USD School of Law and California Western School of Law Held Highly Successful COSELL

SAN DIEGO (September 27, 2024) – The University of San Diego (USD) School of Law, in conjunction with California Western School of Law, held a highly successful 19th Annual Colloquium on Scholarship in Employment and Labor Law (COSELL).

According to Warren Distinguished Professor of Law Orly Lobel, “COSELL was a smashing success. We had over 70 participants from all around the United States, as well as from Canada, prominent scholars and legal practitioners, who delivered cutting edge talks on topics including employment contracts, worker mobility, collective bargaining, discrimination and harassment law, AI and workplace compliance. The gala dinner featured stunning views of the USD campus and San Diego Bay and the annual Zimmer and Miller awards were granted.”

Lobel presented the Paul Miller award to Professor Deborah Widiss from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. The award is named in honor of the late Paul Miller, who was the Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, the Miller Award is presented annually to a senior scholar who has shown “outstanding academic and public contributions to the field of labor and employment scholarship.”

Lobel said of Widdiss, “She has conducted insightful research using comparative law to illuminate the deficiencies in American employment anti-discrimination and family leave laws and continues to be an inspiration for all of us in the employment and labor law scholarly community.” Her research and teaching focuses on employment law, family law, statutory interpretation, and the significance of gender and gender stereotypes in the development of law and government policy.

Professor Daiquiri Steele of the University of Alabama School of Law received the Zimmer Award, named after the late Michael Zimmer, who was a professor of law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He was a renowned expert on employment discrimination law, labor and employment law, and constitutional law. The Zimmer Award is awarded to “a rising scholar who values workplace justice and community, and who has made significant contributions to the field of labor and employment law scholarship."

She teaches Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, Labor Law, Education Law, Torts, Civil Rights, and Legislation & Regulation. Steele is an expert in anti-retaliation and whistleblower law. Her research critically assesses the adequacy of existing legal frameworks designed to protect individuals who report a broad spectrum of misconduct, including discrimination, noncompliance with labor standards, fraud, regulatory violations, and ethical breaches.

Pictured left to right: Lobel, Widdiss, Steele, Cal Western School of Law Professor Susan Bisom Rapp

About Warren Distinguished Professor of Law Orly Lobel

Orly Lobel is a Professor of Law and the founding director of the Center for Employment and Labor Policy (CELP) at USD School of Law. She is the award-winning author of best-selling books and numerous high-impact articles. A graduate of Tel-Aviv University and Harvard Law School, Professor Lobel clerked on the Israeli Supreme Court and is a member of the American Law Institute. She was named as one of the most cited legal scholars in law and technology and in employment law and, overall, one of the most cited younger legal scholars in the United States.

Professor Lobel served on President Obama’s policy team on innovation and labor market competition, and advised the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American Conference of the United States (ACUS), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and other federal and state agencies on tech policy. Professor Lobel also consults private tech leaders on competition, human capital, equality, innovation, labor markets and tech policy.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

Each year, USD educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 34th nationally among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 37th nationally in past-year faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.