KU Law student publishes article in Journal of Internet Law
Professor to help clarify law of international commercial arbitration
KU Law moot court teams earn awards in national competitions
You’re not as safe as you think you are.
At least that’s the case when it comes to transmitting information over the Internet, says Cody Wamsley, a student at the University of Kansas School of Law.
“Given the fundamental physical structure of the Internet, virtually anyone connected to the Internet has access to any data transmitted over it,” Wamsley says.
The third-year law student analyzes potential legal solutions to this problem in an article titled “Internet Transmissions: Who Owns the Data and Who Protects It?” The paper appears in the February issue of the Journal of Internet Law. The monthly publication contains scholarship on legal issues and business developments brought about by emerging online systems and computer networks.
In his article, Wamsley argues that the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act offers scant protection to data transmitted over the Internet. Moreover, he finds that property law, privacy law and contract law don’t provide adequate safeguards either.
Ultimately, Wamsley concludes that the best way to protect data is with advanced encryption technology and “to act with awareness that information sent can be intercepted and used by anyone at any time.”
Having an article published in an influential, peer-reviewed publication like the Journal of Internet Law would be an impressive accomplishment for a faculty member, let alone a student, says Andrew Torrance, associate professor of law.
“Cody is one of the finest students I've had the pleasure to teach at KU law school,” Torrance says. “His intuitive grasp of intellectual property, patent law and cyberlaw is so strong that he is able not only to articulate complex legal doctrines fluently, but to question the origins, assumptions and logical bases underlying those doctrines.”
Wamsley, a Wichita native, majored in computer engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara and then transferred to the University of Kansas, where he earned his bachelor’s in business administration. His emphasis at KU Law has been intellectual property law. He is pursuing a Media, Law and Policy certificate and is chair of the Cyberlaw Committee for the Intellectual Property Law Student Association. He is set to graduate in May.
A University of Kansas School of Law professor will play a major role in solidifying the legal principles that guide international commercial arbitration as part of a new project being undertaken by the American Law Institute.
Christopher R. Drahozal, the John M. Rounds Professor of Law, has been asked to serve as an associate reporter for the “Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration.”
The ALI–a prestigious organization of legal practitioners, judges and academics–clarifies and simplifies legal principles that have developed, often haphazardly, through case law. This is frequently accomplished through “restatements,” which collect and analyze case law from various courts and other authoritative sources governing a particular area of law.
In issuing these restatements, the ALI identifies majority and minority views on various aspects of a subject, as well as trends in the law, said Gail Agrawal, dean of the law school.
“The restatements, which are updated regularly, have become an essential research tool for practitioners, judges and academics, and are enormously influential in the development of law," she said.
Drahozal, who is known internationally for his scholarly work on the law and economics of dispute resolution, says the project is being started now because of the importance of arbitration in resolving international commercial disputes and because U.S. law governing international arbitration has serious limitations.
“The governing statute and principal treaty–the New York Convention–do not address many important issues, and courts have reached conflicting decisions in a variety of areas,” he said. “My hope, at least, is that a restatement of U.S. law on international commercial arbitration can reduce the uncertainty facing parties who are considering whether to arbitrate in the United States, as well as assist courts in using U.S. law to enforce arbitration agreements and awards.”
As an associate reporter, Drahozal will be responsible for drafting and revising substantial portions of the restatement, in consultation with other project reporters and committees of experts in the field. The result will be a lengthy treatise dealing with the law of international commercial arbitration.
The bulk of initial drafting for the project will take place over the next several years. Drahozal will be on sabbatical during the 2008-2009 academic year.
Several University of Kansas School of Law students have earned awards in recent national moot court competitions.
Maria Salcedo, a second-year student, brought home the top prize for presenting the best set of oral arguments at the regional level of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Feb. 21-24 in Houston. Teammate Michael Lee, a first-year student, won the award for third-best set of oral arguments.
More than 80 students competed in the oral argument phase of the competition, and more than 20 teams took part in the overall regional contest.
Participation in Jessup is an important element of the law school’s International and Comparative Law Program. Previous KU teams have won the regional competition several times and the world championship twice.
Despite its strong showing, this year’s team–which also consisted of second-year students Ashlyn Buck, Danielle Davey and Matt Sterling–did not advance into the upper reaches of the competition.
A two-member team from KU Law competed Feb. 21-23 at the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace University Law School in White Plains, N.Y. Jenny Calvert and Bob Johnson, both third-year students, argued well and received good feedback but did not advance to the quarterfinal round. However, Calvert won Best Oralist in the last round in which the team competed. The competition draws in excess of 200 participants.
In addition, Burton Warrington, a second-year student, and Bud Scott, a third-year student, advanced through two rounds of competition at the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition Feb. 21-23 in Tempe, Ariz.
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