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Welcome to the Master of Science in Legal Studies Networking Conference:
We are delighted to Welcome all of you to the Annual M.S.L.S. Conference here at Cornell Law School.
We hope you take the next few days to network and share time with your fellow classmates. This is an important time for you to find and build relationships that we hope will last a lifetime.
Please also take the time to explore the Law School, the Campus and Ithaca. We would love for you to think of this place as your home away from home. You will always be connected to Cornell Law School and should always refer to yourselves as Cornellians.
MSLS Networking Conference Schedule
Jump to : Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13TH
6:30PM – 9:00PM
Conference Check In
Commons, Myron Taylor Hall
Students may arrive between 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM to check-in.
6:30PM – 8:00PM
Law School Tours
Foyer, Myron Taylor Hall
6:30PM – 9:00PM
Welcome Reception
Commons & Gallery, Myron Taylor Hall
Reception to welcome you to Cornell Law School.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH
8:00 AM – 8:45 AM
Breakfast and Conference Check-In
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Conference Welcome
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
Welcome from Prof. Roger Pao, Faculty Director of the MSLS Program
9:15 AM –10:00 AM
The Truth Behind the Noble Lie
Since at least the early 20th century, legal realists have argued that formal materials such as statutes, constitutional provisions, and precedents play less of a role in deciding contested cases than the public assumes or that judges admit. The myth of legal determinacy can nonetheless be defended as a ’noble lie’ told to the public to buttress the courts’ legitimacy. In this talk, Professor Dorf will acknowledge the wisdom of the realist critique while also suggesting that actual legal determinacy has great value when the president and other powerful actors press on the boundaries of lawfulness.
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Prof. Michael Dorf, Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law
10:15 AM –11:00 AM
So You Really Want More on Contracts….
From Copper Wire to Claude: How Contract Law Adapts to Changes in Technology and Commerce.
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Prof. Mark Underberg, Adjunct Professor of Law
11:15 AM –Noon
Legal Research for Professionals and the Limits of AI
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Prof. Kim Nayyer, Edward Cornell Law Librarian, Associate Dean for Library Services, and Professor of the Practice
12:15pPM – 1:30 PM
LUNCH
Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall
1:45 PM –2:30 PM
The Public-Private Distinction in Employment Law
Continental lawyers have long found a fundamental distinction between public and private law—that is, between the law of the internal workings of government and how the government interacts with private persons, on the one hand, and how law regulates interactions between private persons, on the other. American lawyers have traditionally downplayed the distinction, but recently there is a renewed interest in “the new private law.” Employment law displays aspects of both public and private law. Does the distinction matter in principle or in practice? For example, should government workers have greater (or perhaps lesser) rights to speak their minds on issues of the day? Do they have greater (or perhaps lesser) privacy protections against random drug testing? This talk explores these questions with practical examples.
Room G90, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Prof. Stewart Schwab, Jonathan and Ruby Zhu Professor of Law
3:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Excursions
Finger Lakes Waterfall Stroll | Big Red Campus Tours | Self-Guided Tours
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 15th
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Breakfast and Conference Check-In
Commons, Myron Taylor Hall
9:45 AM – 10:30 AM: Student Concurrent Presentations Session 1
Departing on a Final Order After Marriage Should Negate Applicability of INA 204(g)
The regulation defines when removal proceedings begin and when they are terminated for the purpose of INA 204(g). The regulation states that when an alien departs the U.S. on a final order, proceedings are considered terminated. INA 204(g) is the prohibition of approving a spousal visa petition if the marriage between the petitioner and beneficiary (alien) occurred after the beneficiary was placed in removal proceedings. However, if they married after the beneficiary departed on a final order, then proceedings are terminated, and INA 204(g) would not apply – even if the marriage occurred one day after departure. One area of this regulation that has not been addressed by the court is: what if the beneficiary departs the U.S. on a final order after marriage, but before the filing of, or adjudication of, the spousal visa petition? There are AAO decisions sort of on this topic, except the beneficiary never leaves the U.S. What the AAO says in their decisions is that departing on a final order terminates proceedings and INA 204(g) would not apply. Within USCIS, termination of proceedings is not applied the same in this area. I will discuss the discrepancies and what I believe the solution is.
