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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

The University of Akron invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the School of Law, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2017.  Review of applicants will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. 

The University of Akron School of Law is a public law school of approximately 450 students, with both full-time and part-time programs, and opportunities to begin study in either the Fall or the Spring.  The school offers the J.D., five joint-degree programs, an LL.M. in Intellectual Property, and various certificate programs for both J.D. and non-J.D. students.  Since its founding in 1921, the school has graduated over 6,300 men and women.  The school has historically embraced a strong commitment to teaching and public service in the community. 

Akron Law has recently experienced tremendous upward trajectories in admissions in terms of applications, selectivity, yield, and the size and quality of the incoming class.  The employment rate for graduates is above the national average. The school boasts several Centers with opportunities for students to distinguish themselves in their education and practice-ready preparation: a Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology; a Constitutional Law Center, one of only four such centers established by Congress; and the Joseph G. Miller and William C. Becker Institute for Professional Responsibility.  The Akron trial advocacy program also consistently ranks among the top in the nation.  Clinical programs in a wide variety of areas have won awards recently for their excellence and innovation, and new clinical programs continue to be added under growing faculty numbers and associations with outside practitioners.

Akron Law and its programs have been showered over the past year with national recognition, including a #7 ranking for training prosecutors and public defenders, an “A” grade for our Intellectual Property program, a Top 50 ranking in 2015-16 from Above The Law, a Top 25 recognition for bar exam preparation, and a Top 8 rating for affordable living and quality of education.  Akron Law also continues to be recognized as a Best Value school.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White has vowed to press on in her efforts to adopt new rules related to derivatives and mutual funds, among other issues, says a Reuters report.  The Senate Banking Committee’s top two Republicans, Chairman Richard Shelby and Mike Crapo of Idaho, sent a letter asking her to stop the rule making process while the Trump administration reviews the SEC’s agenda. She declined. 

Chair White replied that the SEC must “exhibit a spirit of firm independence” in continuing its work “without fear or favor.” She further wrote,  “I am not insensitive to the issues raised by your letter and have carefully considered what impact, if any, the election should have on the current work of the Commission.” (Reuters saw the letter, but I have not found a copy.) 

I am on record as saying (e.g., here and here) I’d like to see the SEC and Congress take a break from new regulations and focus on enforcement, though I know some of the proposed rules are (at least in some form) required by Dodd-Frank. Still, even where I disagree with some of the proposals, I think it’s right for independent agencies to continue on with their work. Each such agency can be respectful…

The political discourse of this election cycle, and the respective postures of the two main political parties, suggest that social justice and economic prosperity are in opposition to one another. At times, it seems that some believe pursuing racial and gender equality are (at best) distractions from “real problems” like jobs and the economy. Others seem to think any form of business or industrial development is essentially sanctioning the destruction of the Earth and its people. Both are wrong.

Equity and fairness are not anathema to economic progress. In fact, in the big picture, they are essential. There is nothing inconsistent about being pro-business and supporting social justice. One can believe in social justice and still think there are too many regulations that hamper businesses. There are, for example, regulations that disproportionately keep women and minorities from opening their own businesses. And there are laws and regulations that create barriers to entry and help maintain market power businesses where competition is both warranted and necessary..

My colleague, Haskell Murray recently posted Faith and Work in Universities, which lists some resources related to religion and scholarly activity, particularly as it related to business. This is a worthwhile discussion, and far too…

When it comes to regulations and economic policy, I am quite conservative.  Not a Republican-type conservative (probably more Libertarian in a political sense), but in the sense that I often advocate for less regulation, and even more often, for less changes to laws and regulations. People need to be able to count on a system and work within it. As such, whether it is related to securities law, energy and environmental law, or other areas of the law, I find myself advocating for staying the course rather than adding new laws and regulations.  

For example, a while back, co-blogger Joan Heminway quoted one of my comments about securities law, where I noted “my ever-growing sense that maybe we should just take a break from tweaking securities laws and focus on enforcing rules and sniffing out fraud. A constantly changing securities regime is increasingly costly, complex, and potentially counterproductive.” 

After the BP oil blowout of the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico, I similarly argued that we should approach new laws with caution, and that we might be better served with existing law, rather than seeking new laws and regulation in a hasty manner. I explained, 

[T]here are times when new laws and regulations are

…