UC Law SF has launched a short-form podcast series, “Law and the Pandemic,” to share insights relating to some of the most pressing legal issues arising from the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.

In each episode, faculty tackle some of the thorniest questions of the moment, from whether the government has the authority to impose shelter-in-place restrictions to how patent law may make it more difficult to bring life-saving drugs to market at an affordable cost. Some episodes focus on practical questions, such as the barriers to creating advance care directives online or who qualifies for a stimulus check. Some episodes address theoretical issues, such as how creating online bank accounts for all individuals would even the playing field between consumers and big banks and get needed relief funding distributed more quickly. The latest episode explores the racial disparities laid bare by the pandemic.

“Right now, what we need most is information we can trust,” said producer and co-host Areca Smit, Associate Director for Electronic Media at UC Law SF. “We launched this podcast to share our faculty’s expertise with the public and, in that sense, do our share in working toward solutions.”

“We have scholars who have been working on issues that are very pertinent to this crisis. We wanted to create a vehicle for sharing their knowledge and expertise in a way that could help individuals, businesses, advocates, and policymakers access that knowledge.”

The series is co-produced by LexLab, UC Law SF’ Center on Legal Technology and Innovation. LexLab Director Drew Amerson serves as producer and co-host with Smit. “We wanted to cover both practical information and ask serious legal questions about how the law can help us manage the pandemic,” Amerson said.

Episodes:

Access these wherever you get your podcasts or via the podcast home site, uclawsf.edu/pandemic. Additional episodes are in production.

For media inquiries, please contact Susan Kostal at kostalsusan@uclawsf.edu.