We are very fortunate to have outstanding full-time, adjunct, and emeritus faculty, leaders-in-residence, and staff. We are pleased to share regular updates on their excellent scholarship, presentations, teaching, and service.
Faculty and Staff
GRAMMY®-winning CSU Law Professor Angelin Chang ’09 performed for the 50th Anniversary of the Research Committee on Asian and Pacific Studies of the International Political Science Association at the 2025 IPSA World Congress in Seoul, attended by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the President and Prime Minister of South Korea, and other distinguished international leaders. She also served as Co-Chair of IPSA Research Committee on Asian and Pacific Studies (RC18), convened nine panels, chaired the session on The Role of ASEAN in Shaping Asian-Pacific Geopolitics, and led the RC18 business meeting. Her piano performance, part of “Foundations to Frontiers: Tribute to Founding Chair Dr. Teh-Kuang Chang,” celebrated the organization’s milestone legacy and the global impact of Asian and Pacific Studies.
Professor Deborah Hoffman, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Cleveland State University College of Law, delivered the opening presentation at the 2025 Ohio Securities Conference on Oct. 24, 2025, co-hosted by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Her session, “The State of the Blockchain,” provided an overview of blockchain and cryptocurrency fundamentals and examined how evolving digital-asset frameworks intersect with securities regulation.
Professor Hoffman’s presentation launched a daylong program featuring regulators, industry leaders, and scholars exploring the legal and market implications of crypto innovation. Her remarks reflected ongoing scholarly work on blockchain regulation and her teaching at CSU Law in corporate law.
Professor Hoffman also spoke on November 11, 2025, at the Executive Women’s Summit 2025 (EWS) in Santa Fe, hosted by the Women of ALICE. She joined Brooke Anderson-Tompkins, Erica Acie, and Kim Hoffman for a featured panel titled “Beyond the Hype: Leading with clArIty.”
The discussion examined how financial and technology leaders can navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies with purpose and accountability. Panelists addressed building trust and transparency around AI adoption, aligning innovation with organizational mission and risk tolerance, strengthening vendor governance, and exploring how blockchain and tokenization are shaping the future of mortgage and financial services.
Professor Hoffman’s remarks emphasized clarity and responsible innovation as essential leadership tools for guiding technology adoption in regulated industries.
Professor Laura C. Hoffman is currently serving on the leadership of the AALS Section on Children and the Law as a member of its Executive Committee. It was recently announced to the Section leadership that the Section has earned the distinction of AALS Section of the Year Award to be presented at the upcoming 2026 AALS Annual Meeting and Conference.
In November, Professor Mehtab Khan and Executive Director Cory Scott provided interested party testimony on the Right to Compute Act that is currently being drafted in the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee. Mr. Scott also provided interested party testimony on the AI personhood bill that received coverage in the Ohio Capital Journal. After submitting written testimony, Mr. Scott met with Chairman Thad Claggett to discuss these pieces of legislation as well cyberfraud.
Proessor Christa Laser published the essay Ten Tips for Legal Empiricists, 23 N.W. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop. 227 (2025), co-edited with Jordana Goodman, in the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. The article is available on SSRN here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5875642. The essay includes contributions with advice on empirical legal research from leading scholars including Mark Lemley, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Michael Frakes, Melissa Wasserman, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Janet Freilich, Jessica Silbey, David Schwartz, and Neel Sukhatme, as well as Christa Laser and Jordana Goodman.
Professor Lorenzo Luisetto presented his paper, “Collective Bargaining and Monopsony: The Regulation of Noncompete Agreements in France,” at the 19th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) hosted by Georgetown University Law Center on October 24-25, 2025.
CELS is an interdisciplinary gathering that draws empirical researchers from across the United States and the world, bringing together scholars in law, economics, political science, psychology, and other fields who are interested in the empirical analysis of law and legal institutions.
In his paper, Professor Luisetto examines how the regulation of noncompete agreements for employees through collective agreements affects firm-level markdowns in the French manufacturing sector. A key takeaway is that, by enhancing compliance or imposing additional requirements for noncompete enforceability, collective bargaining serves as an effective tool to regulate the use of noncompete agreements in France.
