Join the National Board of the Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law for the first of a four-part series on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. 

Guest speakers, Dean Vikram D. Amar and Professor Jane S. Schacter, will analyze the Dobbs opinion, the leak, the nature of rights under the Constitution, and whether Dobbs may cause other landmark decisions to be reconsidered or reversed. 

This program will count toward 1.5 hours of General CLE credit in Illinois.
 
We hope that our member organizations will use the Dobbs Series as an opportunity to gather and discuss the topics presented in an open and inclusive manner.

Presenters
Jane S. Schacter
Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

Jane S. Schacter is a leading national expert on statutory interpretation and the legislative process, constitutional law, and sexuality and the law. Her work has been published in leading law journals, and she co-edits casebooks on constitutional law and sexuality and the law. Professor Schacter’s scholarly emphasis across these subject areas is on institutional debates about the role of courts in a democracy.

Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2006, Professor Schacter was professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, as well as the University of Michigan Law School. Early in her career she was an assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, an associate at Hill & Barlow in Boston, and a law clerk to Judge Raymond J. Pettine of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

Vikram D. Amar
Dean, University of Illinois College of Law

Dean Amar joined the College of Law as its dean in 2015, after having been a professor of law for many years at law schools in the University of California System, most recently the UC Davis School of Law, where he served as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Amar is one of the most eminent and frequently cited authorities in constitutional law, federal courts, and civil procedure. He has produced several books and over 60 articles in leading law reviews. He is a co-author (along with Akhil Reed Amar and Steven Calabresi) of the upcoming edition of the six-volume Treatise on Constitutional Law (West Publishing Co., 6th ed. 2021) pioneered by Ron Rotunda and John Nowak, as well as the hardbound and soft-cover one-volume hornbooks that derive from it. He is also a co-author (along with Jonathan Varat) of Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 15th ed. 2017), a co-author on multiple volumes of the Wright & Miller Federal Practice and Procedure Treatise (West Publishing Co. 2006), and a co-author (along with John Oakley) of a one-volume treatise on American Civil Procedure (Kluwer, 2008). He writes a biweekly column on constitutional matters for Justia.com and a monthly column on legal education for abovethelaw.com, is a frequent commentator on local and national radio and TV, and has penned dozens of op-ed pieces for major newspapers and magazines.

Moderator

Anne Larson
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Chicago shareholder Anne Larson concentrates her practice on high stakes litigation. She defends Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class actions, EEOC pattern-or-practice and disparate impact claims, Title VII discrimination class actions, whistleblower lawsuits, and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions. Anne’s litigation experience has made her a go-to counselor and risk manager for clients on hiring and firing, disability accommodations, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issues and social media use, so they can focus on running their businesses and avoid or reduce the time drain and expense of litigation. Anne also conducts interactive anti-harassment training and regularly speaks on BIPA and biometric privacy issues, EEOC systemic investigations, transgender policies and social media issues in the workplace.

 Future programs will address the impact of the decision on the following topics:

Program 2: State Law Issues - state trigger laws, effects on reproductive medicine and criminal liability.
 
Program 3: Benefits - health insurance benefits, travel stipends, privacy and remote work.
 
Program 4: The Role of the Women's Initiative - practical tools to support women in law initiatives' efforts to help women impacted by Dobbs, including through effective education, advocacy, pro bono programs and other initiatives.
 
Dates and speakers for the upcoming programs will be announced as they become available.