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Colleen Baker

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PhD (Wharton) Professor Baker is an expert in banking and financial institutions law and regulation, with extensive knowledge of over-the-counter derivatives, clearing, the Dodd-Frank Act, and bankruptcy, in addition to being a mediator and arbitrator.

Previously, she spent time at the U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Business, the U. of Notre Dame Law School, and Villanova University Law School. She has consulted for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and for The Volcker Alliance.  Prior to academia, Professor Baker worked as a legal professional and as an information technology associate. She is a member of the State Bars of NY and TX. Read More

Dear BLPB Readers:

The Department of Finance and Economics in the McCoy College of Business Administration anticipates a tenure-track opening in business law at the rank of assistant professor effective fall 2022. 

Duties include teaching undergraduate and graduate business law courses; conducting research leading to scholarly publications as recognized by the college in the area of business law; and providing service to the students of Texas State University, the department, the college, and the profession.  All positions are subject to availability of funds.

The complete job posting announcement is here.

Last spring, I blogged about a University of Colorado Law School Symposium honoring Professor Art Wilmarth (here).  Professor Jeremy C. Kress recently posted his symposium-related piece, Who’s Looking Out For The Banks?  It addresses an important bank governance issue that thus far has received too little attention.  Here’s its abstract:

When the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act authorized financial conglomeration in 1999, Professor Arthur Wilmarth, Jr. presciently predicted that diversified financial holding companies would try to exploit their bank subsidiaries by transferring government subsidies to their nonbank affiliates. To prevent financial conglomerates from taking advantage of their insured depository subsidiaries in this way, policymakers instructed a bank’s board of directors to act in the best interests of the bank, rather than the bank’s holding company. This symposium Article, written in honor of Professor Wilmarth’s retirement, contends that this legal safeguard ignores a critical conflict of interest: the vast majority of large-bank directors also serve as board members of their parent holding companies. These dual directors are therefore poorly situated to exercise the independent judgment necessary to protect a bank from exploitation by its nonbank affiliates. This Article proposes to strengthen bank governance — and better insulate banks from their nonbank…

VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM and SPECIAL ISSUE

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Changing Faces of Business Law and Sustainability

The Business and Human Rights Initiative at the University of Connecticut, the Center for the Business of Sustainability at Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business, the College of Business at Oregon State University, and the American Business Law Journal (ABLJ) are pleased to invite submissions related to the role of business law to support and enhance firm and societal engagement on sustainability. This theme is consistent with 2020 AACSB Standard 9.

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and public protests for social justice—as well as whole host of other emerging risks and threats to the environment and society—have generated newfound questions about the appropriate roles of legal rules, principles, and institutions towards promoting sustainable and broad-based value through business. Legal scholarship provides fertile ground for identifying the definitions, conflicts, contradictions, barriers, and limitations of business sustainability. It also provides promise for generating solutions to these challenges that accord with the rule of law, fairness, and equity while furthering the interests of firms and impacted communities. Effective scholarship in this regard requires a perspective that transcends any single area of law, regulatory domain, industry, or…

In previous blogs (here and here), I’ve highlighted the wonderful negotiation materials that George Siedel, Professor Emeritus of Business Law at the University of Michigan, has created and generously made available free of charge (here).  I’ll be using his House on Elm Street negotiation once again this fall in my MBA course! 

Today, I wanted to call BLPB readers’ attention to his new book: Seven Essentials for Business Success: Lessons from Legendary Professors.  I’m really excited to read it, especially because my dissertation advisor, G. Richard Shell, the Thomas Gerrity Professor, Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and Management at Wharton, is one of the seven award-winning professors profiled!  Without doubt, Richard is a truly legendary professor from whom I’ve already learned so much.  I look forward to learning more from him and from the additional six professors highlighted in the book.  Once I finish reading it, I’ll be sure to share some of my favorite takeaways.   

Here’s Amazon’s description:

Successful leaders are great teachers, and successful teachers serve as models of leadership. This book enables both leaders and teachers to understand and use the best practices developed by award-winning professors…

Dear BLPB Readers:

Christian Brothers University School of Business seeks to fill a tenure-track or long-term contract faculty appointment in Business Law beginning in Fall 2021. Ph.D, D.B.A, J.D., L.L.M. or substantial professional experience with relevant Master’s degree is required. 

The faculty member will also advise students, participate in curriculum development and service activities. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to excellence in teaching and an appreciation of the mission of a Lasallian institution of higher education.

The School seeks a dynamic colleague with the ability to effectively teach undergraduate and graduate level subjects related to Business Law. A candidate who is qualified to teach in a second business discipline, especially accounting, data analytics or entrepreneurship, is highly preferred. The School of Business promotes a student-centric teaching-learning model and the successful candidate’s teaching philosophy should reflect an emphasis on student engagement and cognitive development. 

