Health Law becomes personal

by Stacie Kershner (J.D. ’08)

On July 26, 2023, Morgan Cronin (J.D./M.S.H.A. ’23) will be taking the Georgia Bar Exam. The date is special for many reasons; it marks one year since she donated part of her liver to her younger brother. Cronin’s brother Craig was diagnosed in 2019 with primary sclerosing cholangitis, an incurable chronic liver disease that ultimately leads to liver failure.

“My family knew he would need a liver transplant, we just didn’t know when,” Cronin said. In spring of 2022, they found out it was time, and Cronin was quickly evaluated as a living donor. She went to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for the surgery during the summer before her final year of law school. “My brother has a new lease on life,” she happily reported. “Now he is going to medical school!”

Last fall, when Cronin returned to Georgia State Law after her organ donation, she dove back into classes and resumed her leadership activities as the editor-in-chief of the Georgia State University Law Review

Her experiences made her classes even more personally relevant: “In Health Law: Quality and Access, we were talking about issues of informed consent for medical procedures. In Bioethics, we were talking about access to organ transplants.”

Cronin shared her experience in class and on a panel about the legal and ethical issues of organ donation alongside Assistant Professor of Law and Pediatrician Anjali Deshmukh, and Law Professor Emerita Sylvia Caley, a former nurse, who helped get organ donation designations on Georgia driver’s licenses.

“Morgan approaches health law with a maturity and compassion beyond her years,” said Deshmukh. “Her openness in sharing her experiences and ideas — delivered with a little bit of levity is truly remarkable.”

Cronin’s interest in health law is what drew her to Georgia State Law. Before law school, she earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, with a major in risk management and minor in public health. She was intrigued by the business side of health care and began working at MagMutual, a medical professional liability insurer, as a claims analyst. She regularly worked closely with medical malpractice attorneys, inspiring her to consider law school.

Through the health law certificate and master of science in health administration, she became interested in the regulatory landscape of health care. “The certificate ensured a foundation in health law, and the dual degree provided an understanding of the business side of health care,” she said.

The health law certificate offered another advantage: “Through the health law certificate and serving on the Student Health Law Association (SHLA) board, I got to know a core group of students with similar interests,” explained Cronin.

A highlight of the health law program was participating in the Health Law Partnership (HeLP) Legal Services Clinic. “The clinic was a rewarding way to expand my horizons and help real clients,” said Cronin. “I also developed some of the soft skills important to law practice even though I plan to practice in a different area of health law such as how to have tough conversations with clients on sensitive topics.”

Assistant Clinical Professor Christina Scott (J.D. ’18) was not surprised to hear that Cronin became an organ donor: “Her compassion towards her clients combined with her immediate desire to gain a deep understanding of the legal issues made her a stellar clinic student and advocate.”

After joining Law Review as a secondyear law student, she used her note to explore the intricacies of the False Claims Act and a circuit split on objective falsity: “It was intriguing to me how two different medical professionals, both competent doctors, could come to very different conclusions and recommend different treatments, and both could be right. I wanted to examine how that played out in the courts.”

Her paper, “How Deep is the Objective Falsity Circuit Split?” was awarded second place in the American University Washington College of Law’s Seventh Annual National Health Law Writing Competition.

“Morgan is a superstar. She’s had a fire in her since the moment she arrived at Georgia State Law,” said Professor Erin Fuse Brown. “I advised her Note, had her in class, saw her excel and lead right away. I tried to hire her as a research assistant, but she had just accepted the job of editor-in-chief of Law Review. To think that in the middle of all of this she flew up to Pittsburgh to donate her liver to her brother without missing a beat is mind-boggling. There’s absolutely nothing Morgan can’t do once she sets her mind to it.”

Cronin is looking forward to the next phase of her career. She will be a clerk for the Honorable Judge Timothy Batten of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, after which she will join Alston & Bird as an associate on their health care team.

“I have had health-law blinders on, but clerking offers a little exposure to a variety of areas of the law. Seeing litigation on the back end will give me insight on how to be a better lawyer for my future client on the front end in their transactions, potentially preventing similar problems.”

But first comes the bar exam. Cronin finds stress to be a motivator for her. After donating an organ last year, passing the bar exam doesn’t seem like a life-or-death matter now.

“I hope my story helps reduce fear and encourages others to consider donating,” said Cronin.

