As I walked up to the podium in the courtroom, Redweld folder in hand, I thought to myself, “I hope no one here can tell that my knees are shaking.” This was my first real court appearance. As a third-year law student, I was in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to argue an appeal through the Appellate Litigation Clinic at Beasley School of Law. And my very real client was watching intently from the gallery. When I left my paralegal position before starting at Temple Law, I received valuable advice from many of my then-colleagues. One particular suggestion that I took to heart was to find a way to “stand up” in court before I graduate. That opportunity came in my final year of law school through Professor Mary Levy’s clinic. The Appellate Litigation Clinic provides high-quality legal representation to underserved communities, especially to pro se litigants who would not otherwise have counsel in appeals. Through this program, my co-clinical students Graeme Brown, Lingxi Lu, and I had the privilege of representing a journalist …

Right now, I am preparing for my last presentation of this final semester, and my mind keeps going back to the Temple Law Rome summer program—the summer I grew up. Then I was stumbling over my notes, but now, finally completing my legal education at Temple Law, I see that growth supported by the encouragement and attention of my classmates and professors. One day, I will become a lawyer, and if I am lucky enough, I will work as a prosecutor. I am not afraid. I am not anxious. No matter which path I take, I am certain that this learning experience has given me enough confidence.   Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I would study law. I felt a deep connection to the law from the age of twelve. I participated in a mock trial competition, and from that moment, a seed had been planted in my heart. That is also an important reason I decided to study at Temple Law.   My undergraduate school, North China University of Science and Technology, …

Temple Law students Victoria Faria and Sarah Ismael, who are members of Temple Law’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Society (“ADRS”), went to the ABA Business Law Section’s third annual National Invitational M&A negotiating competition, known as the MAC Cup. By reaching the Quarterfinals and competing in four negotiations, Victoria and Sarah finished among the top eight teams (“Elite 8”) of the original 64 student teams from law schools across the United States and Canada. The MAC Cup requires students to create an issue list based on the competition’s fact pattern, mark-up an assetpurchase agreement (“APA”) reflecting the prevailing issues identified and then participate in a mock negotiation with other competitors. The competition allows law school students to learn about M&A deals and develop their negotiation skills by encouraging students to use the same tools M&A attorneys rely on, like: (1) the ABA’s M&A Private Target M&A Deal Points Studies; (2) Westlaw’s CoCounsel and Practical Law; and (3) Hotshot Legal’s digital learning video service.  This year, the competition centered on superstar couple Tara Quick and Ted Kickstart …

The climate crisis is often framed as a technical or policy failure: we have the wrong incentives, insufficient innovation, or weak political will. A deeper examination reveals it to be a systemic failure. The mounting evidence suggests that the core operating system of the global economy—capitalism—is programmed with a fatal contradiction: it must consume the very biosphere upon which all life depends. To believe this system can now engineer its own salvation is a dangerous illusion.   The climate emergency is not a problem for capitalism to solve; it is a verdict on its fundamental viability in the 21st century. The structural logic of capitalism—predicated on endless growth, profit maximization, and the externalization of environmental costs—is intrinsically opposed to the ecological stability required to avert catastrophe. Technological tweaks, green markets, and policy reforms within this system are not merely insufficient; they are structurally doomed to fail, making a decisive shift toward a post-capitalist economic paradigm a planetary necessity. The Growth Imperative: A Death Drive on a Finite Planet  The non-negotiable core of capitalism is the imperative …

After my first semester of law school, I accepted a hard truth: many of my classmates would be better lawyers than me. They were intelligent, exceptional students. But that was not what led me to this conclusion. I realized early on that I was hoping to gain something different from my legal education than those around me. Lucky for them, they were in the right place for what they were looking for. But was I? As we read cases and worked through doctrines, I felt the ever-growing disconnect expand. In cold calls and class discussions, their answers tracked the law as it was, while mine kept drifting toward what it wasn’t, what it lacked, or what it could be. They were much closer to what professors were hoping to hear in response to their questions. I was somewhere else entirely. In my second semester, public law courses started to shift something. The same analytical skills were required, but for the first time, there was space for the way I thought. As I engaged with the …

The Temple Sports Law Negotiation Team made their way to the Big Easy last month to compete in the nation’s premier football negotiation competition at Tulane University. Facing a fast-paced, high-pressure environment, the team tackled complex real-world scenarios designed to mirror the challenges of NFL contract negotiations.   Temple Law participated in three salary negotiations, representing the New York Jets versus running back Breece Hall, wide receiver George Pickens versus the Dallas Cowboys, and the Jacksonville Jaguars versus linebacker Devin Lloyd. Each negotiation required an independent analysis of the player, which included balancing the player’s value, the team’s priorities, and the team’s long-term roster strategy while navigating a team’s current constraints of the NFL salary cap.   For example, in advocating for George Pickens, Temple emphasized his explosive playmaking ability and key market drivers for wide receiver compensation. Pickens posted 93 catches for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns, ranking 8th in the league in targets and 3rd in receiving yards this season. He is among the league’s most productive receivers, putting him in the top of …

The Sports Law Negotiation Team returned to action last month at the Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition (“TIBAC”). If you read my prior article about the Villanova Baseball Filing Day Competition, you already know a little bit about baseball arbitration and the structure of the tournaments that the negotiation team competes in. Villanova’s competition simulated MLB Filing Day, the day by which arbitration-eligible players must reach an agreement with their club on a salary for the upcoming season, or opt to proceed to arbitration. TIBAC is a little bit different – it simulates the baseball arbitration process itself.  The MLB arbitration process begins with each side selecting a filing number, which is the salary they believe the player should be paid for the upcoming season. The parties then create presentations in support of that filing number and deliver them to an arbitrator. The arbitrator must select one of the two proposed salaries – the arbitrator cannot split the difference. In essence, the parties are really arguing that the player should earn above or below the …