Room 182, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Anna Riemer
Artificial Intelligence and Law Enforcement Policy
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a daily use tool for most Americans. The emerging sector of law enforcement AI systems has prompted law enforcement agencies and their legal teams to draft policies addressing AI’s use. Some departments have outright banned AI use while others have embraced it on varying levels. The Spokane Police Department in Washington State is on its second AI policy. The first policy outright banned AI use in any form; the follow-up policy allows AI use with specific permission from the command staff. This presentation addresses the challenges law enforcement agencies face when drafting policies regarding AI use and deployment.
Room 184, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Neil Higgins
The Price of a Pendulum
A single political appointee at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can swing the odds that any given patent survives administrative challenge by more than forty percentage points, and recently did so without any change in the law. Since Congress created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in 2011, the rate at which the Board agrees to review a challenged patent has risen and fallen across six Directors, ranging from roughly 87% in the early years to under 20% today under Director Squires following his October 2025 order routing all such decisions through his personal review. That swing dwarfs the variation across technology fields and across individual judges by a factor of three or more. The practical takeaway is that who holds the Director’s office matters far more than what the patent actually covers. This presentation reframes the patent-policy debate.
Room 186, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Ryan Heckman
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM: Student Concurrent Presentations Session 2
Modernizing Governance: Closing the Legal-Operational Gap in IT Asset Management at Your Company
Between 2015 and 2019, MSSB and its affiliated national banks undertook office moving projects, data center exits, and branch-device decommissioning projects that later triggered significant OCC, SEC, and multistate attorneys general and class-action enforcement activity. This capstone analyzes the resulting SEC, OCC, and multistate attorneys general enforcement actions to expose a critical vulnerability in modern corporate governance: the “legal-operational gap.” While high-level regulatory frameworks dictate strict data security, they frequently fail to translate into auditable, physical enforcement on the data center floor. By systematically examining the breakdowns in vendor oversight and hardware lifecycle controls, this paper exposes the legal consequences of noncompliance as well as the anatomy of these compliance failures. To bridge this gap, the paper proposes a robust governance model centered on an IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Center of Excellence. By integrating legal obligations directly into physical workflows and exploring AI automation, this framework offers actionable strategies to transform end-of-life hardware from a volatile legal liability into a tightly controlled operational lifecycle.
Room 182, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Van Balanzat
Beyond the Pursuit: Happiness as a Legal Obligation
This presentation will adapt my Cornell Law School Capstone research into a highly interactive, conversational deep dive into the American Social Contract. The core thesis of the presentation asserts that the United States government is not merely a passive observer of our liberties, but rather has an affirmative, constitutional obligation to provide the conditions for its citizens’ happiness.
Room 184, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Devin Hatter
The Legal Case for Emotional Intelligence: Why EI-Driven Leadership Prevents Digital Transformation Lawsuits
As artificial intelligence reshapes every industry, organizational leaders face a fundamental choice that will determine their legal exposure, workforce stability, and long-term viability: use AI to augment human capabilities or replace human workers. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Dr. Cynthia Marshall (former CEO of the Dallas Mavericks and first Black female CEO of an NBA franchise), Dr. Avery August (Deputy Provost at Cornell University), and Professor Julian Zlatev (Harvard Business School), this presentation demonstrates that emotional intelligence in leadership is not a soft skill but the critical competency determining whether AI implementation succeeds legally, strategically, and ethically. This research synthesizes frameworks from Dr. Daniel Goleman, the godfather of emotional intelligence; Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman on decision-making under uncertainty; Harvard Business School Professor Amit Goldenberg on emotion in AI; and Cornell Law Professor Jed Stiglitz on AI legal frameworks. The findings reveal a pattern with profound implications.
Room 186, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Robert Harrell
Noon – 1:30 PM
Networking Lunch
Gallery and Purcell Courtyard, Myron Taylor Hall
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM: Student Concurrent Presentations Session 3
The ESG Compass: A Strategic Governance Framework for European Companies Navigating the U.S. Risk Landscape
As European companies expand into the United States, they face a corporate paradox. In the European Union, they are legally bound by strict, stakeholder-driven sustainability mandates such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Crossing the Atlantic, these same companies land in a polarized U.S. market defined by shareholder primacy, federal and state regulatory fragmentation, and aggressive anti-ESG litigation. Existing research and market-entry guidance treat these legal, political, and operational risks in isolation. In reality, they are deeply interdependent. A disclosure that satisfies an EU regulator can trigger a securities lawsuit in New York, a political backlash in Texas, or a reputational crisis on social media. Leadership teams currently lack a unified, practical tool for managing these conflicting forces without sacrificing global credibility. This presentation introduces The ESG Compass, an interdisciplinary governance model and decision tool built for European executives and their legal counsel. Rather than describing transatlantic differences, it offers a prescriptive framework that companies can adopt directly to maintain EU compliance while reducing U.S. exposure.