Immigration Clinic students win case for asylee

On December 7, Katie BenoValencia (J.D. ’24) and Angela Flores (J.D. ’24) were the lead advocates in a Merits hearing before an Atlanta immigration judge with a 96.9 percent denial rate. In February, they received the judge’s decision granting their client asylum on the basis of her race and identity as a member of the social group “Indigenous females in Guatemala.”

The students were coached by the clinic’s Associate Clinical Attorney Will Miller and Associate Clinical Attorney Emily Torstveit Ngara.

“This was a highly stressful situation losing meant an order of deportation back to Guatemala, where our client’s life would be in danger,” said Miller. “As a result of the students’ efforts, and of their skill and savvy at trial, our client is no longer in removal proceedings and soon will have her green card.”

The students devoted almost 300 hours of work to prepare for the trial after receiving the case in late August 2022.

“They started from close to zero, but got their arms around the law pretty quickly,” said Miller.

The students collected evidence, corresponded with fact witnesses in Guatemala and prepared written declarations for signature. They observed other asylum proceedings at the Atlanta Immigration Court with alumni Judge Pamela Peynado (J.D. ’14) and Joshua

McCall (J.D. ’21) and then practiced all aspects of their trial numerous times.

“The preparation helped me get through the nerves of going to trial,” Beno-Valencia said. “I really appreciated the support our professors offered us; they helped us develop skills and tools not only for this case but to use in our future careers. I felt proud of the work we did and proud of our client.”

At the Dec. 7 trial, Beno-Valencia led the direct exam of the expert witness for Guatemalan asylum seekers. Flores led the direct exam of the client as she shared her testimony.

“This case was truly one of the bestlawyered cases I have seen in my time in practice,” said Ngara. “The students rose to the occasion and ensured that the necessary information made it into the record during testimony, overcoming technical difficulties, language barriers and layers of trauma in the process. The client is incredibly resilient, courageous, hard-working and empathetic. The state of Georgia is better for her being in it, and I am thrilled that she will be able to stay here as long as she chooses.”

During her testimony, the client shared painful details of what happened to her in Guatemala, often through tears.

“Angela accomplished something many seasoned asylum attorneys often fail to do elicit testimony from a traumatized client consistent, down to the last detail, with the client’s previously submitted written declaration,” said Miller.

Flores attributes the successful direct examination to the diligent preparation of the team, the guidance from professors and the client’s courage and resilience.

“For a client to tell a deeply personal story about the persecution they survived, they have to re-experience it. Understanding how difficult that is, caring deeply for your client, and maintaining hope is important for attorneys of clients who have survived trauma,” she said.

Both Flores and Beno-Valencia were drawn to Georgia State Law because of its Immigration Clinic and their desire to have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

Before attending law school, BenoValencia worked as a paralegal at an immigration law firm and at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). She plans to practice immigration law after graduation and says programs like the Immigration Clinic are important “because it offers an individual who may not be able to obtain representation otherwise a chance to have their day in court.”

Flores, who previously worked with children in foster care, hopes to become a child advocate attorney.

“My experience participating in the clinic exceeded all my expectations of what I could learn and accomplish in a semester,” Flores said. “It is an honor to directly represent those who have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s a reminder that all things are possible.”

Service To The Profession

Cass Brewer, professor of law, attended a legislation signing ceremony with Governor Brian Kemp. Governor Kemp signed the revised Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code and Professor Brewer served as a member of the drafting committee.

Russell Covey, professor of law, serves as a co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Plea Bargaining Task Force. The group released a report in February 2023 highlighting 14 guiding principles for reforming the pleabargaining system.

Julian Hill, assistant professor of law, was a judge for the Social Justice Debates focused on worker cooperatives at Morehouse College.

Darcy Meals, deputy director of the Center for Access to Justice and director of Public Interest Programs, is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the co-chair of the Association of American Law Schools section on pro bono and access to justice.

Rose Rameau, visiting professor of law, was invited to speak at the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA) Law Conference on the 1992 Constitution of Ghana @ 30.

Presentations

Lisa Bliss, director of the Health Law Partnership Legal Services Clinic, presented at the Medical Legal Partnership Symposium at Yale University, “Evaluating MLPs” Innovation and Current Research,” and at the Association of American Law Schools Conference on Clinical Legal Education, “Effective Practices for Cross-Jurisdictional Collaborations with Guests from Australia, Nigeria, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.”