The working paper can be found here: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp2079.pdf
The full program of the conference can be found here: https://cels2025.com/
Professor Karin Mika moderated the Scholarship panel on International Investment Law at the Midyear Meeting of the American Society of International Law. The meeting was held at Case Western Reserve University on September 25-27, 2025.
Professor Mika was also appointed to the Association of Legal Writing Director's Distance Learning Committee.
Professor Mika was also selected as a screener for the Scribes Law Review Article Competition.
Professor Mika's article, Using a Comparative AI Exercise to Improve Student Drafting has been selected for publication in the Spring Edition of the Second Draft, a publication by the Legal Writing Institute. The article discovers using AI to help draft and improve drafting contract clauses as well as client letters and other legal documents.
Professor Kevin O'Neill's latest article, Occupy Wall Street's Impact on Public Protest Law, will be published in volume 65 of the Washburn Law Journal (Spring 2026).
On November 12, Prof. O'Neill was interviewed by a documentary film crew in connection with a new film they are making about the Supreme Court's landmark First Amendment decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969).
Professor Reginald Oh has published an article, “The Deferential Asian American: Low Racial Status and the Invisibility of Asian Americans in Leadership and the American Narrative,” in the St. John’s Law Review.
Professor Oh’s article puts forth a novel theory to explain why Asian Americans are systematically shut out of leadership positions in virtually all professional fields, including in the STEM and medical fields. He argues that Asian Americans are excluded from leadership because of perceived lack of “leadership qualities” due to their perceived low status, deferential or subservient racial character.
Professor Oh will be presenting the article at the St. John’s Law School in the spring, at an event sponsored by the St. John’s Law Review and the school’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.
The article citation is 99 St. John’s L. Rev. 107 (2025).
Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson spoke on The Public Voice In Ohio Administrative Law, at the Ohio Environmental Council's Conference on Environmental Law at The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law in Columbus on September 26, 2025. Her presentation described the research behind her recent testimony before the Ohio Power Siting Board regarding the appropriate agency evaluation of public comments. CSU College of Law Environmental Law Fellow Mark Bank presented on the same panel regarding his work on the data behind Professor Robertson's testimony.
Professor Robertson was honored to participate in Loyola University-Chicago’s Fifth Annual Environmental, Natural Resources, and Land Use Law Scholars Workshop, October 15 to 18, 2025, at Starved Rock State Park Lodge in Illinois. This intensive scholarship workshop invites 10 scholars to workshop projects over three days at a state park lodge. This year, in addition to Professor Robertson, invited participants included environmental/natural resources/land use law faculty from the law schools at the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern, McGeorge, Ohio State, Case Western Reserve, SMU, University of Richmond, and Loyola-Chicago. Professor Robertson workshopped her research on public involvement in energy development decision-making in Ohio.
Professor Robertson is the Steven W. Percy Professor of Law at the College of Law and Professor of Environmental Studies at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education, Cleveland State University.
Professor Milena Sterio presented at a conference at the University of Cambridge on April 28-29. The conference was organized by the Cambridge Journal of International Law on the topic of Navigating a Multipolar World: Challenges to the Post-WWII Status Quo of International Law. Professor Sterio presented on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Individual Criminal Responsibility: A Paradox or a Possibility?. Professor Sterio’s corresponding paper on the same topic will be published by the Cambridge Journal of International Law.
Professor Sterio was interviewed by the Fox 5 News Channel on May 1 about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland-based man who has been wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Professor Sterio’s interview is available here: https://youtu.be/AP4YyH_LxK8?si=BcsFASegWHdMdfM5
On October 13, Professor Sterio participated in an expert group discussion, organized by the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, with Latvian State Secretary Aivars Puriņš on European security and US-NATO cooperation.
State Secretary Puriņš traveled to Cleveland as part of a German Marshall Fund Across America trip focused on the state of transatlantic defense cooperation and the deep ties that connect Americans and European communities across the Atlantic. Ohio has a large defense manufacturing sector, and participants in this trip will engage with state and local elected officials, students, and business leaders to further the discussion around what it means to be part of NATO and the importance of the alliance’s role in security and prosperity in the United States and Europe.
Professor Sterio serves on the Cleveland Council on World Affairs’ Board of Directors.
Professor Sterio submitted an expert review to the International Criminal Law Review. Professor Sterio was solicited by the Review to serve as a peer reviewer; the Review is a top-ranked peer-reviewed journal in the field of international criminal law.
