University of Washington law professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen discussed her new book, “Silicon Valley Bank: The Rise and Fall of a Community Bank for Tech,” with UVA Law professor Elizabeth A. Rowe. Nguyen’s book provides a first-hand account of the founding, ascent and dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank, a tech community bank founded in 1982 with $5 million that became the nation’s 13th-largest bank and the tech industry’s lender and bank. (University of Virginia School of Law, March, 12 2024)

The Rise and Fall of Silicon Valley Bank: A Conversation With Xuan-Thao Nguyen

On this episode of Free Range, host Mike Livermore is joined by Adam Ortiz, the MidAtlantic regional administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The conversation begins with a discussion of the role of a regional administrator at EPA. Ortiz emphasizes the importance of federal agencies working with local and state governments due to the complexity of environmental issues. He also discusses some of the specific challenges of the MidAtlantic: it is a coastal region with a rich industrial past; an agricultural region; and, a region where resource extraction has been prevalent. Taken together, the diversity of histories, industries, and geographies make the MidAtlantic a fascinating and challenging region for environmental governance. 

The topic switches to environmental justice-related work and an ongoing Superfund cleanup in the city of Baltimore clean-up. The two discuss the value of redeveloping areas that experienced environmental damage in the past, especially given the concentration of these sites along lines of race and class. Ortiz discusses EPA’s efforts to identify and clean up these sites to “plug them back into society.”  There is a large human component to this kind of work, and Ortiz emphasizes the importance of giving communities a voice and encouraging open, honest dialogue with residents. This is one of the main ways the EPA addresses the negative impacts of redevelopment, such as gentrification. They go on to discuss how EPA works with state and local actors on complex projects with many overlapping jurisdictions. (0:28-34:30)

The conversation shifts to the ways Ortiz’s department works to support indigenous tribes.  The EPA works with tribes to support their sovereignty, protect their land, and help facilitate their capacity for environmental governance.  Livermore then inquires about the Chesapeake Bay, a body of water that has been of great concern to the EPA in recent years.  Water quality has been improved overall, although progress hasn’t been linear, and EPA has only limited authority as a federal agency.  Because of this, pollution control falls heavily on nearby states, and Ortiz points to recent efforts by the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

The conversation turns to the intersection of politics and environmental governance at the regional level.  Livermore asks whether regional governance faces less political polarization, and Ortiz observes that, compared to the national level, regional interactions are often less politicized. Ortiz praises a personal approach to solving complex issues, asserting the effectiveness of working with people directly and getting to know them personally.  Additionally, there is a local advantage when it comes to political support for environmental initiatives, because people tend to care about places they interact with, regardless of political affiliation.  (34:31-1:01:09)

S2E24: Adam Ortiz on Life as an EPA Regional Administrator

UVA Law professors Cynthia Nicoletti and Joy Milligan join host Risa Goluboff for a discussion on how divergent approaches to digging into the past can reveal some surprising truths about law and history.

S6 E5: Digging Into Our Forgotten Legal History

Mike Spivey of The Spivey Consulting Group joins Dean Natalie Blazer ’08 to discuss the latest iteration of the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings.

Season 4 Episode 7: What To Make of the 2024 Law School Rankings

The Latest in the Argentine GDP Warrant Saga: Drafting Goof or Sneaky Drafting?

There are so many intriguing aspects of the latest installment of the Argentine GDP Warrant Saga. This time, from Judge Preska in the SDNY, Argentina scores a big, and for us, totally unexpected victory. Argentina’s lawyers, at a very late stage, discovered a magic bullet that no one seems to have realized was there. Mark doesn’t like to use the term “contractual landmine”, but he does here. Mitu applauds.

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 134 ft. Mitu & Mark

“Common Law” looks back on a season 1 episode about liability issues connected to autonomous vehicles, featuring UVA Law professor Kenneth S. Abraham and alum Mike Raschid ’86. Has the future finally arrived?

S6 E6 Throwback: A Future With Autonomous Vehicles

El Salvador’s Warrants: Bukele’s Folly?

El Salvador has issued a new bond, using part of the proceeds to buy back some bonds that mature in the relatively near term. The issuance includes a detachable warrant that pays up to an additional 4% if El Salvador does not get an IMF program in place soon (or achieve a higher credit rating). The issuance has been characterized as a way to convince investors that El Salvador really is serious about striking an IMF deal. But the whole thing strikes us as loony tunes. Which is it? We ask EM guru Ben Heller.

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 135 ft. Ben Heller

Doctor of Juridical Science Candidate Jeronimo Lau Alberdi discusses the sharing of global legal knowledge and techniques among in Latin American legal systems, including the roles of Supreme and constitutional courts and international human rights legal education.

Global Research Bytes: Judicial Diplomacy and Comparativism in Latin American Legal Systems

This UVA Speaks podcast features Craig Konnoth, the Martha Lubin Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh Bicentennial Professor of Law at the University of Virginia’s School of Law. Konnoth explains that over the past decade, the LGBTQ movement has shifted its focus from marriage equality and employment discrimination to other critical issues. These include exemption claims like those upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 303 Creative case that allows individuals to deny services to LGBTQ individuals based on their speech or religious rights. Konnoth emphasizes the need to form alliances with other minority groups to safeguard their hard-won progress.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here. https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=kyLsKhv4TtgfF8rA_0eMchadsfue5j_QkbRsVfMHhosvNz7iGSmNLEasb7K9fkRlfYX1o6GcqQ4n0wrmMZ-Xp_jsfgw&loadFrom=DeliveryEmail&openShareModal=True&utm-source=mailgun&utm-medium=email&utm-campaign-name=transactional-email-htc&utm-campaign-content=share-file

Craig Konnoth is the Martha Lubin Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh Bicentennial Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. Professor Konnoth writes about health, civil rights, and health data regulation. He is also active in LGBTQ rights litigation and has filed briefs on LGBTQ rights issues in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit. His publications have appeared or will appear in the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, the Hastings Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Iowa Law Review, the online companions to the Penn Law Review, and the Washington & Lee Law Review, and as chapters in edited volumes.

Issues and Laws Impacting the LGBTQ Community

Tortious Interference and Inter-Creditor Duties

Creditors in sovereign debt restructurings often complain about other creditors. And creditors often try to limit what other creditors get (at least indirectly, via most favored nations clauses, comparability of treatment, etc.). Can these efforts sometimes create a risk of liability? Does that risk even extend to official creditors? In the recent Zambian restructuring negotiations, rumor has it that the doctrine of tortious interference with contract was invoked when commercial creditors felt that official creditors were expecting them to make unrealistic sacrifices. Andrew Wilkinson (Weil, which advised the Zambia External Bondholder Steering Committee) joins us to talk about the restructuring of Zambia's debt and the question of inter-creditor duties.

Producer: Leanna Doty

Ep 136 ft. Andrew Wilkinson

Experts increasingly use the language of medicine and disability to address social issues like poverty and racial discrimination. Professors Craig Konnoth of UVA Law and Karen M. Tani of Penn Law discuss how we got here.

S6 E7: Medicalizing Civil Rights

To request an audio transcript that is not at law.virginia.edu/news/videos-podcasts, please contact comm@law.virginia.edu. Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.

The Rise and Fall of Silicon Valley Bank: A Conversation With Xuan-Thao Nguyen

University of Virginia School of Law

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