I gave the commencement speech at Meghan Markle’s college graduation.

Now on SSRN, the draft I've been teasing forever on here: Law and Petro-Masculinity. I would be so grateful for feedback on this piece from the brilliant law and climate communities on Bluesky! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Snow dog snow days

I wrote on the shameful situation re: the recession of a deanship to Emily Suski at the University of Arkansas Law. What was the reason? Prof. Suski signed an amicus brief supporting trans rights. The Arkansas legislators admitted that was it! Horrible outcome. ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...

“Divided Loyalties,” forthcoming in Vol. 83 of the Washington & Lee Law Review @wlulaw.bsky.social. It examines conflicts-of-interest that arise between defense counsel and the accused based on counsel’s personal interests. Draft on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... Feedback welcome 🙏🏾

Another new article of mine is officially out: “(Re)Individualizing Criminal Law,” (67 B.C L. Rev. 255 (2026): lnkd.in/eR9eF7Fv Abstract 👇 & v. short 🧵 1/6

Restoring Justice This Article advances a comprehensive doctrinal case for recognizing restorative justice as a #humanright. Authors: Rachel López, Meredith Elizalde, Kempis Songster Read More: spkl.io/63321AQUB1#humanright@rlopez.bsky.social

Working on Restoring Justice kept me grounded this past year, so I share it w/ excitement & some nervousness. Written w/ Meredith Elizalde, whose son Nick was killed in a shooting at his high school, we argue for a right to restorative justice. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I’m sure this is quite powerful and will take me some time to read through while reflecting and annotating. Please consider reading and sharing

Time for an old-school #legalwriting thread crowdsourcing all of the lawyers on here. I'm interested in what you think about law student use of generative AI in writing samples. If you are hiring students, do you think about this? Do you care? 1/2

Working on Restoring Justice kept me grounded this past year, so I share it w/ excitement & some nervousness. Written w/ Meredith Elizalde, whose son Nick was killed in a shooting at his high school, we argue for a right to restorative justice. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

My latest, "Free Exercise and the Redistribution of Liberty," is now posted (and forthcoming in @yalelawjournal.bsky.social). It argues that free exercise doctrine uses selective market logic to redistribute both public resources and liberty itself. Comments welcome: papers.ssrn.com/abstract=618...

Legal history people: the ASLH conference will be in the Canadian Rockies in Nov.2026! Panel proposals are due March 24, 2026. The Call links to google sheets where you can find co-panelists & chair-commentators 👇 You can @ me if you're looking for fellow panelists, too.

On the streets of Philadelphia

despite The Horrors™ I have a regular ass job to do so on that note are there any kind academics out there that would be willing to share grant applications with me

It's that time of year! Tulane Law School invites applications for its Forrester Fellowship position, which is designed for promising scholars who plan to apply for tenure-track law school positions. The Forrester Fellow is full-time faculty in the law school and... 1/4

Not sure that I have godmother status but I really enjoyed reading and engaging with this really thoughtful and important piece!

🚨Job alert! 🚨 I'm advertising a PhD position (66%) in Comparative Politics at HU Berlin. Ideal candidates combine a research interest in autocratic politics, conflict, and/or political violence with strong quantitative methods skills. ⏳ 4 (+2) years | 🗓 DL 16.01; Start March/April 26 More info:

Are you going to be at #AALS2026 this evening? My suggestion…skip the boring evening school sponsored parties at the hotel and go to the Joan of Arc parade, which marks the start of Carnival. It starts at 7:30 and is in walking distance of the conference hotel. joanofarcparade.org

I wrote a piece about two years ago that feels scarily relevant to today. Sometimes you just want to be wrong. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I fear we are going to have to say this a lot again: Int law prohibits bombing countries for the sake of democracy. FOR VERY GOOD REASON. It tends not to work. Attacking a country because its leader lacks legitimacy - whether as pretext or sincerely held rationale - is still just an aggression.

Thought my 40s would look much different than my 20s but here I am again at a Built to Spill show on a Thursday. 🫤

The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to work with an interdisciplinary team (me, @bstewart.bsky.social, and @manoelhortaribeiro.bsky.social). Link: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app... Please apply by THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 14!