Professor Sterio served as peer reviewer for the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, a prestigious peer reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press. Professor Sterio reviewed an article on self-determination and the International Court of Justice’s 50-year-old Advisory Opinion in the Western Sahara case.
Professor Sterio moderated a panel on the topic of “The Right to Equal Participation in the Judiciary and the ICJ: Where are the Women?” The panel was hosted by the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), and co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law Women in International Law Interest Group, GQUAL, the Working Group for Gender Parity for the International Court of Justice, and the Institute for African Women in the Law. The panel was also the inaugural event for the new ABILA committee on Gender Justice, which Professor Sterio co-founded with Dr. Jessica Corsi.
The panelists included Dr. Jessica Corsi, Senior Law Lecturer at The City Law School at City St George’s, University of London; Prof. Margaret deGuzman, Temple University Beasley School of Law & Judge, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals; Prof. Valerie Oosterveld, Western Law School (Canada) and Former ICC Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity; Prof. J. Jarpa Dawuni, Howard University; Corinne Detmeijer, Vice Chair of the CEDAW Committee to End Discrimination against Women; and Prof. Claudia Martin, American University Washington College of Law.
The right to equal participation in decision making is a fundamental human right enshrined in international law, including in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic Social, and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In its General Recommendation 40 (GR40) issued in October 2024, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (the CEDAW Committee) made it clear that this right applies to international judiciaries. GR40 notes that despite the fundamental nature of this right, States do not enforce it. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is one such example. In the almost 80 years of the court, only 5.22% of its permanent judges have been women, the rest men, and no data is known regarding other genders. Justice systems should reflect the diversity of the societies they serve, and the ICJ is no exception. Known as the ‘World Court’, the historical and ongoing overrepresentation of one gender on its bench demonstrates its lack of representativeness. This panel discussion focused on the need for gender parity on the ICJ bench from a human rights lens with a special focus on the right to equal participation in decision making and in the international judiciary. Panelists discussed the causes and consequences of women’s absence from the ICJ bench and assessed barriers to ICJ judicial gender parity and how to overcome them. The discussion also addressed gender-based discrimination and gendered barriers to the fulfillment of other human rights that may impede the effective exercise of judicial participation rights for women. One year on from GR40, and one year away from the November 2026 ICJ judicial election, it is time to turn the recommendation into reality.
The Panel recording is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5yeCXM0GNc
Professor Sterio participated in the International Law Weekend conference in New York City from October 23-25.International Law Weekend is a premier international law conference organized and hosted by the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA). Professor Sterio serves on the ABILA Board of Directors; Co-Chairs the Gender Justice and the Teaching International Law Committees; serves as Co-Director of Studies; and also served on the ILW Organizing Committee this past year. She moderated a panel discussion on the topic of “Crimes Against the Environment, Nature, and Biodiversity – Progresses and Gaps in the Law of International and Transnational Crimes.” This panel was sponsored by the ABILA International Environmental Law Committee, and speakers included Prof. David Donat Cattin (NYU); Prof. Cymie Payne (Rutgers University School of Law); Christopher Lentz (Ukraine Register for Damages); and Bryce Rudyk (NYC and Legal Advisor to the Coalition of Small States). Panelists explored progress and gaps within international environmental law, including ongoing civil and criminal cases and proceedings before international and regional tribunals.
Professor Sterio organized and participated in a side event at the United Nations 6th Committee during International Law Week, on Friday, October 31. The event, “The Right to Equal and Inclusive Participation and the International Court of Justice: Where are the Women,” focused on the need for gender parity at the International Court of Justice. The event was hosted by the Gender Parity at the International Court of Justice Project (Professor Sterio serves on the Steering Committee), and the American Branch of the International Law Association’s Gender Justice in International Law Committee (Professor Sterio co-chairs this Committee, which she also co-founded). In addition, the event was co-sponsored by the United Nations Permanent Missions of Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and Singapore.
