Distinguished Professor of Law Nina Kohn spoke with PBS News Hour on new legislation under consideration, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act. According to the story, the proposed legislation would give open-end investment companies, including mutual funds, the ability to pause redemption requests from people 65 and older or people with disabilities when the institution believes financial fraud or exploitation is at play.
“Financial exploitation is a huge problem in this country,” said Kohn. “The concern is, in part, that individuals may lose their life savings. Financial institutions and entities that are holding individuals’ money can be empowered to help put the brakes on scams by delaying disbursement to a suspected victim.”
Kohn notes that a concern about the legislation is that it interferes with self-determination. “Allowing financial institutions to stop customers from accessing their own money may verge into limiting people’s ability to make choices about their lives and their own funds,” Kohn said.
She also points out that if financial holds are good for people over 65 and people with disabilities, why not make it universal across all people? “I think that speaks to our willingness as a society to curtail the self-determination and financial independence of older adults and people with disabilities to a degree that we are not comfortable curtailing the self-determination and financial independence of other adults,” she said.
Shubha Ghosh, Crandall Melvin Professor of Law, was invited to present at the 44th Annual Congress of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property in Brazil. The theme of the Congress was Intellectual Property and Politics: From Power Relations to Realpolitik.
Ghosh, Director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute, spoke on Democracy, Exclusivity, and Competition.
In his presentation, Ghosh examined IP through the interconnected lenses of law, politics, and policy, arguing that these three dimensions continuously shape and reshape one another. He contended that IP should not be viewed as an autonomous legal regime, but as an institution whose evolution reflects political choices, public policy objectives, and constitutional values. Drawing on examples from patent, copyright, competition, and pharmaceutical law, Ghosh illustrated how legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, and private actors collectively influence the development of IP rules. Ghosh argued that understanding this dynamic relationship among law, politics, and policy is essential to addressing the challenges posed by AI, market concentration, and technological innovation while preserving democratic governance and the public interest.
Syracuse University College of Law has nominated Rebekah Gil L’26 and Maxwell Charest L’26 for the 2026 Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Outstanding Student Awards, recognizing their exemplary work in the College’s nationally recognized experiential learning program.
Gil was nominated for the CLEA Outstanding Clinic Student Award for her leadership and advocacy in the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic. Charest was nominated for the CLEA Outstanding Externship Student Award for his exceptional commitment to judicial externship work across local, state, and federal courts.
The Clinical Legal Education Association recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in clinical and externship education, including strong lawyering skills, professionalism, reflection, collaboration, and meaningful contributions to clients, courts, law school communities, and the broader legal profession. Syracuse Law’s 2026 nominees reflect the depth and strength of the College’s commitment to preparing practice-ready graduates through hands-on legal education.
“Syracuse Law’s clinics and externship programs give students the opportunity to step into real legal roles, serve real clients and communities, and develop the judgment, professionalism, and confidence they will need as lawyers,” said Professor Beth Kubala, Executive Director of the Office of Clinical Legal Education. “Rebekah and Max represent the very best of that mission. Their work reflects not only individual excellence, but also the power of experiential learning to advance justice.”
Rebekah Gil: Leadership and Client-Centered Advocacy in the Veterans Legal Clinic
Rebekah Gil was nominated for the CLEA Outstanding Clinic Student Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership, initiative, and commitment to client-centered advocacy as a Veterans Legal Clinic II student.
During the Fall 2025 semester, Gil took on a pivotal leadership role in preparing a team of 10 new Veterans Legal Clinic I students for a complex Board of Veterans’ Appeals hearing on behalf of an Army veteran. The case involved five separate and highly technical physical conditions on appeal, requiring careful legal analysis, coordination, and strategic preparation.
Gil organized the student team into smaller working groups, assigning each pair of students responsibility for a specific medical condition. She guided them through relevant provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations, helped them analyze diagnostic codes, assess potential disability ratings, and identify the evidence needed to support increased ratings. She also worked closely with each team to develop thoughtful, targeted questions for the veteran to strengthen the evidentiary record.
Beyond managing the legal preparation, Gil ensured that both the student attorneys and the client were ready for the hearing. She conducted moot sessions, refined arguments, and ultimately helped lead the hearing with professionalism, confidence, and legal acumen well beyond what is expected of a law student.
The Administrative Law Judge remarked on the team’s exceptional preparation, and the veteran expressed deep gratitude for the thorough and compassionate representation. While a decision remains pending, the quality of advocacy delivered was exemplary, due in large part to Gil’s leadership and dedication.
