Those interested in labor issues should check out paragraph 156 of Pope Leo's new encyclical on AI. While media is covering his warnings, no one yet is covering his challenge to the labor movement. He calls on labor unions to be open to new types of employment relationships and defend workers.

Thanks to the Harvard Law Bankruptcy Roundtable for featuring my Essay Bankruptcy as Presidential Resistance. It argues that bankruptcy should be part of a toolkit that Democratic cities use to combat Trump's cutting off of federal grant funds. bankruptcyroundtable.law.harvard.edu/2026/05/26/b...

I have a lot of concerns about Puerto Rico's future post-PROMESA. Thanks to Caribbean Business for quoting me on a matter so near and dear to me. caribbean.business/puerto-ricos...

Quoted here @propublica.org: Experts on Puerto Rican finance and politics say the relationship between González-Colón and the Trump administration is symbiotic though lopsided. “I see it more as a situation of unrequited love,” said Alvin Velazquez.. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

I am thrilled that SLR has published my Article "Bankrupting Labor Power." I hope that trade unionists and those in the @lpeproject.bsky.social space read it and think about the possibilities and how it could support worker organizing.

In 2012, Puerto Rico's debt load was equal to 100% of its Gross Domestic Product. Puerto Rico issued its last investment grade debt in 2013, and a junk offering in 2014. By 2015, Puerto Rico had defaulted. Sadly, the United States's debt load is 100% of GDP.

Thanks to @lpeproject.bsky.social for including my work and @charlottegarden.bsky.social 's joint work on this list of must read articles and upcoming scholarship. There is a lot of good stuff on this list, and a lot of it is very timely.

Today, a spring scouting report on some of the hottest new LPE and LPE-adjacent articles. Congrats to all the authors on such wonderful placements 🎉

The Fordham Urban Law Journal just published my Essay "Bankruptcy as Presidential Resistance". It urges state legislatures to authorize their cities and states to seek bankruptcy protection in the event that Trump takes their grant funds. ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Bernie Sanders discusses the state of the labor movement as it contends with the “most consequential, by far, industrial revolution in the history of the world." Interview: bit.ly/4tIAG2E

Interested in AI and labor law? @charlottegarden.bsky.social and I just drafted this book chapter called "The Divided States of Work Law: Regulating U.S. Workplaces in the Age of AI". Check it out here papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

How might we revive a pro-labor vision of the Constitution, and how would such a vision relate to the Constitution’s broader democratic purpose? Today, Kate Andrias, Willy Forbath, Jennifer Abruzzo, Keith Bolek, Andrea Hoeschen, Darin Dalmat, and Alvin Velazquez share their perspectives.

Today, Mariana Pargendler explains how, in 1937, Brazil adopted a bold legal innovation to protect workers that remains virtually nonexistent in the Global North: imposing joint and several liability on parent companies for labor obligations.

Law professors in action! Check it out!

Workers’s rights and freedoms are under attack. Under fierce attack. www.americanprogress.org/article/nlrb...

A moving essay by my colleague Amna Akbar: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

I almost cried during the Bad Bunny show when I saw the workers repairing the electrical system. I spent years working on Puerto Rico's crisis, and this was the one thing I couldn't resolve before moving to the academy. Thanks to the @lpeblog.bsky.social and @lpeproject.bsky.social for sharing this.

The administration just called for a federal fund review of democratic states and cities. There is a way to enjoin such action--by filing for bankruptcy in a preemptive and tactical manner. States can't file for bankruptcy, but they can authorize cities to do so. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

Thanks to @bloomberg.com for covering my Essay "Bankruptcy as Political Resistance". I see bankruptcy law as a tool for sanctuary cities to fight back against the President's actions, even though it is a risky move. news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-l...

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission exists to protect investors, workers should stay informed of its activities and their effects. Read more from @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social on the relationship between AI disclosure rules, worker power, and union bargaining ⬇️ onlabor.org/what-sec-ai-...

So yesterday Trump said he was cutting off funding to sanctuary cities. My latest Essay "Bankruptcy as Political Resistance" provides a controversial playbook that cities can use to resist his efforts. apnews.com/article/trum...

Check out my latest blog post, this time published by Ben Sachs blog on OnLabor.org. It has to do with labor, AI, and SEC disclosure rules, and specifically why workers should care. onlabor.org/what-sec-ai-...

One of the more frustrating things about 2025 is that our society allocated $205B in wealth—nearly the combined salaries of all 2.9M civilian federal employees—to the guy who spent a few months wreaking havoc on said workforce while federal spending rose $300B anyway.

