Adam Chilton appointed next dean of the Law School
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Kate Masur, the John D. MacArthur Chair and Professor of History at Northwestern University, delivered the 2025 Fulton Lecture in Legal History on April 28, focusing on the legal and cultural history of abortion in 19th century America.
Quantum technologies are poised to transform society: in the coming years, we could see quantum sensors capable of detecting disease at the very earliest stages; quantum networks that offer provably secure financial and medical record transfers; and eventually quantum computers that could, in just minutes, perform analyses that would take today’s supercomputers millions of years.
The Law School held its annual Pro Bono Recognition Ceremony on May 7, 2025, honoring eighty-seven members of this year’s graduating class who contributed more than 14,000 pro bono hours throughout their time at the Law School.
Prof. Adam Chilton has been appointed dean of the University of Chicago Law School, effective July 1, President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker announced.
Judge Rachel Bloomekatz has worn many hats throughout her career: Supreme Court law clerk (on both the state and federal levels), assistant attorney general, appellate lawyer at a large law firm, civil rights litigator at a boutique firm, and—perhaps less common among federal judges—solo practitioner.
Faculty in the News
When it comes to U.S. Supreme Court criminal justice cases, the decisions the court will announce in the next few weeks as the 2024/2025 term comes to a close will be of great interest, not only for the outcomes of high-profile cases, but also because we will learn whether the court's fractured decision-making in criminal justice cases observed during the last term has continued.
Alison LaCroix, Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law and associate member of the Department of History at the University of Chicago Law School, joins Lisa Dent to discuss habeas corpus. LaCroix explains that as one of the foundational rights in the American Constitution, the suspension of habeas corpus would mean that due process is not required for anyone detained in the United States.
Academic freedom—classically defined as the freedom of research and teaching—is a complicated idea, and one that has come under severe attack in our era. One question that has not received much attention, is whether academic freedom applies to the student editors of law reviews. Last year, Aziz Z. Huq and I argued that it does. This is because the academic discipline of law has delegated to students its editorial judgement about what to publish.
