Shortburst: New JAGs; Formula One; new faculty; save the date; and more!
Shortbursts are an occasional feature of Lawfire® designed to provide quick updates on a variety of issues.
New military lawyers!
Duke Law Class of 2022 provided two additions to the ranks of military lawyers. Mike Moserowitz is headed to the Army Judge Advocate (JAG) Corps. Mike had a great Duke Law career which included service as the co-president of the National Security Law Society.
J
ohn Schwarcz is headed to the Air Force JAG Corps and he also had a wonderful Duke Law career. I think both John and Mike took every national security law-related course and seminar offered by Duke – which is no small accomplishment! I’m looking forward to hearing great things about both of them in the coming years.
Formula One and more!
Speaking of hearing great things about Duke Law-connected JAGs, Maj Greg Speirs recently updated me on his current activities. (If his name sounds familiar, see here, here, and here.)
And, wow, his career demonstrates that in the military, you can wind up doing incredibly interesting things! Deployed to the Middle East, he managed to grab some free time to try out Formula One driving!
In addition, his legal office organized a Juneteenth educational program. Here’s how it was described:
380 AEW/JA
“380 AEW/JA drafted a script and narrated key Civil Rights events chronologically through our nation’s history, pausing throughout to have one of six volunteer Airmen shine in front of the base by reading: a summary of key Supreme Court cases (Dred Scott, Plessy, Brown v. Board of Ed., Loving v. Virginia); the Emancipation Proclamation and Booker T. Washington’s recollection of seeing his mother learn of the Proclamation; Civil Rights Amendments and Acts; culminating in President Biden’s signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day. The educational event was very well received by Airmen and Soldiers!”
New Duke Law faculty with a military connection!
A diverse faculty is a strong one, and increasing the number of veterans is one part of achieving diversity. Consequently, it is great to hear that Jon Petkun, a Marine veteran with service in Iraq in his record, is joining the faculty. Jon has his JD from Yale, and a PhD in economics from MIT. He’ll be teaching civil procedure at Duke Law in the fall.
Also coming on the faculty is Jon’s partner, Mara Revkin, who holds both a JD and PhD from Yale. While not a military veteran, she served as a UN advisor while conducting research in Iraq. I’ve heard wonderful things about her, and initially she’ll be teaching “Transitional Justice.” (I’m especially excited because she’s promised to write a post for Lawfire®!)
Additionally, Daniel “DJ” Dore is joining Duke Law as the Director of Public Interest and Pro Bono programs. I had lunch with DJ, and – wow – he has a very interesting background which includes current service in the Army Reserves where he’s deployed multiple times. Though he is a lawyer (UNC grad!), he doesn’t serve as a JAG in the Army, but it’ll be great to have his perspective.
Finally, the new Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute is U.S. District Court Judge Paul Grimm. Judge Grimm will assume his new position in January 2023 after he completes his judicial duties.
Judge Grimm is a retired Army JAG with many years of service both on active duty and in the Reserves. We had a chance to connect on one of his Duke visits where I learned he has lots of great ideas, and loads of energy. I’m very much looking forward to working with him, and getting to know all the Duke Law faculty veterans more.
Save the date!
It’s not too early to start thinking about joining us for the 28th Annual National Security Law conference in-person here at Duke Law on 24-25 February 2023.
We are assembling an all-star cast of outstanding speakers; one I can tell you has confirmed is Prof Nita Farahany. If you’ve never heard her speak, you are in for a real treat! And, if you have, you know why we’re thrilled to have her return.
This wildly popular speaker never fails to impress her audiences with her provocative and eye-opening talks. Her presentation about the national security implications of neuroscience is sure to cause you to think deep, question what’s important, and learn much while picking up insights to fascinate your friends.
(BTW, Nita’s much-anticipated book: The Battle For Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology is expected to be released by Martin’s Press in March 2023 – and, yes, I pre-ordered!)
Also returning is the ever-popular Dean Cheng to give us an update on national security issues associated with China.
In addition, we’ll also hear from retired Air Force colonel Dawn Zoldi, a Lawfire® contributor and previous LENS speaker, who will talk to us about legal issues associated with domestic drones.
Stay tuned here for when conference registration will open.
Still time for summer reading!
There is still time to do some serious summer reading, and if you are looking for suggestions, check out this post: Some summer reading recommendations (especially for those interested in national security!)
