Ellen Black

Biography

Professor Ellen Black teaches Civil Procedure, Public Health Law, Medical Malpractice, Products Liability and Family Law.  Her scholarship primarily focuses on the interplay between food and drug law and public health law, with particular emphasis on the impact of governmental regulation and public behavior. 

Prior to joining the Belmont faculty, Professor Black was an associate at Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York City where she practiced in the areas of products liability and commercial litigation.  While at Chadbourne, she served on the recruiting committee and was actively engaged in pro bono projects, including counseling incarcerated women on their child visitation and custodial rights, representing a criminal defendant in a pro bono appeal, and assisting New York Interfaith Disaster Services on various legal issues.  Professor Black also attended and graduated from the International Association Defense Counsel Trial Academy.  Prior to practicing at Chadbourne, Professor Black worked as an associate at the firm Gholson, Hicks & Nichols in Columbus, Mississippi, where she focused on litigation involving medical malpractice, toxic tort, and construction cases.  She also taught as an adjunct instructor at Mississippi University for Women.  She is admitted to the New York, Tennessee, and Mississippi bars. 

Professor Black earned her Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Mississippi University for Women and her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law, where she held the position of articles editor on the Texas Tech Law Review.

Areas of expertise: Civil Procedure, Public Health Law, Medical Malpractice, Products Liability, Family Law.

PUBLICATIONS

Obesity:  The “Market” May Hold the Solution, 87 UMKC L. Rev. 269 (2019).

Ellen A. Black, Buckle Up:  State Child Safety Restraint Laws Need to be Strengthened to Better Protect Children, 50 Akron L. Rev. 537 (2016).

Ellen A. Black, State “Right to Try” Acts:  A Good Start, but a Federal Act Is Necessary, 45 S.W. L. Rev. 719 (2016).

Ellen A. Black, Keep Out FDA: Food Manufacturers’ Ability to Effectively Self-Regulate Front-of-Package Food Labeling, 17 DePaul J. Health Care L. 1 (2015).

Ellen A. Black & Alberto Gonzales, Domestic Violence Much Bigger Than NFL, The Hill, Sept. 24, 2014, http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/218633-domestic-violence-much-bigger-than-nfl.

Ellen A. Black, Menu Labeling: The Unintended Consequences to the Consumer, 69 Food & Drug L J. 531 (2014).

Ellen A. Black & Thomas E. Riley, Case Law Highlights Puffery as a Defense to Consumer Fraud Class Actions, LAW.COM (FEB. 21, 2008).

Ellen A. Black & David Wallace, Overview of Trademark Licensor Liability for Defective Products, BLOOMBERG L. REP. (2007).