Address the Opioid Crisis

2017 - The Fragile Fortress: Judicial Independence in the 21st Century

2016 - Urban Revitalization: The Legal Implications of Remaking a City

2015 - In re Valor: Policy and Action in Veterans Legal Aid

2014 - Juvenile Courts in Transition

2013 - Breaking the Silence: Legal Voices in the Fight Against Human Trafficking 

2012 - Cultural Competency and the Death Penalty