UCI Law’s New Fair Elections and Free Speech Center

The University of California, Irvine School of Law has launched the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center, dedicated to “advancing an understanding of, and offering means to counter, threats to the stability and legitimacy of democratic governments exacerbated by the unregulated growth of digital media and other technological changes in mass communication.”

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Automating Repossession

Automating Repossession addresses a question that has no clear answer in commercial law – does a creditor have the right to remotely disable collateral upon its debtor’s default? As physical goods are increasingly connected to online networks in ways that allow their sellers to control their use, it is possible for secured lenders to deploy a remote and automated repossessor to disable tangible collateral in the event of a borrower’s default. Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which allows a secured creditor to repossess collateral upon its debtor’s default without resorting to the courts only if it can do so without a breach of the peace, does not address this practice.

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As the Revolving Door Turns: Government Lawyers Entering or Returning to Private Practice and Conflicts of Interest

Government lawyers regularly leave public service for private law practice — often through the same revolving door that launched their public careers. The law firms they join or to which they return welcome them because of the experience they gained, and the expertise they developed, while in the government. The challenge for former government lawyers and their law firms is recognizing and managing conflicts of interest that sometimes arise out of lawyers’ government service.

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