Thanks to Anton Sorkin for highlighting @chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social, @jenniferleekoh.bsky.social and my work bringing Christian faith into conversation with labor, immigration, and bankruptcy law from the perspective of the marginalized. crossandgavel.substack.com/p/the-many-r...

President Trump has now threatened to take away federal grant funding from the State of Indiana if it does not acquiesce to his gerrymandering plan. My paper: "Bankruptcy as Political Resistance" addresses how bankruptcy could be used to fight this behavior. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

In my paper "The Death of Labor Law" I argued for using Wilcox's case to as a vehicle for starting over. The D.C. Circuit's decision today sharpens the analysis, and makes clear now is the time to unshackle labor law from the NLRA's preemption regime. www.msn.com/en-us/news/p...

The SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee (IAC), on which I sit, issued an official Recommendation Regarding the Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on Operations earlier today. It was an honor to serve as the primary drafter of this recommendation. www.sec.gov/files/approv...

“What has New Haven to do with Jerusalem?”

The LPE Blog published a blog post by @chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social and I. The Bible provides grist for legal reform. We suggest bringing those insights into conversation with LPE. Thanks to @jenniferleekoh.bsky.social for co-organizing a conference on Christian Legal Thought from the Margins.

Can sanctuary/"woke" cities use bankruptcy to politically resist Trump's cutting off of federal funds? My latest essay, "Bankruptcy as Political Resistance" unpacks that question. In short, it's possible for some cities to do so although the road would be messy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Excited about the fact that @chrishampsonlaw.bsky.social and @jenniferleekoh.bsky.social and I organize this conference. There are so many Christians in the legal academy who take their theology and their legal scholarship to think about "the least of these." Hoping for more of these gatherings.

Cool paper alert: @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social has a new paper examining bankruptcy law’s role in shaping collective power for labor unions and workers.

I provided comments to El Nuevo Día about Puerto Rico's bankruptcy. Both the NLRB and the Oversight Board lack quorum. Should the local government have the power to step in and manage the bankruptcy as New York state is stepping in to fill a gap in labor law? www.elnuevodia.com/english/news...

Who would have thought that Loper-Bright would matter in private sector bankruptcies involving labor unions and pension funds? Apparently, it does in the Yellow Bankruptcy. @bloomberg.com covered my thoughts on it. In short, Judge Ambro got this decision right. news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-l...

@katejackson.bsky.social wrote a great paper that this LPE Post draws from. What really blew me away was how the descriptive accounts of authoritarian regimes tracked CEO behavior intuitively. This is really insightful stuff, and I'm thankful that Kate is doing this.

Thanks to Michael Duff for the JOTWELL review of my paper the Death of Labor Law and the Rebirth of the Labor Movement. worklaw.jotwell.com/beyond-colla...

I absolutely love this blog post by Eamon Coburn because it brings moral conversations into labor law in an explicit way. I may write a response to it because I liked it so much. It's a great pickup by the LPE Blog.

This is very good on statutory paths to (private sector) faculty unionization:

The Labor Studies Journal just published my article "Bargaining for the Common Good in Bankruptcy" after peer-review. It's a playbook for what unions should do in the event of a municipal bankruptcy to fight not only in their interest, but for the public good. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New op-ed out in @bloomberg.com from Prof. @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Bloomberg just ran my op-ed on SpaceX's victory in the 5th Circuit. I argue that its win could lead to a labor rebirth by taking out preemption and opening up the toolbox of tactics available to labor. Returning labor law to the law of the jungle? news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The 5th Circuit holding that the NLRB is not likely constitutional?

Trump's so-far-successful effort to strip collective bargaining rights from federal workers appears to have resulted in a decrease in the total number of unionized American workers of more than 2%.

It is very possible that the power of organized labor will be effectively broken under Trump and we will need to rebuild the American labor movement again, without making the same mistakes that got us here. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/fragile-mo...

The Stanford Law Review has accepted for publication my latest article "Bankupting Labor Power". I am beyond thrilled with it, and hope that it gets labor scholars and activists to think about bankruptcy's role in reviving the labor movement. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Trump's removal of the Oversight Board's members all has to do with getting creditors paid. Old Board v New Board= a restructuring that PR cannot afford. My comments here in @elnuevodia.bsky.social. www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsal...

I have some thoughts about all of his covered by the Associated Press. apnews.com/article/puer...

My hunch...PREPA's creditors hope by removing certain Oversight Board members they will clear a path for raising some of the highest electrical rates on some of the poorest people in the U.S. to get paid back. www.breitbart.com/politics/202...

@elnuevodia.bsky.social covered my comments about a recent Congressional hearing on PROMESA. The reality is that Puerto Rico's electrical authority does not have a viable path for restructuring in the long term without a truly feasible debt cut off. www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsal...