In February, Emory Law will host symposiums and lectures on current contentious legal issues including reproductive rights, government use of information gained through cell phones and GPS devices, homeownership in the age of foreclosure and international prosecution of war criminals.

Speakers include Emory Law’s own expert professors, a U.S. ambassador and Sarah Weddington, the attorney who argued Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court. The lectures are largely free, public and offer continuing legal education credit. All events are held at Emory Law. Please see registration pages for specific locations.

8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16
“The Changing Face of Reproductive Privacy”
Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade attorney
Legal Association for Women Students (LAWS) Annual Conference
Free and public, but registration required
CLE credit available ($5 per credit hour)

2013 marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark reproductive rights case, Roe v. Wade. In addition to arguing the case before the U.S. Supreme Court (at age 26), attorney and law professor Sarah Weddington went on to serve three terms in the Texas House of Representatives, as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as special assistant to President Jimmy Carter on women’s issues.

Weddington is keynote speaker for the 2013 LAWS Conference, which will focus on legal issues surrounding reproductive privacy. The conference affords an opportunity to learn more about Roe’s historical impact, current doctrine and the future implication for reproductive privacy cases, especially for women who are commonly under-represented. Online registration is available.

12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20
"Housing America's Families: Investments, Risks, and Families"
Frank S. Alexander, Sam Nunn Professor of Law
Currie Lecture in Law and Religion
Free and public
Lunch provided for those who RSVP by Feb. 15

Frank S. Alexander, Sam Nunn Professor of Law at Emory and founding director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, will discuss "Housing America's Families: Investments, Risks, and Families." As part of CSLR’s “When Law and Religion Meet 2012-2013” series, Alexander will reexamine the basic American ethos of housing and homeownership in light of the Great Recession. What are the goals of homeownership now? How do we balance the issue of housing as investment versus shelter? And how do we provide safe, decent and affordable housing for all Americans?

Alexander directs CSLR's Project on Affordable Housing and Community Development. He also is co-founder of the Center for Community Progress and one of the nation’s leading experts on the mortgage crisis, affordable housing, and homelessness. Online registration is available.

4-7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21
“The Evolution of the Fourth Amendment
Emory Law Criminal Law Society
Public, but $15 registration required
CLE credit available (cost covered by registration fee)

The Emory Law Criminal Law Society presents a discussion on the recent evolution of the Fourth Amendment with Alan C. Harvey 77L, a judge in the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County. Harvey often deals with warrants and search issues, and will address the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. v. Jones and the pending Florida v. Jardines case.

Three other Emory Law alumni, Robert Rubin 86L, Elizabeth Markowitz 90L and Jason Saliba 95L will discuss the impact of recent Fourth Amendment issues on the criminal justice system during a panel moderated by Emory Law Professor Kay Levine. Topics include government use of information generated by cell phone towers to track individuals, and whether police officers can extend a search incident to arrest to a personal cell phone or electronic device.

Rubin served in both the Fulton County Public Defenders Office and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office before he entered private practice (with an emphasis on criminal defense) in 1991. He also teaches criminal litigation at Emory Law as an adjunct professor.

Markowitz has served with the Fulton County Public Defender’s Office for 20 years, where her duties range from high-profile murder cases to oversight of the department that handles most of the county’s caseload. Markowitz is also an instructor for Emory Law’s Trial Techniques program.

Saliba is an assistant district attorney who leads Cobb County’s organized crime unit and has served on the board of the Metropolitan Atlanta High Technology Crimes Task Force. Online registration is available.

8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26
“Moving Forward: The Future of the International Criminal Court in Light of Recent Developments”
Emory International Law Review Symposium
Free, but registration required
CLE credit available ($50)

This year’s symposium features the David J. Bederman Lecture and keynote address by U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Stephen J. Rapp. Since his appointment by President Barack Obama in 2009, Rapp has led the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. Department of State.

Prior to his appointment, Rapp was prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and led the prosecutions of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and others for atrocities committed during that country’s civil war. Rapp’s office won the first convictions for recruiting child soldiers, sexual slavery and forced marriages as crimes under international humanitarian law.

Rapp also served as senior trial attorney and chief of prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and led the trial team that achieved convictions of the principals of RTLM radio and Kangura newspaper—“the first in history for leaders of the mass media for the crime of direct and public incitement to commit genocide,” according to the State Department.

The symposium also features a special presentation by Julian Nicholls 92L, United Nations trial attorney, and expert panels on impunity, positive complementarity, restorative and retributive justice, and the United States' stance on the ICC. Online registration is available.

8 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28
The 10th Annual Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal Symposium
Free and public, but registration required
CLE credit available ($75)

This year’s symposium includes two sessions: a corporate panel on municipal restructuring and a consumer panel on fiduciary exceptions to discharge with a focus on defalcation. Following an introduction by Emory Law Dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law Robert A. Schapiro, the corporate session will begin, with the following participants:

Patrick Darby, partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings ; Mark Kaufman, partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP; Marc Levinson, partner, Orrick; Eric Schaffer, partner, Reed Smith, moderated by Gary Marsh, partner, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.

The consumer panel will be moderated by Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal Executive Managing Editor Ed Philpot and features the following experts: The Hon. Paul W. Bonapfel, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia; John A. Thomson Jr., Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP; Richard Thomson, partner, Clark & Washington, P.C. Online registration is available.