Last Thursday and Friday, I attended a truly worthwhile event: the first “Summit on the Profession of Business Law” at the University of Connecticut School of Business. Its organizer, Robert Bird, Professor of Business Law and Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics Marketing, did an excellent job of assembling a diverse program of interesting and informative sessions, and described the motivating purpose of the conference as follows:
Increasingly complex and challenging regulations have pressured organizations to manage legal risk or face costly penalties. Individuals who understand how to use the law to build creative relationships and solve difficult problems add value to their organizations. Business schools are challenged to train students to demonstrate ethical values, apply critical thinking, adapt to change, and show attention to detail. As a result, there is a growing need for business schools to train future leaders who are legally educated and astute. The purpose of this summit is to exchange knowledge and encourage best practices in business law and ethics that respond to changing demands of a broad array of stakeholders.
Although aimed at business law educators in business schools, the conference brought to my mind a number of general ideas that might resonate with readers, whether teaching business law in a business or law school (or both!), such as the importance of:
- Having and teaching good communication skills, and that clear expectations foster this objective
- Service for promoting a rich educational environment, and in shaping the path forward
- The right incentives to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration
- Openness to new opportunities, and that a myopic strategic approach can hinder this goal
- Speaking the language of one’s audience, for example, highlighting how legal education improves “exposure management” and compliance in business organizations
- Leadership, including the impact of inherited leadership
- Recognizing when change is inevitable, and proactively helping to shape it