Since its inception in 1945, there has been only six female judges on the bench of the ICJ. In the upcoming ICJ judicial elections, out of eleven candidates thus far nominated by states, only three are women. The side event, which featured remarks by a slate of distinguished panelists, stressed the need for equal and inclusive participation for women on the ICJ’s judicial bench, as a fundamental human right. Professor Sterio moderated the discussion along with Dr. Jessica Corsi (University College London). Expert panelists included Karen Ong, Deputy Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, Prof. Nilufer Oral, International Law Commission, Prof. Jelena Pia-Commella, Member of the Commission of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Committee, Jelena Crncevic, Special Counsel, Withers Worldwide, and Akhila Radhakrishnan, End Gender Apartheid Campaign.
Professor Milena Sterio hosted a delegation of Romanian prosecutors at the CSU College of Law on November 17. The delegation visited Cleveland as part of the Congressional Office for International Leadership, which brings emerging leaders from post-Soviet states to the United States in order to give them firsthand exposure to the American system of participatory democracy and free enterprise. Members of the Romanian delegation had a special interest in building relationships with professionals that specialize in investigating and prosecuting corruption, fraud, money laundering, and cross-border schemes. The delegation met with Professor Sterio as well as Associate Dean Jonathan Witmer-Rich; in addition, delegation members visited Professor Patti Falk's White Collar Crime class and toured the College of Law.
International Law Chats is a podcast from the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), hosted by Professor Chiara Giorgetti, Alison Macdonald KC, and Professor Milena Sterio. Episodes air on the first Monday of every month and feature prominent guests in the field of international law. Episodes are available on Spotify, YouTube, and our website.
This month’s episode features Professor Gian Luca Burci, Adjunct Professor of international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva since 2012. He is also the Director of the joint LLM on Global Health Law and Governance between the Graduate Institute and Georgetown Law School, as well as Academic Adviser in the Global Health Centre of the Graduate Institute. Since 2016, Professor Burci has been a Visiting Professor and Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Center on National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University School of Law. He shares his thoughts on the WHO global pandemic treaty and the future of global health law.
Listen to Episode 2: Look WHOs Talking? below and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and YouTube.
Leaders-in-Residence
Cory Scott, Executive Director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection at CSU Law, provided testimony for a legislative proposal in Ohio addressing artificial intelligence personhood, and his insights are included in an article published by the Ohio Capital Journal.
In the piece titled “What’s in Ohio’s Proposal Banning AI Personhood,” the article explores House Bill 469, which would prohibit AI systems from obtaining legal personhood (such as marrying an AI or holding decision-making authority within a company) and ensure that human actors are held accountable for harm caused by AI tools.
Mr. Scott’s testimony emphasized the need for legal clarity around liability and the definition of sentience or consciousness in AI systems, reinforcing that accountability must remain with the human or entity behind the technology.
Mr. Scott was interviewed by Channel 5 on payment redirect fraud, discussing the concerns of local government entities losing millions of dollars a year to vendor impersonation and email compromise.
Mr. Scott was also a signatory to the “Stop Hacklore!” initiative, intending to retire outdated and unsupported security advice on things like public wifi and QR codes. Over 80 security professionals and leaders signed on to an open letter discussing the project and providing updated guidance.
Mr. Scott is also a member of the Ohio Cyber Reserve, and was the lead for launching a baseline Cybersecurity program for smaller political subdivisions in the state of Ohio. Over 200 entities have requested the program and received “DIY” guidance on how to build a basic security policy and incident response. Adjunct Professor Spence Witten provided significant material for this initiative as well.
Professor Eric Tucker, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, presented a paper on the international circulation of ideas about factory act enforcement in the late-nineteenth century at a workshop of labour law historians that met this past September in Glasgow, Scotland. He also participated on a panel on unlawful strikes organized by the Ontario Association of Labour Lawyers in Kingston, Ontario in October. Earlier this year, he published an article on the topic, “Labour Against the Law? Contesting the Norms of Industrial Legality Through Unlawful Strikes” (2025) 45:2 Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 342-368. He also provided an expert witness affidavit on the history of a provision of the Canada Labour Code for a union challenging the government’s use of that provision to end an otherwise lawful strike.
Emeriti Faculty
Professor Emeritus Brian Glassman lectured at the Cleveland State University Art Department on October 30, 2025. His topic was “Contracts, Consignment Law, and Artists’ Muscle in the Marketplace.”
He also taught a three-week course at Case Western Reserve University/Siegal Lifelong Learning from October – November 2024: “Avert Your Eyes: Art, Censorship, and the First Amendment.”
Warmly,
Brian and Carolyn