Speaker Bios
For the Law Review Symposium, below is a list of biographies of speakers organized by last name.
2023 Speakers
For the Law Review Symposium, below is a list of biographies of speakers organized by last name.
Beau Baumann
Beau Baumann is a former appellate attorney at the Department of Justice and is currently
a PhD candidate at Yale Law School. His work has appeared in the Georgetown Law Journal,
the Pace Law Review, and the Notre Dame Law Review’s Reflections publication. His
work on the major questions doctrine includes Americana Administrative Law and The Major Questions Doctrine’s Domain. In addition, Baumann maintains the Major Questions Doctrine Reading List on the
Yale Notice & Comment legal blog.
Jack Beermann
Jack Beermann has been a faculty member at Boston University since 1984. His scholarship
focuses on civil rights litigation and administrative law. He is an authority on the
circumstances under which state and local officials, and local governments, should
be held liable for their constitutional violations. He has written extensively on
the degree to which federal courts should defer to the legal determinations of federal
agencies, on the problem of midnight rulemaking, and on the legal aspects of the funding
crisis facing public employee pension funds in the United States. In 2017, Beerman
was appointed as a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Natasha Brunstein
Natasha Brunstein is a Legal Fellow at The Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU.
She received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was an Articles & Essays Editor
for the Yale Law Journal, a member of the Rule of Law Clinic, and co-chair of the
Yale Environmental Law Association. She also interned at Earthjustice and the New
York State Office of the Attorney General Environmental Protection Bureau. Prior to
law school Natasha received her B.A. summa cum laude in Economics from New York University.
After her fellowship with Policy Integrity, she will clerk for Judge J. Paul Oetken
of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Patricia
Ann Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Katharine Jackson
Katharine (Kate) Jackson is an expert in the areas of legal theory, democratic theory,
and business. Her work explores the intersection of law, politics, and economics.
Building upon the bridge that law forms between democratic states and economic actors,
her research focuses on how moral commitments –legal and political—both intervene
in, and are driven by, markets and market players. Her interest in political economy
also addresses the nature and legitimacy of the public administration meant to hold
corporations to their liberal democratic obligations.
Julian Mortenson
Professor Julian Davis Mortenson is a scholar and award-winning teacher specializing
in constitutional and international law. His current book project develops a comprehensive
account of presidential power at the American founding. He is also co-author of Foundation
Press’s new casebook in constitutional law. Mortenson is an active litigator. Representative
constitutional matters include serving as lead counsel in a pre-Obergefell suit that required Michigan to recognize the marriages of more than 300 same-sex
couples, his work as lead appellate counsel for the Arab-American Civil Rights League’s
challenge to the Muslim ban, and many more. He also litigates complex transnational
matters in the U.S. courts, including actions involving the enforcement of foreign
law and foreign judgments.
Bijal Shah
Bijal Shah, an associate professor and Provost Faculty Fellow at Boston College Law
School, earned the 2023 Boston College Law School Faculty Prize for Excellence in
Scholarship. Shah's research centers on administrative law, structural constitutionalism,
and agency dynamics, particularly in immigration and interagency coordination. She
has published extensively, including in Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and
Yale Journal on Regulation. As Chair Emeritus of the Association of American Law Schools
Section on Legislation & Law of the Political Process, she is deeply involved in legal
academia. Shah's background includes roles as Associate General Counsel for the Department
of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review, a Presidential Management Fellow
in the Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,
and work in various government departments.
Jed Shugerman
Jed Handelsman Shugerman joined Boston University School of Law in 2023. His acclaimed
book, "The People’s Courts" (Harvard 2012) examines judicial elections, judicial review,
and the impact of money and political parties on American courts. Shugerman is currently
working on two books. The first, tentatively titled "A Faithful President," challenges
the Robert Court's view of unchecked presidential power and explores early American
executive power. The second, "The Prosecutor Politicians," delves into the causes
of mass incarceration, tracing the rise of prosecutorial power. Shugerman's expertise
draws from his clinical experience in death penalty defense and prisoners' rights
litigation. He has contributed amicus briefs on various legal topics and penned op-eds
for prominent publications.
Wendy Wagner
Professor Wagner is a renowned expert in the integration of science into environmental
policymaking. She earned a Master's in Environmental Studies and a law degree from
Yale University. Before entering academia, she gained practical experience, including
a stint at the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division
and as Pollution Control Coordinator with the Department of Agriculture's Office of
the General Counsel. Her extensive research revolves around the nexus of law and science
in environmental policy. Her book "Bending Science," co-authored with Tom McGarity,
received the Hamilton Grand Prize in 2009. "Dynamic Rulemaking" received the 2018
American Bar Association Award for Scholarship in Administrative Law. Wagner is also
a Member Scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform.
Evan Zoldan
Evan Zoldan is a legal scholar whose research focuses on legislation, legislative
power, the legislative process, and statutory interpretation. His work delves into
whether legislative bodies like Congress and state legislatures can single out specific
individuals for special treatment. Zoldan's article, "The Equal Protection Component
of Legislative Generality," was recognized at the Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty
Forum and falls under the category of Constitutional Law: Theoretical Foundations.
His expertise in legislation has garnered attention from both federal and state appellate
courts, as well as citations in legal briefs, treatises, and scholarly works. He has
served as the chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Legislation
and Law of the Political Process. Zoldan earned his law degree from Georgetown University
Law Center.