Archives

Alumni Spotlight – Matteo Smacchi LLM ’11, Head of Legal & Compliance, SDA Express Courier, Poste Italiane

Published by

Italian alumnus Matteo Smacchi LLM ’11 has long been committed to professional and personal service. After earning the Professor Samuel Gyandoh Award for rendering outstanding service to Temple Law upon his graduation, Matteo has gone on to a distinguished career in the public and private sector. Matteo currently serves as the Head of Legal and Compliance for the SDA Express Courier services within Poste Italiane—one of Italy’s largest companies with over 120,000 employees. He is directly responsible for all legal and compliance oversight of the express courier business unit and distribution activities. In his role, he particularly appreciates the unique opportunity to engage in strategic decision-making for the company and the ability to interact with other professionals who lack legal backgrounds. Prior to his current role at Poste Italiane, Matteo spent eight years working for large, international law firms in Philadelphia and Rome. He then made the decision to transition out of law firm practice. Playing the role of in-house counsel, Matteo first served as the Head of Corporate Affairs at both Banca Generali and …

In their own words: Law students praise Temple Rome summer program

Published by

Upon the conclusion of the 4-week study abroad program in Rome, students from Temple University Beasley School of Law, as well as other participant students from partnering law schools, reflected on their personal, professional, and academic experiences in Rome. Among the major benefits of the program, students attested to the professional advantages gained by enrolling in international law courses, arriving at Temple’s Rome campus each morning for class lectures, and living in the “Eternal City.” Emphasizing the value of networking with professors and guest lecturers, Alison Maser (a 2L Temple student) mentioned, “I feel like I have gained invaluable mentors through this experience.” Mariah McGuirk from Albany Law School articulated the intrinsic benefits of studying law abroad, as she experienced advantages inside and outside the classroom: “regardless of what the content is in the classes that we take, the skills we are developing and learning will help us through the rest of our educational career as well as our professional careers.” During the summer term, students engaged with guest lecturers, completed written assignments, delivered oral …

Shannon McGuire LAW '21 stands in front of a large waterfall

Studying Abroad at Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia

Published by

In Fall of 2018, Shannon McGuire LAW ’19 completed a semester-long study abroad program at our Temple Law partner school, Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia. I went to Rosario with an interest in seeing how Colombia was handling the Venezuelan refugee crisis, to learn more about human rights law, and to improve my Spanish language skills. I left Bogota having achieved each of those goals but also having made lifelong friends, having acquired an addiction to arepas de yuca and yellow dragon fruit, and having gained a deeper understanding and admiration for a peace process that transitioned a country from decades of internal conflict to a new horizon that aimed to uphold the rule of law while rehabilitating offenders and giving victims a voice. I cried seeing exhibits of paramilitary slaughters of Colombian villages. I debated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with my classmates in my Anthropology of Violence and Conflict class. I hid my face every time we learned about yet another Latin American country where the U.S. meddled in their domestic affairs during the Cold War era (and …

Photo of people in a board room with biometric face scans

Temple Law Confronts Policy Gaps for Emerging Technologies

Published by , and

Newly founded institute advocates for federal regulation of AI-enabled biometrics The technology boom of the last several decades showcases incredible feats of human ingenuity. Biometric technology in particular has quickly and quietly embedded itself into our lives as we monitor our kids, calories, and homes through our phones. However, as we idly scroll, we are increasingly being watched. For example, the Philadelphia Police Department has access to more than 1,800 surveillance cameras through one of a growing number of fusion centers in the United States, operated by state and local law enforcement in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania driver’s license photos and records feed into the state’s law enforcement database, JNET, which operates a facial recognition system called JFRS. As humankind continues to invent greater, more powerful, and potentially more intrusive tech, Temple University’s newly founded Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology (iLIT) seeks to help regulate them by focusing on practical engagement and the human dimension to making and using technology. Its mission is to deliver equity, bridge academic and …

Can we make ‘Sense’ of the Kyle Rittenhouse Acquittal?

Published by

It is no surprise that many feel dismay over the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse and see the verdict as resulting from the American tolerance of gun culture; a nearly all-white jury favoring a white defendant; a baby-faced [in the jurors’ eyes] teen who did not match a stereotype of a ‘gun-toting’ marauder; and a reaction against the purported violence of racial justice protests. But those views impose social concerns on what is ultimately a trial, a process where a jury must confront two competing narratives.  Sorting out the possible social and cognitive contributing factors cannot be done with precision and in fact such an exercise may be fruitless.  But self-defense law Wisconsin style and the conduct of Rittenhouse’s trial offer easy explanations of how a ‘not guilty’ verdict was reached either because jurors simply followed the law or made the defense story fit with their implicit (or express) biases. What were the stories?  The prosecution’s was simple, laid out in the opening statement: [T]he defendant Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17-years-old at the time, had armed …

