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The Tsai Center sponsors periodic presentations and discussions at the SMU Dedman School of Law by professors, judges, and attorneys on topics at the intersection of law, science, and innovation. Organized by the Tsai Center Scholars and typically occurring over lunch, these presentations and discussions—often responding to hot topics and current events—bring the real world into the classroom. Tsai Talks help students make connections between the study and the practice of law, and challenge students to understand relationships between public policies and positive law. Tsai Talks invite students to explore differences between normative ideas about what the law should be and descriptive views of what the law is.

2023-2024 Tsai Talks

• Hot Topics in Intellectual Property Law with Carl Bruce, Principal at Fish & Richardson, who weighed in on some of the trending topics across the IP legal landscape. 

• Betting Big The Ins and Outs of Sports Betting Law & Venture Capital
  Managing Partner Kevin Vela from Dallas-based Vella Wood shared his perspectives on gaming laws and venture financing.

• Bar to Business: A Discussion on Running Your Own Firm
  As the proprietor of Champion LLP, business and intellectual property trial attorney Austin Champion ’08 went through the highlights and lowlights of owning your own firm.

• The Inside Scoop on Working In-House & in IP at Caterpillar
  Elise Selinger, Corporate Counsel at Caterpillar Inc., talked about her in-house role with a major industrial equipment manufacturer.

• The Ledger and the Law: Tales from the Frontier of Cryptocurrency Litigation and Regulation
  Daley Epstein ‘18, Associate at McDermott, Will & Emery, returned to the law school to discuss the cryptocurrency’s highly fluid regulatory environment.

2022-2023 Tsai Talks

• Health Law Series: Opioid Litigation: A View from the Inside with
• Get Connected: The Internet of Things with Luke McLeroy
• Health Law Series: The Future of Medicine, Today. A Conversation with Bethany McGaha '10, Director and Managing Attorney - Healthcare Transactions, UTSouthwestern Medical Center

2021-2022 Tsai Talks

• Let them Play (and get Paid): Name, Image and Likeness Deals and NCAA Compliance. Damilola Sule, SMU Director of Compliance, and Rob Heuer, SMU Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, discussed the effects of the recent Supreme Court decision in NCAA v. Alston on name, image, and likeness deals for student athletes, the innovative ways that student athletes can pursue these deals, and careers in NCAA compliance.
• White Coats and Black Robes: Pharmaceutical Innovation and the Law. Frank Grassler, a Member of Martin Fulton, PLLC, discussed his career in pharmaceutical innovation and law, including his transition from a pharmacist to working as a patent attorney for GlaxoSmithKline.
• Regulating an Evolving AI Landscape with Yoon Chae, Senior Associate, Baker McKenzie
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: Technology & The Health Surveillance State, presented by Professor Chris Jenks
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: with Director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center and Professor of Law Pam Metzger
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: COVID-19 and the Constitution with Professor Dale Carpenter
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: Voting in the Pandemic with Professor Grant Hayden 
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: Observing Online Courts: Lessons from the Pandemic with Professor Beth Thornburg  and 
• Tsai Talk Series – COVID-19 and the Law: Law and the Search for a COVID-19 Vaccine with Professor Nathan Cortez. 12:00 pm-1:00 pm, 7/31 
• Leggo My Logo! Using Trademarks to Protect a Brand featuring guest speakers  and  of Locke Lord

2019 Tsai Talks

• IP in the Sky: Uber Elevate and Autonomous Driving Technology featuring Chris Storm, IP Legal Director for Uber's Emerging Technology Programs
• Tales from the Crypt(o): How Cryptocurrency is Resurrecting the Legal Market
• Law, Ethics & Autonomy featuring Professor Chris Jenks and Dr. Rain Livoja, University of Queensland
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Oral Arguments, Q&A and Reception
• Leadership Lecture featuring the Honorable Scott R. Boalick, Chief Judge for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
• Art Law and Copyright: How A Small Firm Takes on National Cases featuring Thomas Maddrey