Room 182, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Marta Corbi
Executive Power and Press Freedom: How the Executive Branch Shapes the First Amendment Through News Media
Although First Amendment freedoms are often understood through Supreme Court rulings and constitutional interpretation, the executive branch also plays a major role in shaping the practical limits of press freedom. Because the executive branch controls access to government information, oversees federal agencies, directs national security operations, and enforces federal law, presidents and executive agencies possess unique tools that can influence how journalists gather information and report on government activity. Through enforcement decisions, information control, political rhetoric, regulatory appointments, and national security policies, executive officials can significantly affect the practical exercise of press freedom. By examining executive policies and governmental actions throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this paper argues that the executive branch significantly shapes First Amendment press freedoms, often redefining the practical boundaries of press liberty without formally changing the Constitution. It will examine how executive power influences the press through information control, regulatory authority, presidential rhetoric, and national security policies, demonstrating that the practical meaning of press freedom is shaped not only by the courts but also by those who occupy the executive office.
Room 184, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Sara Ashwoth
AI Governance in Retail: Walmart and Amazon
This session flips the conventional script on artificial intelligence in retail, arguing that AI is not a technology problem with legal implications, but a legal problem with technological dimensions. Using Amazon anAId Walmart as case studies, the presenter will introduce an original four-function taxonomy—information gathering, analysis, sharing, and operational execution—to map how deeply integrated retail AI triggers liabilities across antitrust, biometric consent (BIPA), the EU AI Act, and employment law. The presentation goes beyond traditional corporate liability to expose two critical frontiers: the legal risks of “algorithmic commerce” colliding with corporate climate pledges (where AI data center energy demands expose companies to greenwashing and climate litigation), and the HR crisis of lawfully appraising human workers alongside AI agents. Drawing on comparative templates like Singapore’s tiered-autonomy frameworks, this session offers a comprehensive legal map for maintaining corporate and environmental accountability as decision-making migrates from humans to autonomous systems.
Room 186, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Kamna Anand
2:45 PM – 3:30 PM: Student Concurrent Presentations Session 4
Expansion of New Media Coverage on Trials and Why Business Should Care
My capstone presentation explores the expansion of new media and its impact on the legal system, focusing on the balance courts must maintain between the First Amendment protection of free speech and press and the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. I will begin with a brief overview of media in society, tracing the change from traditional news media outlets to modern streaming platforms. I will then dive into how streaming platforms, YouTube specifically, have transformed public access to legal proceedings. I will also show that the focus of content creators is not only on covering high-profile criminal trials but also on following litigation involving businesses. The presentation will consider how this expanded coverage can influence public perception, legal strategy, and reputational risk. I conclude by discussing why businesses should be attentive to this evolving media landscape and how increased visibility can shape public perception and the trust of shareholders and stakeholders, and introduce new legal and public relations challenges.
Room 182, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Janice Prestano
The Legal Case for Unified Regulation: Online Spectrum Scarcity and Duty of Care Framework
This session explores a pioneering approach to the notoriously difficult task of regulating social media platforms, in which rapid technological growth constantly outpaces legal frameworks and Section 230 protections shield operators from liability. Rather than inventing entirely new laws, this presentation argues that the modern digital landscape has created “Online Spectrum Scarcity,” a concept that allows us to adapt robust, century-old broadcast regulations to today’s internet. To bridge this historical gap, the presenter will introduce a flexible “Duty of Care Framework” designed to curb issues like data privacy violations, algorithmic addiction, and disinformation without stifling innovation. Drawing a practical analogy to global financial reporting standards, the session will demonstrate how baseline compliance and data transparency can successfully establish a reliable system of checks and balances for the social media sector.
