Ken Rosen, associate professor of law, is in Vienna, Austria, serving as the United States National Reporter on Company Law and the Law of Succession as part of the 19th Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law. The IACL brings together noted legal experts from around the world every four years to assist the development of law by producing reports that allow comparisons of different national approaches to important legal subject matters. Professor Rosen was selected to analyze the complex intersection between laws related to business entities and estates in the United States, resulting in his national report that is being shared with international colleagues in Vienna.

Joseph Colquitt, the Jere L. Beasley Professor of Law and director of Trial Advocacy, recently received the Chief Justice’s Professionalism Award from the Alabama State Bar. The honor recognizes a judge or lawyer for outstanding contribution in advancing the professionalism of the legal profession in Alabama. Colquitt served as a Circuit Court Judge in Tuscaloosa County from 1971 to 1991.

Heather Elliott, associate professor of law, recently joined other legal scholars in The Wall Street Journal, saying House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to sue President Barack Obama will face obstacles.

Delays in Affordable Care Act deadlines, No Child Left Behind law waivers and other Obama administration actions are executive abuses, Republicans say.

It’s unclear, Elliott said, whether the House could meet  the standing threshold without the Senate’s blessing because the Senate is controlled by Democrats. Read more at “Hurdles Lie Ahead for Potential Boehner Lawsuit.”

Professor Paul Horwitz recently wrote in The New York Times that Americans should expect many more Hobby Lobbies.

“A country that cannot even agree on the idea of religious accommodation, let alone on what terms, is unlikely to agree on what to do next,” wrote the Gordon Rosen Professor of Law and author of First Amendment Institutions. “A country in which many states cannot manage to pass basic anti-discrimination laws covering sexual orientation is one whose culture wars may be beyond the point of compromise.” For more, read “Hobby Lobby Is Only the Beginning.”

The innovative course, The Business of Being a Lawyer, is now a book. The Business of Being a Lawyer (West Academic Publishing) by Pamela Bucy Pierson provides practical tips and advice on how lawyers should treat themselves as a business. The book focuses on the changing economics of the legal marketplace, 20 financial decisions most lawyers make, the importance of emotional intelligence, and how to be an effective free agent. Pierson, a former federal prosecutor, is the Bainbridge-Mims Professor of Law.

Professor Paul Horwitz, the Gordon Rosen Professor of Law, participated in a Q&A for al.com readers and put the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby in perspective. For starters, he did not find the decision surprising.

“The (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) is a powerful statute, passed by an overwhelming majority of Congress and strongly worded to place a thumb on the side of government accommodation of religion,” he said. Click here to read more of “‘The outcome here was not a shock,’ says Alabama law professor on Hobby Lobby ruling.”

Paul Sloderbeck recently won first place in the 2014 Environmental Law Essay contest sponsored by the Environmental Law Section of the Alabama State Bar. He will receive $1,000 for “Ecuador’s 2008 Constitutional Rights of Nature: A Step Toward Nature-Centered Rights in South America or Utilitarian Anthropocentrism in Disguise?” for a paper he wrote in International Environmental Law Seminar.

Tom Ksobiech, assistant dean for career services, said law firms have reached out to the Law School for hiring.

“There are a couple of prominent national firms that have contacted us about 3Ls because they did not have summer associate coverage,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

Summer classes are increasing at large firms in Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville and Birmingham, he said. For more, read “Big Law Firms Resume Hiring.”

Professor Montre Carodine was featured in a recent Alabama Public Radio broadcast on the Affordable Health Care Act. Carodine says the federal government is limited in how it can penalize citizens who don’t have healthcare insurance because the act doesn’t allow it to garnish wages or issue tax liens. “So they don’t have any way to get it other than to take money from you that they owe you.” For more, read and listen to “No Health Insurance? You May Owe More Money on Next Year’s Taxes.”

Gene Marsh, an emeritus law professor, has watched as his sports law class increased from 30 students just a few years ago to nearly 60 students this year, according to a recent Tuscaloosa News article. As professional players’ and coaches’ salaries soar, law schools are offering classes and law firms are including it as part of their practices. Read more at “Field of Sports Law Grows with Athletic Industry.”