Her nomination reflects the core values of clinical legal education: rigorous preparation, collaboration, professional judgment, and service to clients whose legal matters have profound personal significance.
Maxwell Charest: Advancing Justice Through Judicial Externships
Maxwell Charest was nominated for the CLEA Outstanding Externship Student Award in recognition of his exceptional commitment to judicial externship work and his deliberate preparation for a career serving the administration of justice.
During his time at Syracuse Law, Charest completed three distinct judicial externships, each selected to deepen his understanding of the judicial process and prepare him for future work as a judicial law clerk.
He began in Fall 2024 with the Honorable Melinda H. McGunnigle, where he developed foundational judicial skills in criminal law at the county court level. In Spring 2025, he expanded his experience through an externship with the Honorable Richard Latin of the New York State Supreme Court, Queens County. Most recently, in Spring 2026, Charest completed a federal judicial externship with Magistrate Judge Mitchell Katz in the Northern District of New York.
Through these placements, Charest demonstrated extraordinary dedication to experiential learning, public service, and the careful work of courts. His progression from local to state to federal court reflects thoughtful career planning and a sustained commitment to judicial service.
Charest’s fieldwork supported the efficient administration of justice, contributed to the fair adjudication of cases, and served litigants who depend on the judicial system. His completion of three prestigious judicial externships exemplifies the professionalism, discipline, and reflective practice that the CLEA Outstanding Externship Student Award is designed to recognize.
Syracuse Law’s Commitment to Experiential Learning
Syracuse Law’s nomination of Gil and Charest underscores the College’s longstanding strength in experiential legal education. Through its in-house clinics, externship placements, pro bono opportunities, and skills-based coursework, Syracuse Law students engage directly with clients, courts, agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community partners while developing the habits of professional judgment and ethical lawyering.
The College’s clinical program includes seven in-house clinics serving clients and communities across a wide range of practice areas. Its externship program connects students with meaningful field placements in judicial chambers, government offices, nonprofit organizations, and other legal settings where students can apply classroom learning in real-world environments under close supervision.
Together, these programs reflect Syracuse Law’s commitment to graduating lawyers who are prepared not only to enter the profession, but to lead with skill, integrity, and purpose.
Gil and Charest’s nominations for the 2026 CLEA Outstanding Student Awards recognize two students whose work exemplifies the highest ideals of experiential legal education: service, preparation, reflection, professionalism, and impact.
The award, established by the standing committee in 1997, recognizes lawyers who have demonstrated sustained commitment and made exceptional contributions to the field of law and national security.
According to the ABA, “Baker was recognized for his career as a Marine officer, presidential legal adviser, federal appellate judge and scholar whose four-decade career has been devoted to advancing the rule of law in the service of national security. He also has shaped the field through influential writing, including ‘In the Common Defense,’ an explanation of national security law in the post-9/11 era, and ‘The Centaur’s Dilemma,’ a visionary exploration of how artificial intelligence would reshape national security. In addition, he has helped mentor a generation of national security lawyers through the standing committee’s annual ethics seminar.”
Associate Professor of Law Jenny Breen spoke with WHAM-TV on recent Supreme Court of the United States decisions, including Watson v. Republican National Committee (Election Law) and Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter (independent agencies.) Breen’s interview starts at 2:24 of the segment.
Referring to Watson v. Republican National Committee, Breen said: “The way the court decided this particular issue is by looking at a statute that governs mail-in ballots and holding that that statute does not specify that the ballots do not have to be in by Election Day.”
In comparing the two independent agencies cases, Breen commented, “What the Supreme Court held in the FTC case was that Trump could fire Rebecca Slaughter for no reason at all. They got rid of for-cause removal for that particular agency, but for the Federal Reserve they kept intact for-cause removal. Lisa Cook could still be fired, but Trump would need to follow procedures and give her notice and an opportunity to respond.”
Distinguished Professor of Law Nina Kohn has co-authored an article with Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, titled “Why Many Older Americans are Losing Ground Even with an 80‑year‑old President,” published in The Conversation.
The elder law experts examine recent federal legislation affecting older Americans, including Social Security cuts and the rescinding of long-term care regulations, in light of the fact that many elected officials are themselves elderly.
The authors argue that “those policies show why, more than ever, it is wrong to assume that rich and powerful older people will protect all older adults, including those who aren’t wealthy.”
Five Students in Syracuse University College of Law’s Spring 2026 Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC) have received the 2026 Student Service Award from the National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium (NLSVCC) in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the Consortium and the field of Veterans Law.
The award was presented at the National Conference of the National Law School Veterans Clinic Consortium, held at Stetson University College of Law. Professor Beth Kubala, Director of the VLC, and Staff Attorneys Seth Owens L’24 and Andrew Patterson L’24 accepted the award on behalf of the Spring 2026 student attorneys.
The NLSVCC Student Service Award is presented each year to a student or students in a member law school veterans clinic who, over the course of the last year, have made outstanding contributions to the work of the Consortium. The award recognizes meaningful service to the organization and its mission, including work that advances veterans law, supports law school veterans clinics, and contributes to broader advocacy on behalf of veterans and their families.
In notifying the clinic of the award, the NLSVCC wrote: “On behalf of the NLSVCC board, I want to inform you that we will be awarding your students with the Student Service Award, which is awarded each year to a student in a member law school veterans clinic who, over the course of the last year, made outstanding contributions to the NLSVCC’s work. Your students have helped us get our blog back up and running, and we are grateful for it.”
This year, Syracuse Law’s Spring 2026 VLC students were honored for their contributions to the Veterans Law Prof Blog, a national platform for commentary and analysis on issues affecting veterans, servicemembers, and their families. Each student in the spring clinic authored a blog post addressing a timely and important issue in veterans law and policy.
The student contributors were:
Hannah Boyer L’27
Josephine Estrada-Jones L’27
Amelia Khbais L’27
Afan Mustafic L’26
Mia Sill L’27
Their articles addressed topics including Veterans Treatment Courts, homeless veteran support, the myth of “easy” discharge upgrades, and media claims of fraudulent disability claims. Together, the posts reflected the students’ careful legal analysis, commitment to public education, and dedication to elevating issues that affect veterans navigating complex legal and administrative systems.
“This award recognizes the important role law students can play in shaping public understanding of veterans law,” said Kubala. “Our Spring 2026 student attorneys brought thoughtfulness, professionalism, and purpose to their work. Their articles helped explain complex issues in a way that is accessible and meaningful, while also contributing to the national conversation about how we serve veterans and their families.”
The recognition also reflects the broader mission of the VLC, where students represent veterans and their families in matters involving U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits, discharge upgrades, and related legal issues. Under faculty and attorney supervision, student attorneys develop practical lawyering skills while providing client-centered representation to those who have served.
In addition to direct client advocacy, the clinic emphasizes legal scholarship, policy awareness, and service to the broader veterans law community. The Spring 2026 students’ work on the Veterans Law Prof Blog offered an opportunity to connect their clinical experience with public-facing analysis, helping readers better understand the legal challenges and policy debates that shape veterans’ access to justice.
The award is a significant national recognition of Syracuse Law students’ contributions to the NLSVCC and to the field of veterans law. It also underscores Syracuse Law’s strength in experiential legal education, where students learn by doing, serve real clients and communities, and contribute to important legal conversations beyond the classroom.
“Their work demonstrates what clinical legal education is designed to do,” said Kubala. “It prepares students to become skilled, ethical, and reflective lawyers while also making a meaningful difference for clients, communities, and the profession.”
Professor Shubha Ghosh recently addressed the 4th International Conference on New Frontiers of Sanskrit and Indic Knowledge, a production of the Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, dedicated to “the preservation of Indian cultural heritage and its knowledge traditions through higher education.”
Ghosh lecture was included as part of Working Group III (New Knowledge Production and Indian Public Policy). Ghosh was joined in the Working Group by Dr. Sanjay Bapna of Morgan State University; Dr. Harsha Vardhana Singh of Tufts’ Fletcher School; Anubha Sinha of the Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru; and Dr. Badri Narayanan of University of Washington.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cited a Syracuse Law Review article written by Professor of Law Roy Gutterman L’00 in the case Satanic Temple, Inc. v. Newsweek Digit. LLC, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 15175, 2026 LX 295417, __ F.4th __, 2026 WL 1502095 (United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 2026).
The citation: Roy S. Gutterman, New York: The Media and Media Law Capital, 75 Syracuse L. Rev. 765, 765-69 (2025) detailing the history of New York as “the media capital of the world,” and noting that “The Associate Press, the world’s largest news service, has its global headquarters in New York City and countless magazines and their parent companies are based in New York”.
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with Bloomberg Law on a possible appeal by Elon Musk after the jury decision in the Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial. The jury found that the statute of limitations expired before Musk filed the suit and did not wade into the merits of Musk’s claims.
“We haven’t reached those substantive issues yet,” said Ghosh. “And it’s not quite clear whether we ever will get to see them.”
