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Monday, October 31, 2011

UNLV to Host 8th Annual Colloquium on Labor and Employment Law


The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to anounce that it has been selected to host the 8th Annual Colloquium on Labor and Employment Law. Professors Ann McGinley (right) and Ruben Garcia will be organizing the conference, scheduled for fall 2013, and other Boyd faculty members will be attending and participating in the conference as well. Additional conference details are forthcoming. Please put the 8th Annual Colloquium on Labor and Employment Law on your fall 2013 calendars!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Circuit Split on Corporate Liability under the ATCA Now at the U.S. Supreme Court


By Professor Rachel Anderson

The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum on October 17, 2011. 621 F.3d 111 (2d Cir. 2010), cert. granted, 80 U.S.L.W. 3237 (U.S. Oct. 17, 2011)(No. 10-1491).  This means that, among other things, the Supreme Court will be deciding a split between the Second, on one side, and the Fifth, Seventh, Eleventh, and District of Columbia Circuits, and now also the Ninth Circuit, on the other side, on whether corporations can be held liable for torts committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350.  In Kiobel, which was decided by the Second Circuit on September 17, 2010, the majority of a three-person panel held that “the customary international law of human rights has not to date recognized liability for corporations that violate its norms.” 621 F.3d 111, 125 (2010). In Sarei v. Rio Tinto, decided by the Ninth Circuit on Oct. 25, 2011, the majority of the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc held that "a violation of a sufficiently established international norm" could give rise to a cause of action for corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute. Rio Tinto, slip op. at 19341, __ F.3d at *7.  As is noted in the opinion itself, "this holding puts [the Ninth Circuit majority] at odds with the Second Circuit majority in Kiobel." Rio Tinto, slip op. at 19363, __ F.3d at *20 (citing 621 F.3d at 120).  For more information about the Ninth Circuit’s holding in Rio Tinto go to Corporate Liability Under the ATCA: Rio Tinto Revisited, Oct. 26, 2011. Kiobel will be argued in tandem with Mohamad v. Rajoub, 634 F.3d 604 (D.C. Cir. 2011), cert. granted, 80 U.S.L.W. 3059 (U.S. Oct. 17, 2011)(No. 11-88).  For more information about the questions presented by these two cases go to U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Issue of Corporate Liability For Human Rights Violations, Oct. 19, 2011.

Professor Rapoport's Blogspot Named to Top 25 Business Law Blogs of 2011


The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Nancy Rapoport's Blogspot has been selected as one of the LexisNexis Top 25 Business Law Blogs of 2011. Each of the Top 25 Business Law Blogs creates an invaluable content space for corporate- and securities-related matters. Nancy Rapoport's Blogspot also contains content about governance in higher education, bankruptcy ethics, popular culture and the law, professional responsibility, movies, and ballroom and Latin dancing. Congratulations, Nancy!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Is it Time for an International Convention on Online Gambling?


By Professor Marketa Trimble

At the 2011 International Gaming Conference organized by the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) on September 30 – October 2, 2011, I suggested to AndrĂ© Wilsenach, the CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, that the time is right for an international convention on online gambling. Our conversation concerned online gambling not only because of Mr. Wilsenach’s pioneering role in online gambling regulation but also because of the Conference’s focus on online gambling. Although not all Conference panels were organized to address online gambling specifically, the discussions always gravitated to the inescapable issues of online gambling regulation.