National Jurist names rising 2L a Law Student of the Year

Akron School of Law rising 2L Tatyana Norman-Webler was selected by The National Jurist as one of its eight 2024 Law Students of the Year and was featured in the spring issue of the magazine. Here are some of the reasons why she was recognized.

Norman-Webler is a non-traditional law student who worked in health care for eight years, three as a registered nurse, before entering law school. While her experience as an ICU nurse during the pandemic spurred a passion for public health policy, she recently developed a strong interest in data privacy.

After having an article on data privacy published in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal in March, she is working on a law review note on the topic, which she hopes to see published. David L. Brennan Endowed Chair Associate Professor Emily Michiko Morris is her faulty advisor on the note.

Norman-Webler is president of the Health Law Society and an assistant editor of the Akron Law Review. She also spearheads student wellness initiatives, including serving on the School of Law's wellness committee, which established a walk-in Wellness & Wellbeing Center and brings in therapy dogs and treats during peak-stress times such as midterms and finals.

Assistant Professor George Horvath, who taught two health law classes that Norman-Webler enrolled in, notes that the Health Law Society (where he is the faculty advisor) "was pretty moribund before Tatyana and three other students revived it last year. They have really energized a whole group of students to be interested in health law."

Norman-Webler's current writing is focused on how consumers have no real legal protection over what the makers of mobile health apps and wearable technologies do with the vast amounts of personal information they are collecting.

"We have this framework where a company provides you with notice of its privacy policy and then solicits your consent. You take it or leave it without understanding what you're agreeing to," she explained.

"What I'm tackling is the 'notice' part of the framework and arguing that we need a better tool. Consumers should be able to look at a summary of a privacy policy and readily compare it to other companies' privacy policies. Essentially, what I'm advocating is the concept of a nutrition label for privacy," she said.

"It's an important topic that's gotten a lot of attention in the law review world," Horvath said. "I think her idea of a sort of uniform labeling requirement is novel."

Last summer and fall, Norman-Webler interned at Akron Community Legal Aid on the Health, Education, Advocacy and Law (HEAL) project, which coordinates the necessary legal services when a patient is referred. These services can be a lifeline for clients who may not have realized that there are legal solutions to problems that are contributing to their health challenges.

This spring, she is a judicial extern in Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy's chambers at the Supreme Court of Ohio. She looks forward to seeing the private sector side of the law as a summer associate in the Cleveland office of Baker Hostetler.

Outside of the legal world, she remains active in health care by volunteering at Grace House Akron, which provides a loving home for indigent, homeless and abandoned individuals at the end of life. She has organized opportunities for students to volunteer at Grace House and assists in planning fundraising events such as Walk for Grace.

Media contact: Cristine Boyd, [email protected], 330-972-6476

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