Building the Rule of Law in Albania

Published by

When I entered law school in my native Albania, at the tender age of 18, I had strong idealistic beliefs. I began my legal studies as a mission, but, like almost all young idealists, I faced disappointment after confronting the systemic corruption in the Albanian justice system. To avoid that corruption as much as possible, I steered away from both public administration and litigation. I then directed my efforts into the private sector and commercial law. This later became my focus in the Master of Laws for Foreign-Trained Lawyers (LLM) program at Temple University Beasley School of Law. I very much enjoying living in Philadelphia, while attending classes as part of the Temple intensive English (IELP) and LLM programs. Living and studying abroad changes one on so many levels. I will never forget the extraordinary professors; their use of the Socratic method differs so greatly from higher education practices back home. The engagement with professors and students, both in and out of the classroom, shapes one’s thinking and presents challenges with far-reaching effects. My Temple …

Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship | Student Perspectives

Published by , , and

This past summer, several Temple Law students completed the Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship. They shared their experiences here: Dave Garton LAW ’23 – Lincoln Financial Group  My experience was fantastic, and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of their specific legal interests. I had opportunities to work with Lincoln Financial Group’s business units to update HIPAA compliance guidelines, with the financial advisory group on tracking and updating client compliant client disclosures, and on traditional legal memos and research questions for the litigation team. I also had opportunities across the legal department and have already benefited from references to OCI firms and have been offered contacts at firms of all sizes in the area. Lincoln’s legal department was helpful and considerate from those I worked with directly up to the Chief Counsel and other heads of departments. They all did a good job of keeping the internship engaging in a virtual environment, but I imagine it would only be better in person. Molly Herbison LAW ’22 – Otsuka I had a great experience at Otsuka. Over the …

Photo of Christopher Moore LAW '23 wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a fountain.

Honoring Amber Racine – Christopher Moore LAW ’23 Shares His Experience as the Inaugural Amber Racine Fellow

Published by

It has been an honor to become the very first recipient of the Amber Racine Fellowship as a law student intern at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. I never had the opportunity to meet Amber Racine, but I had certainly heard about her prior to becoming a fellow. I remember the outpouring of love from Temple Law School after her passing. This prompted me to learn more about her work both within the courtroom and outside the courtroom. I was thoroughly impressed with her legal/professional achievements which were all accomplished at such a young age. I was equally, if not more, impressed with her work in the community and her dedication to nurturing young attorneys of color. I was extremely humbled by this fellowship opportunity because I am essentially standing on the shoulders of an individual that successfully traversed through the path I am trying to follow. I will always be appreciative and honored to be the first Amber Racine Fellow. This summer, I worked with Community Legal Services’ Youth Justice Project (“YJP”) under the …

Photo of Professor Melissa Jacob

Q&A with Professor Melissa Jacoby

Published by

In September of 2019, Purdue Pharma LP filed for Chapter 11 protection after facing a wave of lawsuits over its opioid painkiller drug, OxyContin. The Sackler family, who own the pharmaceutical company, have attempted to use a controversial tactic to get bankruptcy-like protections to without filing for bankruptcy in order to protect their personal assets and holdings. On Wednesday, June 15th, according to Bloomberg, “U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain approved an investigation into whether the drugmaker’s owners, members of the billionaire Sackler family, have had undue influence on an independent committee of Purdue board members,” a win for the advocacy group of parents whose children died as a result of opioid abuse. Professor Jonathan Lipson, Harold E. Kohn Chair and Professor of Law at Temple Law School, was of counsel to the movant. His colleague, Professor Melissa Jacoby, Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, put the ruling into context.  Temple Law School: In in the June 15th ruling, Judge Drain approved an investigation, which will give an …

The Biden Pivot

The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presents “The Biden Pivot” | Student Commentary

Published by

On April 8, 2021, The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presented “The Biden Pivot,” a panel of experts who discussed where, and how, the Biden Administration will reverse course on international policies set by the previous administration. Panelists included Duncan B. Hollis, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law; J. Benton Heath, Assistant Professor of Law; Amy Sinden, Professor of Law; Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and I. Herman Stern Research Professor. The panel was moderated by Margaret M. deGuzman, James E. Beasley Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for International Law and Public Policy.  Temple Law continues to step up and offer really amazing events on international law and policy. Throughout this year, the Institute for International Law and Public Policy and the student-led International Law Society has continually hosted meaningful discussions that allow students such as myself to engage with Temple Law’s international faculty. As an aspiring international lawyer, the access I’ve been given to these world-renowned scholars has been incredible. I regularly talk with Professor Heath after …