Breaking my partial social-media hiatus w/3 new papers: Missing Children Discrimination (Wis. L. Rev 2025(4)) w/ Tanisha Brown— shorturl.at/5rl86 abstract 👇) Anti-Holistic Algorithms (forth. Vanderbilt L. Rev) (Re)Individualizing Criminal Law (forth. B.C. L. Rev) More soon on SSRN—comments welcome!

When academics talk about scholarly impact I don’t think they are thinking about messages like these, but more than anything else they are what keep me writing. Thank you so much, Cris, for this motivation to keep pushing!

By me: Israeli armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, new data reveals @pacificinstitute.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Published today—at the start of Transgender Awareness Week—in the American Journal of International Law, my new book review, "International Law as a Site for Queer Joy?" arrives at a moment that feels both personal and profound. Now up at @ssrn.bsky.social : papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I’m presenting my new paper at Sciences Po on Nov 26 - stop by if you are in Paris! And if you are not, invite me to present it at your institution so I can use my travel budget before teaching term starts 😆

Delighted to see JIEL 28(3) out in the world, which includes my article 'Dollar Dominance, De-Dollarisation, and International Law'. The rest of the issue is packed with sharp work (inc @jbentonheath.bsky.social, @dcpeat.bsky.social, @elenachachko.bsky.social). academic.oup.com/jiel/article...

Friends, I am ordering (academic) books today. Hit me up with your your favorite ones (it can be old classics and new books on the market) 🙏

Feeling inspired to take action this morning? Join us in calling our City Council members and demand .5% of the budget be committed to fund our libraries! Already called? Tell us how it went: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Signed #AAUP petition against government violation of First Amendment. #EducationNotIdeology You can too! actionnetwork.org/petitions/tr...

Professor @rlopez.bsky.social's work "reinforces Temple's broader mission as a public research university - one that seeks to serve the common good through meaningful, real-world engagement." Read more in this Temple University profile. https://lnkd.in/ejpa4J34

Temple wrote up this really nice article about my work and new chaired professorship. Changing academic home can be challenging. It feels like starting over again which is why I am grateful to feel so seen and supported by my newish academic home. news.temple.edu/news/2025-10...

Reports of mass killings and targeted attacks against health facilities in El Fasher. @HRL_YaleSPH identifies apparent "pools of blood" visible from space. Western governments need to increase pressure on the conflict parties. files-profile.medicine.yale.edu/documents/b9...

There's a longstanding debate over the value of law professor amicus briefs at #SCOTUS. I'll just note that the additional briefing the Court ordered today in the Illinois National Guard case was in direct response to an amicus brief filed by ... a law professor (@martylederman.bsky.social).

Yo! law.tulane.edu/news/profess...

I’m excited for this! “Groundbreaking” is overused to describe legal scholarship, but in @rlopez.bsky.social’s case, it is apt.

Job alert! We have a 5 year fixed term teaching-focussed position in our new Indo-Pacific Studies program. Can highly recommend UNSW Canberra as a place to work. IPS is an emerging field, so applications welcome from cognate disciplines. Details: external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/cw/en/job/53...

Paper and panel proposals for the first *big* LPE conference are due TOMORROW!! Whether you are a law professor, lawyer, organizer, or academic in a different field, all proposals are welcome!! lawandpoliticaleconomy.org

Syllabus Sourcing: Hoping for a little help! I'm looking for readings that challenge whether rights are the "right" frame for protecting humanity and promoting equality. I'll assign Marx and maybe excerpts from "How Rights Went Wrong." But any other recs particularly for a human rights course?

Corporate and business law people: Come work with me! We're especially taking a look at laterals this year.

This will very much be worth your time. Here's a Sunday read, with experts: #Genocide #GenocideConvention #InternationalLaw www.lto.de/recht/hinter...

It's that time of the year again folks, get your nerd hat on

🚨🪶⚖️ @elisebmaizel.bsky.social and I just came out with a new essay on Trump's assault on Big Law. Available in the California Law Review Online here: www.californialawreview.org/online/trump... [1/5]

New paper! This essay takes a step toward developing what I call a "jurisprudence of weaponized interdependence.: Building on @himself.bsky.social & @abenewman.bsky.social's groundbreaking work, I develop an account of the legal processes that facilitate the weaponization of networks. 1/x

Rare aerial imagery shows displacement and destruction in Gaza www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

The “deal” that Brown made with the Trump admin is much more extreme than is being reported. It includes government oversight of course evaluations and no barrier to government interference in faculty hiring. Read it for yourself here: www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...