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Professor Shubha Ghosh Comments on the DOJ’s Request to Break up Google and Force the Sale of Chrome

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh recently spoke with the Associated Press on the DOJ’s request that a federal judge impose several sanctions to break up Google’s monopoly on search engines and other technologies. The request includes the potential sale of the Chrome web browser and that its Android operating system should be completely walled off from the company’s search engine.

“It is probably going a little beyond,” Ghosh said of the Chrome breakup. “The remedies should match the harm; it should match the transgression. This does seem a little beyond that pale.”

Austin Dewey L’26 and Madison Mahar L’26 Win the First Annual Entertainment Negotiation Competition

Austin Dewey L’26 and Madison Mahar L’26 prevailed over William Baldwin L’27 and Brady Sterpe L’27 in Syracuse Law’s First Annual Entertainment Negotiation Competition (ENC), hosted by the Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS).

The final round was judged by Veronica Ramirez L’18 Owner and Lead Attorney at Curator Counsel; Barry Slotnick L’72, Chair of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Litigation at Loeb & Loeb; and Payton Sorci L’22, Legal Assistant at Endeavor.

The ENC covered various entertainment law topics, including Intellectual Property, Contracts, and Finance. Teams negotiated terms for a fictional series of fact patterns centered on Justin Bieber: a record deal between Bieber and Universal Records; a brand endorsement deal between Bieber and Balenciaga; a movie deal between Bieber and Marvel Studios; and for the final round, a Vegas residency deal between Bieber and Caesars Palace.

The ESLS will host its 5th Annual Sports Negotiation Competition in Spring, 2025.

Professor Emeritus William Banks Discusses the Use of the National Guard by President-elect Trump to Deport Immigrants

Professor Emeritus William Banks recently spoke with the Boston Globe for the story “Could Donald Trump really deport undocumented immigrants who live in Mass.?”

Banks points to Trump using the Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard. The president does not need a governor’s approval to invoke the act, Banks said, though lawsuits against the move would be likely.

If Trump were to successfully federalize the National Guard, he would not only have authority over the Massachusetts National Guard, but he would also be able to send National Guard troops from other states here.

“That would be pretty extreme — but it’s not implausible,” Banks said. “The Insurrection Act has such an open texture to it, that presidents can run with it.”

The article may be behind a paywall.

Syracuse Law Team Competes in the National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition

Alexa Connaughton L’25 and Elyse Maniccia L’26 recently competed in the National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition (NVLMCC), the nation’s most prestigious veterans law appellate competition. Seth Owens L’24, Betty and Miachel D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic Staff Attorney, coached the team and was assisted by Army JAG Major Nick VanErp.

The students were judged 1/3 on the content of their brief, 1/3 on their first argument, and 1/3 on their second argument. While the Syracuse Law team did not advance past the initial round, they proudly represented the College of Law. They had a positive experience learning the unique complexities of veterans law. 

“I am very proud of their effort; both students were great ambassadors for Syracuse Law. One may even be interested in changing their preferred career path to pursue veterans law after this experience,” says Owens. “I would also like to note that we were the only team eliminated on day one to attend all rounds of the final arguments. The students enjoyed watching the competitors and used it as an opportunity to further their advocacy skills and self-reflect.”

First organized in 2009, NVLMCC is sponsored annually by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Bar Association, and the George Washington University Law School (GW Law). The NVLMCC is the nation’s premier moot court focusing on veterans law. Hosted close to Veterans Day each fall in Washington, DC, the NVLMCC brings together 28 teams of two students from around the country to argue cutting-edge veterans law issues before panels of distinguished practitioners and judges.

The NVLMCC prides itself on the authenticity of the problems and the quality of its judges. The record on appeal and the documents included look like what would be found in a real veterans law case. The judges for the briefs and the oral arguments are drawn from the ranks of experienced veterans law practitioners. In particular, the final round of each NVLMCC is presided over by a panel of judges from the CAVC in their courtroom. Few moot court competitions can boast an experience that is so true to actual practice.

George Saad L’25 Wins Best Cross-Examination at the Buffalo-Niagara Trial Competition

George Saad L’25 won the Best Cross-Examination award at the Buffalo-Niagara Trial Competition. His cross-examination was deemed the best out of 96 cross-examinations during the preliminary rounds. The Syracuse Law team of Tania Rivera-Bullard, Dannah Henderson, Lisa Musto, Saad, Kaylee Searcy, and Taylor Shawver finished in 5th place out of 24 teams.

The team was coached by Tyler Jefferies L’ 21.

Professor Gregory Germain Provides The Hill with Legal Insights into President-elect Trump’s State Cases

The Hill’s article “Trump allies remain in legal peril despite his election victory” called upon Professor Gregory Germain’s blog post for insight into what happens to Trump’s criminal and civil cases after his election.

“In all likelihood, the state criminal cases will be put on hold during Trump’s presidency,” he wrote. “If they try to continue with the prosecutions, or even to impose a stayed sentence, I suspect the decisions will be reversed on appeal.” 

Professor Shubha Ghosh Invited to the Editorial Board of MDPI

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh has accepted an invitation to the editorial board of MDPI, an international publisher of open-access scientific, professional, and technical journals.

Professor Ghosh, director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute, will provide editorial guidance on various legal topics, including intellectual property, innovation law, entrepreneurship, competition law (antitrust), and comparative and international law.

About MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly, open-access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. Based in Basel, Switzerland, MDPI has the mission to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines.

Our 455 diverse and open-access journals, including 446 peer-reviewed journals and 9 conference journals, are supported by more than 295,000 academic experts who share our mission, values, and commitment to providing high-quality service for our authors. We serve scholars from around the world to ensure the latest research is freely available and all content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

MDPI’s portfolio comprises at least 237 journals with impact factors, 72% of which are ranked in the top 2 quartiles of their respective fields.

Professor Gregory Germain Discusses Elon Musk’s PAC with Newsweek

Professor Gregory Germain has weighed in on the legality of Elon Musk’s PAC, America, with Newsweek.

According to Germain, the PAC may have broken the law. “I think the PAC and its donors are vulnerable to consumer fraud and possibly election fraud claims if they make inconsistent statements about the process, or fail to disclose how the information the PAC receives will be used,” he said.

Professor Shubha Ghosh Writes “In Visa Case, DOJ Continues To Misapply The Sherman Act” at Law360

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh has contributed the opinion article “In Visa Case, DOJ Continues To Misapply The Sherman Act” at Law360.

The article reviews the Department of Justice’s case against Visa, claiming that Visa is monopolizing the U.S. debit network services market. Ghosh also examines the history of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the DOJ’s claims, and other factors in the case.

In his conclusion, Ghosh says “Under the Biden administration, the DOJ has already reaped significant criticism for disregarding these long-adhered-to standards, and its Visa case will inevitably receive the same degree of scrutiny.”