The American Law Institute (ALI) is conferring its first Young Scholars Medals on Oren Bar-Gill of New York University School of Law and Jeanne C. Fromer of Fordham University School of Law.
Professor Bar-Gill’s medal recognizes his insights into consumer psychology, which are the basis for his proposal of specific legal solutions to match specific problems in the markets for cell phones, subprime mortgages and credit cards. Professor Fromer’s medal honors her work exploring the claiming systems of patent and copyright law, as well as forum shopping in patent litigation.
ALI created the Young Scholars Medal to call attention to academic work that is practical, focused on the real-world and can influence law for the better. Deans from law schools nominated more than 70 candidates, all professors in their first decade of teaching. The selection committee was chaired by William Fletcher, Professor Emeritus at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley School of Law and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“Both scholars are fluent in the details of law and legal institutions,” said Judge Fletcher. “They produce work that is consistent with ALI’s goals of clarifying the law and adapting it to social needs and the administration of justice.”
The winning professors will receive a $5,000 prize, will speak at an upcoming ALI Annual Meeting and will plan a conference devoted to identifying legal subjects that would benefit from law reform.