Contact:

 

Areas of Expertise:

  • Civil Procedure
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Federal Courts

Deborah Challener

 

Professor of Law

 

Education:

 

  • J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law, Knoxville, TN, 1998
  • Editor in Chief, Tennessee Law Review, 1997-1998
  • Judge Harry W. Laughlin, Jr. Best Note Award, 1997
  • M.P.P., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 1995
  • B.A., English, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, 1990

 

Judicial Clerkships:

 

  • The Honorable Deanell R. Tacha, Chief Justice, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Lawrence, Kansas, 1999 - 2000
  • The Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville, TN, 1998 - 1999

 

Professional Experience:

 

  • Mississippi College School of Law
    • Professor, 2009 - present
    • Associate Professor, 2007 - 2009
    • Assistant Professor, 2003 - 2007
  • Legal Writing Fellow, University of Maine School of Law, 2002 - 2003
  • Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Washburn University School of Law, 2001 - 2002
  • Associate, Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Francisco, CA, 2000 - 2001

 

Articles & Publications:

 

  • Protecting Cats and Dogs in Order to Protect Humans: Making the Case for a Felony Companion Animal Statute in Mississippi, 29 Miss. C. L. Rev. 499 (2010).
  • Remand and Appellate Review Issues Facing the Supreme Court in Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc., 103 Nw. U. L. Rev. Colloquy 418 (2009), http://www.law.northwestern.edu/lawreview/colloquy/2009/14/ (with John Howell).
  • Remand and Appellate Review When a District Court Declines to Exercise Supplemental Jurisdiction Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c): Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc., 81 Temp. L. Rev. 81 Temp. L. Rev. 1067 (2008) (with John Howell).
  • Distinguishing Certification from Abstention: Postponement Versus Abdication of the Duty to Exercise Jurisdiction, 38 Rutgers L.J. 847 (2007).
  • Book Review, Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 16, No. 9 (Sept. 2006) (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/peppers0906.htm) (reviewing Todd C. Peppers, Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise and Influence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk (2006)).
  • Foreword: Love It or Leave It: An Examination of the Need For and Structure of a Class Action Rule in Mississippi, 24 Miss C.L. Rev 145 (2005).
  • Note, Civil Forfeiture and Innocent Owners, 64 Tenn. L. Rev. 195 (1996)

 

Presentations and Conferences:

 

  • Interactive Judicial Federalism and the Certification of State Law Questions in Diversity Cases(2008 Junior Federal Courts Faculty Workshop, American University Washington College of Law) (April 4, 2008).
  • Interactive Judicial Federalism and the Certification of State Law Questions in Diversity Cases(Faculty Forum, Mississippi College School of Law, March 28, 2008).
  • Distinguishing Certification from Abstention: Postponement Versus Abdication of the Duty to Exercise Jurisdiction (2007-2008 University of Mississippi School of Law Luncheon Speaker Series) (September 14, 2007).
  • Class and Exam Preparation/Law Review, 2007 BLSA Academic Retreat (Mississippi College School of Law, August 25, 2007).
  • (Ir)reconcilable Differences? The Dysfunctional Relationship Between Abstention and Supplemental Jurisdiction (2006-2007 Cumberland School of Law Works-in-Progress Series) (March 9, 2007).
  • Federal Question Jurisdiction, Family Day (Mississippi College School of Law, February 23, 2007).
  • Moderator, Hurricane Katrina: A Legal Symposium, Miss. C. Sch. L. (2006).
  • Ascertaining State Law in Diversity Cases: When Should Federal Appellate Courts Predict and When Should They Certify? (2006 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting).
  • Ascertaining State Law in Diversity Cases: When Should Federal Appellate Courts Predict and When Should They Certify? (Poster Presentation, 2006 Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting)
  • Participant, LSAC Newcomers Workshop for New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members of Admission Committees (Philadelphia, PA 2004)

 

Law School Service:

 

  • Law School Committees
    • Promotion and Tenure
    • Scholarship
    • Academic Standards
    • Faculty Appointments
    • Admissions
    • Legal Writing
    • MC Law Tennis Association
  • Faculty Advisor
    • Various Moot Court Teams
    • Mississippi College Law Review, 2006 - 2010
    • Mississippi College School of Law Young Democrats, 2005 - present
    • Judicial Clerkships, 2005 - 2007
    • American Bar Association, Mississippi College chapter, 2006
  • Mississippi College Service
    • Faculty Council, 2009 - 2010

 

Professional Memberships:

 

  • California Bar
  • Association of American Law Schools (various sections)
  • American Bar Association (various sections)
  • The Historical Society of the Tenth Judicial Circuit
  • Charles E. Clark Inn, American Inns of Court (2004 - 2007)

 

Honors & Awards:

 

  • The Shirley Norwood Jones Faculty Collegiality Award, 2010-2011
  • First year Professor of the Year, 2009-2010
  • First Year Professor of the Year (shared with Professor Michael McCann), 2006-2007
  • Keady Inn of Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity Professor of the Year, 2006-2007
  • Mississippi College Law Review Plaque for Support and Dedication to the Law Review, 2007-2008
  • Mississippi College School of Law Moot Court Board Plaque for Outstanding Contributions to the Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush Moot Court Competition, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 

 

Community Service:

 

  • Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules, 2010 - present
  • Board of Directors, March of Dimes (MS chapter)
    • Member, 2006 - 2008
    • Chef's Auction Committee, 2008
    • Chair, Public Affairs Committee, 2007 - 2008
  • Court Appointed Special Advocate Program
    • Board of Directors, CASA Mississippi, Inc., Jackson, Mississippi, 2003 - 2007
      • Member, 2003 - 2007
      • Secretary, 2004 - 2007
      • Diversity Committee, Summer 2005 - 2007
    • Volunteer, Boston, Massachusetts, 1991 - 1993
    • Volunteer, Nashville, Tennessee, 1993 - 1995
  • Volunteer, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Jackson, Mississippi, 2005