There's not a warship for miles, a small pirate skiff is speeding toward you and there's no way the creaking tub you're on can outrun the bandits. How long do you wait before you shoot? It's just one of many possible dilemmas facing an increasing number of private security companies who offer armed escorts – known in the industry as "shipriders" – to guard against Somali pirates Dean Kenneth C. Randall spoke with the Associated Press’ Katharine Houreld about the international law implications of such a question for the June 5, 2009 article, "Companies Hire 'Shipriders' Against Somali Pirates."

The Career Services Office reported 97.4% of Alabama Law’s 2008 graduates as employed within 9 months of graduation. This is the 13th consecutive year that the Law School has had its employment rate above 95%. Also, the number of employers who visited Alabama’s campus last Fall to conduct jobs interviews with our law students increased by over 20%. Click here to view video clips of Alabama Law graduates sharing the stories of their out-of-state experiences.

Podcasts are now available from the February 27, 2009 Law, Knowledge & Imagination symposium titled, "Speech and Silence in American Law." Cambridge University Press will be publishing the papers in this symposium as well as those in UA Law’s previous forum held in October 2008 titled, "Sovereignty, Emergency and Legality."

The Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, has committed to present UA Law’s Albritton Lecture in 2010. Justice Clarence Thomas will give this same lecture in fall 2009, which will mark the second time he has spoken to Alabama’s law students. The Law School was honored to welcome Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, of the Supreme Court of Canada, to Tuscaloosa on March 9 to present the spring 2009 Albritton Lecture. Her speech is available for download in mp3/podcast format.