Mississippi College School of Law

Deborah Challener
Associate Professor of Law

Deborah Challener, Assistant Professor of Law

Email: challene@mc.edu

PH: (601) 925-7156

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 Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Lawrence, KS, 1999-2000
The Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville, TN, 1998-1999

Areas of Expertise :

Civil Procedure
Conflict of Laws
Federal Courts

Professional Experience:

Mississippi College School of Law
- Associate Professor, 2007-present
- 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:

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. __ (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 American Association of 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
- Scholarship, 2008-2009
- Academic Standards, 2008-2009
- Faculty Appointments, 2006-2008
- Admissions, 2003-2007
- Legal Writing, 2004
Faculty Advisor
- Mississippi College Law Review, 2006-present
- Mississippi College School of Law Young Democrats, 2005-present
- Judicial Clerkships, 2005-2007
- American Bar Association, Mississippi College chapter, 2006

Professional memberships:

California Bar
American Association of 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 AND awards:

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, 2006-2007
Mississippi College School of Law Moot Court Board Plaque for Outstanding Contributions to the Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush Moot Court Competition, 2006, 2007, 2008

Community Service:

Board of Directors, March of Dimes (MS chapter)
- Member, 2006-present
- Chefs' Aution Committee, 2008
- Chair, Public Affairs Committee, 2007-present
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