Looks like a fascinating law review symposium by the Villanova Law Review (from the law school’s website):

The Villanova Law Review examines fifty years of operation under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with its annual Norman J. Shachoy Symposium on October 20, 2017. The symposium features a group of distinguished FOIA and transparency scholars, governmental officials, and FOIA requesters and litigants engaging in a probing review of the issues as experienced on the ground.

FOIA was signed into law on July 4, 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson and became operational exactly one year later. This landmark federal transparency law has played an important role in ventilating executive branch controversies and in enabling oversight of the federal executive.

The symposium takes place on Friday, Oct. 20, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Laurence E. Hirsch ’71 Classroom (Room 101) of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law (299 North Spring Mill Road, Villanova). This program is approved by the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board for 5.5 substantive CLE credits.

With a terrific lineup:

Welcome: 9 a.m.

Mark C. Alexander, Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

Tuan Samahon, Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

 

Panel 1: 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. “The ‘On the Ground’ Operation of FOIA”

Susan Long, Associate Professor of Managerial Statistics and Director of the TRAC Research Center, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University

Margaret Kwoka, Associate Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Moderated by Suzanne J. Piotrowski, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark

 

Panel 2: 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. “The Press, the Academy and FOIA”

David McCraw, Deputy General Counsel, The New York Times

Jason Leopold, Senior Investigative Reporter, BuzzFeed News

David M. Barrett, Professor of Political Science, Villanova University

Moderated by Terry Mutchler, Mutchler Lyons

 

Panel 3:  12– 1 p.m. “Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch”

Katy Rother, Senior Counsel, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives

Aram A. Gavoor, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, The George Washington University School of Law

Moderated by Catherine J. Lanctot, Professor of Law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

 

Lunch Break: 1– 1:45 p.m.

 

Panel 4: 1:45 – 3 p.m. “Resolving FOIA Disputes”

Alina Semo, Director, Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration

Marcia Berman, Assistant Branch Director, U.S. Department of Justice

Michael Bekesha, Attorney, Judicial Watch, Inc.

Moderated by Margaret Kwoka, Associate Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

 

Panel 5: 3:15 – 4:30 p.m. “State and Global Comparative Perspectives”

Anamarija Musa, Commissioner of Information, Republic of Croatia

Suzanne J. Piotrowski, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark

Richard J. Peltz-Steele, Professor of Law, University of Massachusetts School of Law, Dartmouth

Moderated by Fran Burns, Professor of Practice, Villanova University