David Simon has joined the KU Law faculty as a visiting assistant professor. He is teaching torts this fall, and will teach courses in criminal law and patent law this spring.
Simon said he’s looking forward to the potential for interdisciplinary work at a large research university, and the chance to connect with students at KU Law.
“There’s opportunity for interaction with students on a one-to-one basis. That was important to me, making sure I can connect with the students and really engage them while I’m teaching,” he said.
Simon recently completed a Ph.D. in law at the University of Cambridge, where he was a Cambridge International Scholar. He earned an LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 2011 and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2008.
His research focuses on the intersection of health and intellectual property, as well as examining authors’ rights in copyright. Current projects include examining how trademark law can potentially improve public safety, and how physicians’ prescribing practices can identify new uses for existing medications without the need for patent rights.
An interest in intellectual property combined with experiences with the healthcare system drives those research projects, Simon said.
“Part of intellectual property’s appeal is its subject matter. It’s about fun stuff. It’s about books and movies and Coca-Cola and all the things that everybody knows. Intellectual property is something that everybody can get their head around because they interact with it on a daily basis,” he said.
“I became interested in health law through personal experience in the healthcare system. Navigating the medical system motivated me to understand how we can improve it, though various legal regimes such as intellectual property law, tort law and evidence law. The medical system is so large and complex — perhaps too large for the average patient — that no single legal regime could, by itself, adequately regulate it.”
Simon has taught at Harvard University, the University of Navarra, the European School of Economics, and Greenbriar Elementary School. Before coming to KU Law, he practiced law in Chicago, first at a commercial litigation firm and later at his own firm, simon law group llc.
— By Margaret Hair