University of Tennessee Winston College of Law faculty continued to distinguish themselves throughout the fall semester through impactful scholarship, national and international leadership, and service to the profession. The following highlights showcase a selection of notable faculty accomplishments from fall 2025.
Andrew D. Appleby, associate professor of law, was selected as an editor of the TaxProf Blog, one of the most widely read publications in legal academia.
Robert Blitt, Woolf, McClane, Bright, Allen & Carpenter Distinguished Professor of Law, was appointed to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, one of the world’s leading advisory bodies on religious freedom. He also published work analyzing the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine and presented related research at the 2025 Emory International Law Review Symposium.
Lonnie T. Brown Jr., dean, Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law, and Haslam Family Professor, presented “The Enduring Importance of Civility and Professionalism—A View from the Bench” at the 2025 Ohio Judicial Conference Annual Meeting.
Joan Heminway, Rick Rose Distinguished Professor of Law, presented at the University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance 25th anniversary symposium and co-led a session on DAO LLCs at the American Bar Association’s 2025 LLC Institute, drawing on her legislative and scholarly work.
Lucy Jewel, director of legal writing and Joel A. Katz Distinguished Professor of Law, presented her research on neuroscience, rhetoric, and statutory language at Saint Louis University School of Law and spoke on long-term challenges and opportunities in legal education as part of a LatCrit plenary session.
Kristina “KK” Kersey, assistant professor of law, returned as faculty for the weeklong skills-based Youth Defender Advocacy Program hosted by the Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Initiative and the Gault Center and presented on case theory, plea negotiation, and counseling at the Southern Regional Gault Center Summit in Asheville, North Carolina.
Alex Long, Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor of Law, had his article, “Abolishing the Suicide Rule,” cited by the United States Court of Federal Claims in Davison v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, a decision interpreting the federal Vaccine Act.
Nick Nugent, assistant professor of law, briefed the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board and international government representatives at ICANN’s annual meeting in Dublin, Ireland. He also served as lead draftsperson for a major revision of the governance document guiding how Regional Internet Registries are established and decommissioned.
Glenn Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, published “United States v. Rahimi: Five Takes” in the Houston Law Review and delivered the Joan E. Bowes–James Madison Distinguished Lecture at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Briana Rosenbaum, associate dean for access and community engagement and associate professor of law, has been appointed to the Law School Admission Council’s new Rural Access to Justice Workgroup. This workgroup will investigate innovative approaches to expanding the pipeline of future rural attorneys, assess the barriers that discourage rural residents from pursuing legal education, and propose ways to strengthen their pathways into the profession.
Paula Schaefer, Art Stolnitz Distinguished Professor of Law, had her article, “The Motherhood Myth, Traditional Firms, and the Underrepresentation of Women,” published in Volume 20 of the FIU Law Review.
Kate Schaffzin, director of the Institute for Professional Leadership and Douglas A. Blaze Distinguished Professor of Law, will publish her empirical research on women attorneys in higher education leadership as a report by the Association of American Law Schools and present the findings at the AALS Annual Meeting in January 2026. Her essay, “Glass Cliff Off an Ivory Tower,” has also been accepted for publication by the UMKC Law Review Symposium, “Now. Women, Equality, and the Legal Academy,” forthcoming in January 2026.
Maurice Stucke, Lindsay Young Distinguished Professor of Law, spoke at Fordham Law Review’s symposium, “Antitrust Law and Oligarchy: The Intersection of Markets, Democracy, and Power.” He presented his latest paper on AI, antitrust, and the marketplace of ideas.
Valorie K. Vojdik, Waller Lansden Distinguished Professor of Law, was among invited constitutional law scholar panelists at New York Law School on October 10 at a day-long event celebrating a new book by constitutional law and politics expert Professor Mark Graber (University of Maryland). The book, Punishing Treason, Rewarding Loyalty: The Forgotten Goals of Constitutional Reform after the Civil War, explores Reconstruction and the Fourteenth Amendment.