Category Archives: Featured Post

Securitizing Stardust: The Legal Life of Bowie Bonds

TRENT ANDERSON—In 1997, David Bowie made waves in both the music and finance worlds by transforming his back catalog into a $55 million financial instrument. The first of what became known as “Bowie Bonds,” this deal allowed him to raise immediate cash by securitizing future royalties from twenty-five of his albums. Consistent with Bowie’s persona, […]

Great Jeans Controversy: Lessons from the Sydney Sweeney AEO Campaign

PAIGE-TATUM HAWTHORNE—This past August, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) launched a campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. In the advertisement, a camera pans Sweeny’s body clothed in AEO jeans, as she suggestively whispers, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” A […]

Recap: “Assertions of Emergency Power” — Professor Harold Hongju Koh

JASMINE KAYPOUR—Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, dissected the state of America’s “National Security Constitution” and the disturbing expansion of presidential emergency powers in his recent lecture. Drawing on history, case law, and recent events, Koh argued that the balance envisioned by the framers—shared power between the president, Congress, […]

Take It at Face Value: Court Approves Equity-Based Settlement in Clearview AI Facial Recognition Class Action

ITIEL WAINER—On March 20, 2025, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois approved an unconventional class action settlement that grants class members a 23% equity stake in Clearview AI, a facial recognition start-up the class sued over privacy harms, even though the company’s sucess hinges on those harms. Despite objections from a bipartisan […]

KPMG’s Approval to Practice Law Reignites Debate Around Alternative Business Structures

THOMAS PUDAS—Arizona has once again positioned itself as a pioneer in legal reform, this time by approving a license for KPMG, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, to practice law in the state. This decision comes as part of Arizona’s broader effort to modernize legal practice by allowing non-lawyers to own and operate law […]