The War on the New York Times v. Sullivan Actual Malice Standard

Officially beginning his term as president of Vermont Law and Graduate School on July 1, 2022, Rodney Smolla joined VLGS from Widener University Delaware Law School, where he served as dean and professor of law since 2015. Previously president of Furman University, and dean at Washington and Lee University and University of Richmond law schools, Professor Smolla has long been a strong advocate for experiential learning, the development of professional competencies, and civic engagement.

Eugene Volokh taught First Amendment law, a First Amendment amicus brief clinic, copyright law, criminal law, tort law, and a seminar on firearms regulation policy.

Before coming to UCLA, he clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (6th ed. 2016), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2013), as well as over 90 law review articles. He is a member of The American Law Institute, a member of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel, and the founder and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog. His law review articles have been cited by opinions in eight Supreme Court cases and several hundred court opinions in total, as well as several thousand scholarly articles.

Volokh worked for 12 years as a computer programmer. He graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in math-computer science at age 15, and has written many articles on computer software. Volokh was born in the USSR; his family emigrated to the U.S. when he was seven years old.

Samantha Barbas researches and teaches in the areas of legal history, tort law, First Amendment law, and mass communications law. Her work focuses on the intersection of law, culture, media, and technology in United States history. Her recent research has explored the history of freedom of speech, privacy, and defamation.

Alexander is an Oxford University graduate who began his career as a barrister in England in 1982. He moved to Los Angeles and was admitted to the California bar in 1988. He is a litigator with an emphasis on media, entertainment and business disputes. Many of his cases have international dimensions. He co-founded Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham in 2010. He is President-Elect of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, has been selected as a Super Lawyer for 2017-2022 by Southern California Super Lawyer Magazine, Lawyer of the Year for Copyright in 2023 in LA by Best Lawyers, and has been honored as a media litigator by numerous international law and business organizations