The American Law Institute announced today that it will award its Early Career Scholars Medal to Professors Madison Condon of Boston University School of Law and Blake Emerson of UCLA School of Law. Every other year, The American Law Institute awards the Early Career Scholars Medal to one or two outstanding early-career law professors whose work is relevant to public policy and has the potential to influence improvements in the law. The purpose of the award is to encourage practical scholarly work.
Condon, Associate Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law, is an expert on climate change, financial risk, and regulation. Her scholarship has been included in collections of the best articles of the year for several fields, including environmental law, corporate law, and securities law. Emerson, Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law and Professor of Political Science at UCLA, focuses his work on the normative and historical foundations of American public law, drawing on resources from political theory and American political development to understand the structure and purpose of the regulatory state.
“We are delighted to award the Early Career Scholars Medal to these extraordinary scholars and teachers,” said ALI Early Career Scholars Medal Selection Committee Chair Gerard E. Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “Professors Condon and Emerson impressed the entire committee, both for their intellectual accomplishment and for the relevance of their work to public policy. Professor Condon’s writings demonstrate how extremely sophisticated interdisciplinary scholarship can have tremendous practical significance for public policy. Her work has already had a profound effect on academic and regulatory discourse on climate risk, and influenced regulatory and policy decisions in corporate and securities law as well as in environmental policy itself, bringing together legal, economic and scientific analysis. Meanwhile, Professor Emerson has become one of the most influential voices in administrative law, with his groundbreaking research on the democratic functions and normative structures of administrative law, and the role of federal agencies in advancing democratically established public policies. His work too draws upon insights from other disciplines, in his case in history and political science, in writings that speak directly to judges and to political decision makers.”
“I am thrilled that the ALI has chosen Blake for this honor,” said Michael Waterstone, UCLA School of Law Dean. “He has already been active in policymaking spaces, and his work is highly relevant to pressing issues that affect the shape and structure of administrative agencies and other government actors. This medal recognizes Blake’s remarkable ability to combine rigorous legal theory with practical, policy-oriented solutions, making him an invaluable voice in the ongoing debates over the future of the administrative state.”
"Madison is a truly remarkable scholar whose work has made a profound impact on both legal academia and policy reform,” added Boston University School of Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig. “Her interdisciplinary approach to climate change law, coupled with her ability to influence real-world legal and regulatory frameworks, sets her apart as a leader in the field. Her scholarship has already sparked critical discussions and is driving tangible change in addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time. It is a privilege to see her recognized with Blake as an ALI Early Career Scholar."
The American Law Institute helps Early Career Scholar Medal recipients publicize their work by supporting a future conference on issues related to their work, and invites them to speak at an ALI Annual Meeting. At this year’s Annual Meeting, 2023 recipient Crystal S. Yang of Harvard Law School will be speaking on her area of research—empirical law and economics.
More about the medal recipients:
Madison Condon joined Boston University School of Law as an associate professor in July 2020. She teaches Environmental Law, Corporations, and a seminar on climate risk and financial institutions. Condon is an expert on climate change, financial risk, and regulation. Her scholarship has been included in collections of the best articles of the year for several fields, including environmental law, corporate law, and securities law. Her research has been relied upon by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor in rulemakings. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology pointed to her work criticizing financial models in its recommendations for managing extreme weather risk. In 2023, Condon joined the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment Academic Network Advisory Committee.
Before joining BU Law, Condon was an attorney at New York University School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity, where she participated in litigation against federal regulatory rollbacks. She clerked for Judge Jane Kelly of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was a postdoctoral fellow with the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Professor Condon holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an MALD from Tufts University’s Fletcher School, and a B.S. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University. She was a Fulbright Fellow to the Netherlands where she researched water resources management at the Delft University of Technology.
Blake Emerson is Professor of Law and a Professor of Political Science at UCLA Law. He previously was a Research Fellow at the Administrative Conference of the United States in Washington, D.C. His primary research interests lie in administrative law, structural constitutional law, and political theory. In 2021, he received the Association of American Law Schools, Administrative Law Section’s Emerging Scholar Award. In spring of 2024, he was a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
Emerson’s research examines the normative and historical foundations of American public law. He draws on resources from political theory and American political development to understand the structure and purpose of the regulatory state. He studies questions such as: What role have federal government agencies played in interpreting and implementing civil rights and other fundamental public values? How can legal doctrine ensure that agencies address such significant policy issues in a reasoned and inclusive fashion? In what ways have the diverse institutions of the American state realized, or failed to live up to, democratic principles?
Emerson received his B.A. magna cum laude with Highest Honors from Williams College, his Ph.D. with Honors from Yale University, and his J.D. with Honors from Yale Law School.
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About The American Law Institute
The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The ALI drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education.
By participating in the Institute’s work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to give back to a profession to which they are deeply dedicated, and to contribute to the public good.
For more information about The American Law Institute, visit www.ali.org.