Information privacy law is changing. What once was a niche field focused on personal data protection has evolved into a complex ecosystem that now encompasses AI governance, cybersecurity frameworks, trust and safety, and other facets of digital governance. As early innovators in privacy law education, Maine Law is not just watching this evolution—we’re leading it.
Curricular Innovation
Since 2016, the Certificate in Information Privacy Law has been the centerpiece of Maine Law’s privacy program. The Certificate allowed us to attract well-qualified students and professors, and to sustain signature initiatives like our Summer Privacy Institute, Privacy in Practice Conference, Student Journal of Information Privacy Law (SJIPL), and our international privacy law moot court team.
In recent years, it has become clear that the title of the Certificate does not fully capture the scope of coursework that our students complete. Coursework that qualifies for the Certificate now includes two cybersecurity law classes, an AI law class, Internet Law, AI in Legal Practice, a digital governance practicum, risk management, copyright, and more—not to mention an array of Summer Institute courses that increasingly stretch beyond core privacy law concepts. Students who earn the Certificate likewise complete internships and externships that encompass other facets of digital governance. Incoming students are increasingly interested in AI law; graduating students are increasingly interested in working in that field.
For all of these reasons, I am excited to share that the Certificate in Information Privacy Law is changing to become the Certificate in Privacy Law + Digital Governance. This new branding better reflects the breadth of our program while retaining a core focus on our established strength in privacy law. I also believe the new name will better signal to employers the range of skills and knowledge with which our graduates enter the workforce.
Bloomberg teaching in Maine Law’s Moot Court Classroom
Center for Law + Innovation Leadership
Last year, the Dean appointed me as the Director of the Center for Law + Innovation and tasked me with re-imagining and re-energizing the Center as the hub for our privacy, AI, cybersecurity, and digital governance programming. Those efforts are underway:
- I am excited to announce the appointments of Trevor Hughes, Rita Heimes, Joe Jones, and Gabe Maldoff as Senior Affiliate Fellows of the Center for Law + Innovation. Their new titles recognize the substantial contributions they have each made to the Center through their teaching, student mentorship, and programmatic leadership.
- In the coming months, we will be making website updates to better feature the Center’s expertise in AI and cybersecurity.
- Through generous donations from Maine Law alumni, the Center continues to provide financial support for student experiences. This year, the Center provided funding for our team of four Maine Law students to travel to Budapest to compete in the European Law Moot Court competition. The Center also fully or partially paid for nine students to attend the IAPP’s 2026 Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C. Moving forward, the Center will also begin defraying the cost of obtaining an IAPP certification for students with demonstrated financial need.
- On the topic of funding, the Center has partnered with the IAPP to jointly pursue cy pres awards from class action lawsuits that involve data privacy violations, cybersecurity breaches, or AI harms. While such funding takes time to materialize, there are early indications that this initiative will be a success.
Strengthening our Strengths
While we are indeed innovating through several new initiatives, we are equally focused on continuously strengthening our established initiatives—the Summer Privacy Institute, Privacy in Practice Conference, Student Journal of Information Privacy Law (SJIPL), and Maine Law Information Privacy Association (MLIPA)—that have long been our program’s front porch and its backbone.
In recent years, we have recruited some of the nation’s top professors in privacy law and digital governance to teach in the Summer Institute. This includes Chinmayi Sharma (Fordham Law), Amanda Levendowski (Georgetown Law), David Stein (Vanderbilt Law), Asaf Lubin (Indiana Law), Shweta Kumar (Kentucky Law), and Kevin Frazier (Texas Law). We have also experimented with hybrid formats for some of the classes, creating more opportunities for students who start their summer internships in early June.
The Privacy in Practice Conference remains exceptional. In 2025, the conference theme was state privacy law. The sold-out event brought leaders from industry, civil society, and government to Maine Law, including a gathering of over a dozen Assistant Attorneys General tasked with enforcing their states’ privacy and consumer protection laws. The 2026 conference was held on June 5, 2026 . With a theme of sensitive data law, the event could not have been more timely!
Our students should be incredibly proud of the work they’ve put into the SJIPL and MLIPA. SJIPL publishes shorter-form pieces on a monthly basis in addition to its longer-form, traditional law journal edition. Volume 4 of the SJIPL is being published in two issues. Issue one included articles from students at Harvard Law, William & Mary Law, and, of course, Maine Law. Issue two is forthcoming as of this writing. Finally, the student leadership of MLIPA has planned numerous speaking and networking events this school year, bringing students and the broader privacy law community in Maine closer together.
