Jun 17 Fri
2022

The Evolving Face of Cyber Conflict and International Law: A Futurespective

08:00AM - 05:00PM Washington College of Law

Join the Tech Law Program for 3 days of programming, June 15-18, 2022!
It’s been a little less than a quarter century since the Morris Worm shook the quixotic orthodoxies about the innate trustworthiness of digital interconnectivity and exposed the soft underbelly of what would shortly explode across the globe – the Internet.  Since that time, criminals, non-state actors, and states have leveraged the inherent insecurities and vulnerabilities of cyberspace at an ever-increasing rate and with ever-more harmful impact.  Data theft, ransomware attacks, and critical infrastructure disruptions, to name a few, are now near daily occurrences.  Notwithstanding the immense societal risks these activities present, a growing number of states have fully embraced cyber tools and operations as staples in their toolkits of both statecraft and warfare.   

At the same time, until recently states have remained relatively silent on their views of how international law regulates their cyber activities.  That has begun to change, however, with an increasing number of states making official pronouncements of their opinio juris, either independently or through established multilateral processes like the UNGGE and OEWG.  While this is a positive trend, it has also highlighted several disparate views on critical issues and the difficulty in achieving anything more than limited clarity and consensus.  What can we discern from these state pronouncements?  What is the present state of the law governing state cyber activities, and where is it headed?  That is the focus of this symposium. 

  • Conference
  • Open To The Public, Alumni, Students AND Faculty/Staff
Jun 29 Wed
2022

CFPB’s New Approach to Discrimination: Invoking UDAAP

12:00PM - 01:30PM Webinar

The CFPB earlier this year claimed a new tool to prevent discrimination in financial services by examining institutions for conduct that, while potentially falling outside the ambit of traditional fair lending laws, was nonetheless “unfair.” To the uninitiated, the change seemed semantic. To providers and consumers of financial services and products, it is potentially seismic.

Symposium presenters:

  • Michael Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending
  • Kitty Ryan, Senior Vice President at the American Bankers Association
  • John Coleman, Partner, Buckley LLP

Defining conduct as unfair, deceptive, or abusive triggers liability under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, a broad statute that could reach well beyond the traditional lending realm covered by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In fact, the CFPB paired its announcement with revised examination procedures for assessing UDAAP compliance and a separate blog post by its enforcement and supervision heads explaining that they were “cracking down on discrimination in the financial sector.” They said the new procedures would guide examiners to look “beyond discrimination directly connected to fair lending laws” and “to review any policies or practices that exclude individuals from products and services, or offer products or services with different terms, in an unfairly discriminatory manner.”

The bureau’s full-court press on this new initiative left some meaningful questions unanswered. Please join us for a symposium that attempts to steer the conversation to a shared understanding of the bureau’s expectations, and how institutions can meet them. The discussion will explore the legal and policy questions raised by the CFPB’s adoption of a theory of “unfair discrimination.” The panelists will cover how the CFPB’s UDAAP authority interacts with laws enacted specifically to prevent discriminatory conduct, the legal support for the CFPB’s new theory, and the specific steps institutions should consider taking to ensure compliance with it. Indications that the Federal Trade Commission could adopt a similar theory of “unfair discrimination” make this a timely and relevant discussion for companies within and without the financial services industry.

  • Presentation
  • Open To The Public
Jun 29 Wed
2022

CFPB’s New Approach to Discrimination: Invoking UDAAP

12:00PM - 01:30PM Online via Zoom

The CFPB earlier this year claimed a new tool to prevent discrimination in financial services by examining institutions for conduct that, while potentially falling outside the ambit of traditional fair lending laws, was nonetheless “unfair.” To the uninitiated, the change seemed semantic. To providers and consumers of financial services and products, it is potentially seismic.

Symposium presenters:

• Michael Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending

• Kitty Ryan, senior vice president at the American Bankers Association

• John Coleman, partner, Buckley LLP

• Moderator: Jerry Buckley, partner and co-founder of Buckley LLP

Defining conduct as unfair, deceptive, or abusive triggers liability under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, a broad statute that could reach well beyond the traditional lending realm covered by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In fact, the CFPB paired its announcement with revised examination procedures for assessing UDAAP compliance and a separate blog post by its enforcement and supervision heads explaining that they were “cracking down on discrimination in the financial sector.” They said the new procedures would guide examiners to look “beyond discrimination directly connected to fair lending laws” and “to review any policies or practices that exclude individuals from products and services, or offer products or services with different terms, in an unfairly discriminatory manner.”

The bureau’s full-court press on this new initiative left some meaningful questions unanswered. Please join us for a symposium that attempts to steer the conversation to a shared understanding of the bureau’s expectations, and how institutions can meet them. The discussion will explore the legal and policy questions raised by the CFPB’s adoption of a theory of “unfair discrimination.” The panelists will cover how the CFPB’s UDAAP authority interacts with laws enacted specifically to prevent discriminatory conduct, the legal support for the CFPB’s new theory, and the specific steps institutions should consider taking to ensure compliance with it. Indications that the Federal Trade Commission could adopt a similar theory of “unfair discrimination” make this a timely and relevant discussion for companies within and without the financial services industry.

  • Conference
  • Open To The Public, Alumni, Students AND Faculty/Staff
Jul 05 Tue
2022

We Are Not Invisible: Improving Awareness of Human Trafficking Issues in Indigenous Communities

03:00PM - 04:30PM Online via Zoom

Human trafficking is a violent crime that disproportionately impacts Native Americans. Yet indigenous women and girls are frequently the least recognized and least protected populations in communities struggling with this problem. What are the reasons behind the disproportionate impacts of human trafficking on indigenous communities and why are those most impacted by human trafficking the least protected? What actions are being taken or should be taken to combat this ongoing crisis? Join Senator Mary Kunesh and Associate Justice Anne K. McKeig of the Minnesota Supreme Court for a discussion on the impact of human trafficking on indigenous communities and what can be done to better address this issue going forward.


Presenters

• Justice Anne McKeig, Minnesota Supreme Court

• Senator Mary Kunesh-Podein, State of Minnesota

  • Conference
  • Open To The Public, Alumni, Students AND Faculty/Staff
Jul 11 Mon
2022

Understanding the Trademark Modernization Act

11:00AM - 12:00PM Online via Zoom

With three experts in the trademark field, this panel will break down the new Trademark Modernization Act, how it is used, and the effects it has already had on trademark law.

  • Conference
  • Open To The Public, Alumni, Students AND Faculty/Staff