AALA member Drew Kershen, the Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law Emeritus in the University of Oklahoma College of Law, received the Citizen’s Award for Exceptional Service from the U.S. Department of the Interior for his “contributions to public service in support of the Upper Washita and Upper Red River Basin Studies for the Bureau […]

Current employer: Counsel, Alston & Bird Education and work experience: Senior Advisor to Secretary Sonny Perdue, USDA; Policy Advisor at The White House; Director of Congressional Relations at American Farm Bureau Federation: University of Nebraska College of Law 2009 AALA leadership roles: Distance education committee How did you get interested or involved in agricultural law? […]

AALA member Todd Janzen with Janzen Ag Law summarized “who is a ‘foreign person’ in the eyes of USDA” for the Agri Marketing magazine. At the state and federal level, he explained, there are bills seeking to reduce or increase reporting obligations for foreign ownership of farmland, although the federal Agriculture Department has been requiring […]

AALA member Peggy Kirk Hall, director of Ohio State’s Agricultural and Resource Law Program, received the 2023–2024 Distinguished Extension Faculty Award from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. She provides research and outreach about legal issues affecting Ohio agriculture and has taught agribusiness law in the college for 25 years. Click here to […]

Current employer: OFW Law Education and work experience: University of Richmond (JD), Purdue University (MS – Agricultural Economics), Virginia Tech (BS – Animal and Poultry Science, Agricultural and Applied Economics) AALA leadership roles: I serve as co-chair of the awards committee and have previously served on the symposium planning committee. How did you get interested […]

AALA member Jonathan Coppess with the Gardner Agriculture Policy Program at the University of Illinois discussed the political environment around a farm bill during the May 10, 2024, Agri-Pulse Newsmakers. Click here to watch. Click here for Jonathan’s follow-up opinion piece.

AALA member Paul Goeringer, a senior faculty specialist in the University of Maryland’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC), has been honored with the prestigious Provost’s Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty. The accolade celebrates his exceptional service and outstanding contributions to the university community. Click here to read more.

AALA member Garrett Couts, an attorney at Brady & Hamilton LLP, contributed a lesson on the Corporate Transparency Act to the Progressive Cattle magazine. The act requires the disclosure of “beneficial ownership/beneficial owners” of business entities to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to combat money laundering. Click here to read more.

AALA member Tiffany Lashmet, associate professor with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, was quoted in DTN’s “Planting Season Stirs Up More Dust in Illinois: Are Farms Responsible If It Causes Highway Accidents?” The article was about negligence lawsuits. Click here to read more.

AALA member Travis Cushman, deputy general counsel for the American Farm Bureau Federation, was interviewed by Bloomberg Law for an article about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rules that would have required companies to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of their suppliers – among them, family farmers. Click here to read more.