Margaret Vath, director of Lawyering Foundations and senior lecturer, and Leila Lawlor, director of academic success and the LL.M. program, presented “Preparing Students for the NextGen Bar Exam: Collaborative Efforts of Legal Writing and Academic Support Educators in Developing and Implementing Scaffolded Lessons for Use throughout Law School Curriculum and Bar Prep Programs,” at the Association of American Law Schools.

PUBLICATIONS/ PROJECTS

Karen Johnston, deputy director, along with co-directors John Marshall and Ryan Rowberry of the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth, hosted the “Disaster Law & Policy Global Perspectives Symposium,” to celebrate the publication of the Cambridge University Press handbook Disaster Law & Policy, Risk, Recovery and Redevelopment The book was edited by Marshall, Rowberry and Professor Susan S. Kuo (Univ of South Carolina).

Kendall Kerew, associate clinical professor and director of the Externship Program co-authored a book called Externship Pedagogy & Practice

Allison Whelan, assistant professor of law, published an article in the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender called “Aggravating Inequalities: State Regulation of Abortion and Contraception.”

Media Commentary

Erin Fuse Brown, Catherine C. Henson Professor of Law and director of the Center for Law, Health & Society, published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Corporate Investors in Primary Care Profits, Progress, and Pitfalls.”

Clark Cunningham, professor of law and W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics, was interviewed by media outlets including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Financial Times (London), CBS Evening News, Fox News, and CNN regarding the Georgia grand jury investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election.

Anjali Deshmukh, assistant professor of law, co-authored a research letter for JAMA Health Forum titled “Timing of Confirmatory Trials for Drugs Granted Accelerated Approval Based on Surrogate Measures from 2012 to 2021.”

Anthony Kreis, assistant professor of law, has become a globally recognized expert in the law of democracy, providing commentary for the 2020 presidential election investigation in Georgia for several news outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, British Broadcast Corporation and the Australian Broadcast Corporation.

Caren Morrison, associate professor of law, shared her thoughts with Capital B Atlanta about “Cop City” bodycam footage.

Chris Timmons, adjunct professor of law, was quoted by WABE and appeared on CBS Mornings about jury selection in the YSL trial.

Jeffrey Vagle, assistant professor of law, wrote an editorial for Jurist called “Standing is as Standing Does: What the Mifepristone Rulings Mean for the U.S. Rule of Law.”

Awards And Accolades

Megan Boyd, senior lecturer, received the 2023 George M. Sparks Faculty Award.

Stacie Kershner (J.D. ’08), deputy director of the Center for Law, Health & Society, is the recipient of the 2023 Steven J. Kaminshine award for excellence in service.

Leila Lawlor, director of academic success and the LL.M. program, received the “Best Paper Award” at the annual conference of the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business. She also recently completed another master’s degree in applied linguistics. This is the third master’s degree Leila earned while teaching.

Paul Lombardo, Regents’ Professor, was honored as a Distinguished Professor of Law and Bioethics from the Sindh Institute of Medical Science in Karachi, Pakistan.

Patrick Parsons, associate director for Legal Technology & Innovation and executive director of the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative, is the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).

Tanya Washington, professor of children’s constitutional rights, is a member of a consortium of law professors focused on the advancement of children’s rights. The joint venture is supported by a generous gift of more than $2 million from an anonymous donor. The work of the scholarly triumvirate will include a law school coursebook, law school courses, amicus briefs in state and federal cases, and invitation-only convenings centered on four research areas: education, climate, juvenile justice, and families and foster care.

APPOINTMENTS/ PROMOTIONS

Ted Afield, Mark and Evelyn Trammell Clinical Professor and director of the Philip C. Cook LowIncome Taxpayer Clinic, received an administrative appointment to associate dean of experiential education and director of clinical programs.

Courtney Anderson, associate professor of law, was appointed to associate dean for academic affairs.

Timothy Lytton, associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of law, was appointed to Regents’ Professor.

Corneill Stephens, director of Lawyering Advocacy, is now the L. Lynn Hogue Professor of Law.

Lauren Sudeall, director of the Center for Access to Justice was appointed as an associate reporter for the American Law Institute Project on Principles of Law, HighVolume Civil Adjudication.

Leslie Wolf, professor of law, was reappointed as a Distinguished University Professor.