This position presents the successful candidate with an exciting opportunity to help develop students into ethical leaders who embrace social responsibility in addition to keen business acumen. Faculty and students in the business school have multiple opportunities to engage with the Memphis community through internships, projects, our Center for Community Engagement and our Center for Entrepreneurship and…

Dear BLPB Readers:

The Department of Business Law at California State University Northridge (CSUN) is hiring!

The Department of Business Law invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level. J.D. or J.S.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to the bar at time of appointment required.  In addition, previous experience and proven excellence in teaching law, business ethics, or related courses at the university level, a history of scholarly research and publications, experience practicing law, and business experience are preferred. An LL.M., M.B.A. or other graduate degree in business or economics from an accredited college or university, law review membership, and experience as a law clerk at the appellate level are desirable. At time of appointment, the candidate must meet and must continue to maintain current AACSB International “Scholarly Academic” standards of qualification throughout their tenure. 

Complete job posting information is here: Download 22-02 Business Law (CSUN)

Dear BLPB Readers:

Surrey Law School is recruiting a tenure-track or tenure-equivalent position in Financial Law (Lecturer or Senior Lecturer). They have an energetic and highly international faculty, and the University of Surrey campus is ideally situated in the leafy English countryside a mere 25 miles from central London (30 min by train). The School comprises three main research clusters: The Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy, the Surrey Centre for International and Environmental Law and the Law and Technology Hub. This new position in Financial Law is part of an investment in strengthening our Law & Technology Pathway LLB degree, and our FinTech & Policy MSc programme run with Surrey Business School, among other strategic initiatives. The School is in a period of growth and the hiring committee is interested in considering applications also from US-trained lawyers and legal academics. For more information about the position and to apply, please see link below. (Note the application deadline of September 6th.)

 Fourth Conference on Law and Macroeconomics, 2021

The role of law as an instrument of macroeconomic policy through the Covid-19 pandemic, including as a means to provide social protection, has opened up new and exciting research opportunities. As we edge towards recovery, what is the role of law in creating a macroeconomy appropriate for a post-pandemic world?

We welcome submissions for an online virtual conference on October 27 and 28, 2021 that will continue to explore connections between law and macroeconomics. Papers may address the role of law, regulation, and institutions in:

  1. Monetary policy, both conventional and unconventional, including how it is impacted by payments systems, e.g., new platforms and technologies, as well as the effects and risks of the unwinding of QE;
  2. Financial regulatory policy, both domestic and international, including its effect on the economy, its role in crisis containment and resolution, access to capital, and other aspects of financial inclusion;
  3. Fiscal policy, especially its role in mitigating the effects and frequency of economic downturns, including the respective roles of federal, state, and local governments. We are particularly interested in papers that explore the combination of expansionary fiscal policy and loose monetary policy;
  4. Moderating recessions with other policy levers,

…

I’m excited to share with BLPB readers that my article, Entrepreneurial Regulatory Legal Strategy: The Case of Cannabis, published in the American Business Law Journal, is now available.  It is one of a series of articles related to a 2020 Symposium on Legal, Ethical, and Compliance Issues in Emerging Markets: Cannabis in the States, sponsored by the Spears School of Business Center for Legal Studies & Business Ethics at Oklahoma State University and the American Business Law Journal.   

Here’s its abstract:

This article develops the concepts of regulatory legal strategy, a resource-based view of government agencies, and regulatory entrepreneurship. These ideas are explored through a case study of the limited (if any) access that legal cannabis-related businesses have to the banking system due to the clash between federal law and laws in those states that have legalized some uses of cannabis. This article argues that regulators’ entrepreneurial regulatory legal strategies can have a material impact on regulated entities and give them a competitive advantage. To demonstrate, this article claims that regulators’ adoption of permissive regulatory legal strategies has facilitated access of some cannabis-related businesses to the banking system. Conversely…

CALL FOR PAPERS

AALS SECTION ON TRANSACTIONAL LAW AND SKILLS

Transactional Lawyering at the Intersection of Business and Societal Well-Being

2022 AALS Annual Meeting

The AALS Section on Transactional Law and Skills is pleased to announce a call for papers for its program, “Transactional Lawyering at the Intersection of Business and Societal Well-Being,” at the 2022 annual meeting of the AALS. This program will explore how ESG and broader societal considerations are increasingly influencing the flow of capital in the global marketplace, corporate governance planning, merger and acquisition activity and structures, as well as other transactional topics. The events of 2020, for example, have shifted the focus of business entity governance, equality and access in securities markets, and transactional planning and deal structures in significant and lasting ways – questioning whether current structures and systems are working well for all stakeholders and society more broadly. COVID-19 and social movements have broadened ESG efforts to include previously overlooked issues such as human resource policies (e.g., sick leave, parental leave), workplace health and safety, supply chain management, continuity and emergency planning, and diversity and inclusion hiring practices and training. In addition, proposals are being considered (and…