Room 184, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Vicky Yuen
Soft Toys, Hard Law
This session explores the high-stakes regulatory gridlock facing the $15 billion global soft toy market as manufacturers attempt to transition from conventional to sustainable materials. Navigating a “three-framework trap”—the overlapping and often conflicting standards of the US (ASTM F963), the EU (EN 71), and China (GB 6675)—plush toy makers face duplicative testing and severe compliance burdens, particularly for the dominant 0–3 age group. Crucially, switching to eco-friendly inputs like recycled PET, organic cotton, or biodegradable PLA actually compounds these legal risks, triggering supply chain vulnerabilities under forced labor acts, increased chemical contaminant exposures, and “classification lag” that invites greenwashing scrutiny. Looking ahead to stricter EU regulations and mandatory Digital Product Passports by 2030, this presentation will examine how safety, trade, and environmental laws are converging to create a perverse incentive against going green, ultimately proposing three structural reforms—including mutual certification recognition and interoperable tracking systems—to mend the seams of a fractured regulatory landscape.
Room 186, Myron Taylor Hall
Presented by Ivah Huynh
3:45 PM– 4:45 PM
Capstone Previews – Class of 2027 Required
Room 186, Myron Taylor Hall
Faculty Director Roger Pao
Class of 2027 will get to preview and learn more about the Capstone process and discuss approaches to the Capstone project.
3:45 PM– 5:00 PM
Alumni Association Meeting – Alumni and Class of 2026
Room 184, Myron Taylor Hall
Hosted by: MSLS Alumni Association
Alumni Meeting to discuss organizational steps for alumni engagement and program impact.
6:30 PM – 7:30PM
Cocktails
The Ballroom, The Statler Hotel
7:30 PM – 9:00PM
Celebration Dinner (All are welcome)
The Ballroom, The Statler Hotel
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SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2026, MSLS GRADUATION
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Professional Portraits (Graduating Students & Families Only)
Gould Reading Room, Myron Taylor Hall
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Graduate Check-in. Breakfast for Graduates ONLY
The Gallery, Myron Taylor Hall
10:30 AM
Graduate Student Line-Up
The Gallery, Myron Taylor Hall
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Class of 2026, MSLS Graduate Ceremony
Purcell Courtyard (Rain Location: Landis Auditorium Room 184 with overflow seating in Room 182 and 186)
Accessibility and Streaming
Two Sign language interpreters will be present during Convocation. A Live stream link is here.
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Class of 2026, MSLS Reception
Gallery, Commons, and Purcell Courtyard, Myron Taylor Hall
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Professional Portraits (Graduating Students & Families Only)
Gould Reading Room, Myron Taylor Hall
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Navigating Cornell University Campus
Campus Maps
Cornell is extremely easy to navigate using Google Maps.
You can also use this link as a resource for a general campus map and links to more maps for navigation
Recommended Parking and Transport Options
Please note that the Cornell Undergraduate Student move-in date is Monday, August 17, 2026, so campus will be slightly more hectic and congested; please plan accordingly.
Parking:
Please be aware that all faculty/staff lots at Cornell are ticketed during the weekdays
ParkMobile Lots:
- Cornell utilizes the ParkMobile app for smaller paid parking lots all across campus.
- Click here to view the map of ParkMobile lots and their prices.
- The lots closest to the Law School are 4123 and 4102
- The closest paid parking garage is the city-owned Dryden Rd Garage (Google Maps location here), which is about a five-minute, slightly uphill walk from the Law School and costs $1 an hour.
- FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: There will be parking available at the main Law School parking lot as well as the HH lot below it (they are connected via stairs).
- These lots are free on the weekends, but need a permit between 8 am and 5 pm on weekdays.
Public Transport:
- TCAT – Our public bus system is called TCAT. Google Maps is very accurately aligned with TCAT – when in doubt, enter your destination and location here to find what bus you should take.
- In Google Maps, click the blue ‘Directions’ icon on the search bar on the upper left corner of the screen.
- When the navigation bar opens, click the ‘Transit’ icon (represented by a metro symbol) and enter your starting point in the top field and your destination in the bottom field.
- Google Maps will provide you with available routes.
- Cabs and rideshares
- Ask for dropoff at Myron Taylor Hall main entrance, Cornell Law School.
- Both Uber and Lyft operate in Ithaca, but Uber tends to have more availability.
- Cab services are offered by:
- Collegetown Cab:
- https://collegetowncab.com/
- (607)-588-8888
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Navigating the Law School
The Law School has a unique layout as it was built on a steep hill and there have been additional buildings attached to the school. We hope the following images assist in your ability to arrive and find the locations indicated in the schedule.
Layout of Cornell Law School
icon and select "Add to Home Screen."