Indiana University - Maurer School of Law

The Law School is celebrating the promotion of four faculty colleagues following approval by Indiana University's Board of Trustees. The trustees approved the promotions of Yvette T. Butler and Asaf Lubin to professor, with tenure, as well as Lane McFadden to senior lecturer and Jennifer Bryan Morgan to full librarian. The promotions are effective July 1, 2026; Butler’s and Lubin’s tenure is effective July 1, 2027.

Dean Christiana Ochoa shared the news with the Law School community late Monday.

Butler’s work examines how law, especially constitutional law, protects or constrains the survival and resistance strategies of marginalized communities. Her scholarship and advocacy are grounded in issues including criminalization, s*x work, trafficking, domestic and s*xual violence, and economic security. In December, the Association of American Law Schools Section on Minority Groups named Butler the 2026 recipient of the Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award.

Lubin’s scholarship sits at the intersection of law, technology, and international security, with work addressing cybersecurity, intelligence, artificial intelligence, privacy, internet governance, and national security law. He is affiliated with IU’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. Earlier this year, he was one of six IU Bloomington faculty members to receive the university’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Award.

McFadden joined Maurer as a full-time lecturer in 2021 and teaches first-year Legal Research and Writing and Appellate Advocacy. He also directs the Law School’s appellate advocacy program, advises the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition, and oversees Maurer’s appellate moot court competition teams. His promotion follows a year in which Maurer moot court teams earned a national championship, multiple deep tournament runs, and several writing and oral advocacy honors.

Morgan has been a member of the Jerome Hall Law Library staff since 1994 and became government documents librarian in 2001. She directs the Law Library’s U.S. government depository program, provides specialized reference service in government information, teaches Advanced Legal Research, and supports students, faculty, the IU community, and the public through the library’s public services team. She also served a three-year term on the Depository Library Council, which advises the U.S. Government Publishing Office on policy matters related to the Federal Depository Library Program.

“I am deeply grateful to our newly tenured and promoted colleagues for their terrific efforts leading to this great news,” Ochoa said.

Daniel Rios-Lazo, a 2025 graduate of the Law School and an associate attorney with Church Church Hittle + Antrim in Fishers, Indiana, has been selected to join the inaugural class of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Rural Practice Academy.

Rios-Lazo is one of 15 attorneys chosen for the first cohort of the academy, an entrepreneurial incubator program designed to help lawyers build sustainable practices in rural and underserved Indiana communities. Over 12 months, participants will take part in in-person training, virtual workshops, mentorship, and community-based experiences focused on developing the business, practice-management, and professional connections needed to serve communities where legal services can be difficult to access.

“Daniel’s selection for the inaugural Rural Practice Academy reflects the very best of what we hope for our graduates: a commitment to using their legal education in service to others, including communities across Indiana,” said Christiana Ochoa, dean of the IU Maurer School of Law. “Through initiatives such as our Rural Justice Initiative, Maurer is committed to helping students understand both the rewards and the urgent needs of legal practice in rural communities. We are proud to see Daniel carry that commitment forward as part of this important statewide effort.”

At CCHA Law, Rios-Lazo works in the firm’s Fishers office with the business and litigation practice groups. While at Maurer, he was executive editor of the Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality and a student associate in the Conservation Law Clinic.

The Rural Practice Academy is part of the ISBA’s broader effort to address Indiana’s attorney shortage and improve access to justice in rural and underserved areas.

Congratulations to Jennifer Bryan Morgan, Government Information Librarian, promoted to the full rank of Librarian! A very well-deserved recognition of her tremendous contributions to the University, Law School, and law librarianship profession!

Prof. Ethan Michelson recently paid a visit to some of our amazing Shanghai alumni. We love seeing the global impact of our graduates!

Prof. Deb Widiss, whose research and teaching focuses on employment law, family law, statutory interpretation, and laws and policies supporting work-life balance, was quoted in Mother Jones.

Working while menopausal Employees in hormone flux want accommodations—and some states are granting them.

Johanna Bond, Dean of Rutgers Law School, hosted the annual meeting of the Big 10 law deans in Newark last week. The annual meeting gives the deans an opportunity to discuss trends in legal education and strategies for improving legal education throughout Big 10 law schools.

To wrap the meeting, Rutgers Law Associate Dean for Advancement, Rob Steinbaum, gave the deans a walking tour of Newark, including the historic Ess*x County Courthouse, where this statue of President Lincoln sits.

Photo left to right:
Dean Michael Sant’Ambrogio, MSU College of Law
Dean Jamelle Sharp, University of Illinois College of Law
Dean Jennifer Reynolds, University of Oregon People's Law School
Dean Dan Tokaji, University of Wisconsin Law School
Rutgers Law Dean Johanna Bond
Dean William McGeveran, University of Minnesota Law School
Dean Christiana Ochoa, Indiana University - Maurer School of Law
Dean Todd Pettys, The University of Iowa College of Law
Assistant Dean for Community, Impact, and Engagement, Gabriel Escobedo, Indiana University - Maurer School of Law

We were honored to host the Graciela Olivárez Latinas in the Legal Academy (GO LILA) Workshop last week. It's always great to have visitors to our beautiful campus!

Prof. Tim Waters has wrapped up a trip to Barcelona, where he's been speaking about an updated and revised edition of his book "Boxing Pandora: Rethinking Borders, States, and Secession in a Democratic World." The revised edition features new material specifically focused on Catalonia, an autonomous community within the country of Spain. Waters' appearance has generated significant media coverage:

VilaWeb: https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/cronica-timothy-william-waters-per-un-nou-dret-a-la-secessio-vilaweb-presentacio/

El Punt Avui: https://www.elpuntavui.cat/politica/article/17-politica/2647906-s-hauria-de-reconeixer-el-dret-a-la-secessio.html

Europa Press: https://www.europapress.es/catalunya/noticia-jurista-timothy-william-waters-propone-abrir-conversacion-derecho-secesion-20260530102251.html

TV3: https://www.3cat.cat/3cat/timothy-william-waters-presenta-per-un-nou-dret-a-la-secessio/video/6406623/

Service in action! Kim Hughes, Catherine Dyar, Jane Decker, Cassie Fitzwater, Sophia Goodman, and Matt Caldie (Jerome Hall Law Library) helped clean up Cottage Grove Avenue between Walnut Street and Woodlawn Avenue last evening as part of Monroe County's Adopt-a-Road program. Great job!