Photo of Benjamin P. Edwards

Benjamin Edwards joined the faculty of the William S. Boyd School of Law in 2017. He researches and writes about business and securities law, corporate governance, arbitration, and consumer protection.

Prior to teaching, Professor Edwards practiced as a securities litigator in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. At Skadden, he represented clients in complex civil litigation, including securities class actions arising out of the Madoff Ponzi scheme and litigation arising out of the 2008 financial crisis. Read More

The National Business Law Scholars Conference (NBLSC) will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 26-27, 2026, at UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the seventeenth meeting of the NBLSC, an annual conference that draws legal scholars from across the United States and around the world. We welcome all scholarly submissions at all stages relating to business law. Junior scholars and those considering entering the academy are especially encouraged to participate.

Please use this form to submit a proposal to present. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 3, 2026.  A schedule will be circulated in late April or early May.  More information regarding the Conference can be found here: https://law.unlv.edu/national-business-law-scholars-conference-2026

Please contact Eric Chaffee (Eric.Chaffee@case.edu), if you have any questions. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Benjamin Edwards (benjamin.edwards@unlv.edu)

Conference Organizers:

Afra Afsharipour (University of California, Davis, School of Law)
Tony Casey (The University of Chicago Law School)
Eric C. Chaffee (Case Western Reserve University School of Law)
Steven Davidoff Solomon (University of California, Berkeley School of Law)
Michael Dorff (UCLA School of Law)
Benjamin Edwards (University of Nevada, Las Vegas Boyd School of Law)
Joan MacLeod

Nevada’s Commission to Study the Adjudication of Business Law Cases held its second meeting on Friday, last week. As I covered in prior posts, the Commission has deep expertise in Nevada court practice with a significant number of seasoned Nevada litigators. For the Commission’s second meeting, I pulled together a roster of speakers to brief the Commission on a range of relevant issues.

The Commission heard from eight different speakers. I opened us with a quick introduction and review of recent reincorporation data for public companies. You can find the slides I used for that briefing here. I drew from Andrew Verstein’s recent work, The Corporate Census. He recently shared the updated draft in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

Anthony Rickey of Margrave Law spoke next about the strengths undergirding Delaware’s longstanding dominance. Although he did not use any slides, he covered the core reasons why Delaware’s Chancery Courts are the envy of the world. He also explained that it’s more than just the expert and hard-working Chancellors–it’s an entire ecosystem of court reporters, litigation support services, and others that allows Delaware to hum along at its prodigious pace. Notably, Anthony also served as

This is a guest post from Megan Wischmeier Shaner, the Kenneth E. McAfee Chair in Law and President’s Associates Presidential Professor, at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

On May 29, 2025, Oklahoma appeared poised to become the thirty-second state with a dedicated business court or commercial/complex litigation docket. SB 632 would create two new business courts in Oklahoma with jurisdiction over “complex cases” which could include claims involving antitrust or trade regulation, intellectual property, securities law issues, professional malpractice, contracts, commercial property, intra-business disputes, insurance coverage, environmental claims, product liability and e-commerce, among others. Modeled, in part, off Delaware’s Court of Chancery, the judges would be appointed by the governor for 8-year terms and must have ten or more years of experience in complex civil business litigation, practicing business transaction law, and/or serving as a judge or clerk of court with civil jurisdiction. Jury trials would only occur upon application by a party to a suit within a specified time period.

Shortly after SB 632 was signed by the governor two attorneys filed a legal challenge with the state supreme court asserting the legislation was unconstitutional. (White & Waddell v. Stitt, 2025 OK 68, C.A.

With the 2026 National Business Law Scholars Conference coming to the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on May 26-27 next year, I have some suggestions on accommodation options.

My suggestion is that you should book your rooms now because there are some great deals available. As I’m writing this, the all-in prices for the following properties are exceptionally reasonable:

  • Bellagio – $198/night
  • Aria – $170/night
  • Vdara (non-gaming) – $142/night
  • Park MGM – $113/night
  • NoMad Hotel @ ParkMGM – $185/night
  • Cosmopolitan – $215/night

I understand that some folks have already booked at the Bellagio. It’s a good deal and a bit cheaper still if you join MGM Rewards. If you wanted the Bellagio this weekend, the current price is over $1,000 a night. Of course, F-1 is in town and we’re not going to be competing with that for NBLSC. Candidly, I live here and these prices are making me think about locking in a stay-cation around the same time.

The properties listed above are all MGM Resorts properties within easy walking distance of each other. Clustering this way makes it easier to meet for dinners, drinks, or just catching rides over

As a lawyer who’s practiced for many years on King Street in Wilmington, I’m saddened by the need to depart. For decades, Delaware was known for predictable court outcomes, respect for the judgment of corporate boards, and speedy resolutions. These traits made the state the one-stop shop for major company incorporations—which have brought in more than $1 billion in annual revenue to the state.

Delaware’s legal framework once provided companies with consistency. But no more. Delaware’s Chancery Court in recent years has been rife with unpredictable outcomes. To their credit, lawmakers in Dover have repeatedly tried to rectify the inconsistent outcomes of the once-revered court through ad hoc legislative responses. But companies need a more efficient and sustainable solution than relying on the legislature to

Previously, I covered a Nevada Business Court decision applying a common law business judgment rule to Nevada limited liability companies with fiduciary duties. That decision is now being challenged under Nevada’s mandamus procedure. To aid the Nevada Supreme Court in considering the issue, I along with other Nevada business law professors and Nevada business lawyers, filed a request to submit an amicus brief on the importance of the business judgment rule.

The brief contends that Nevada should apply a common law business judgment rule to breach of fiduciary duty claims for Nevada LLCs. We explained that the common law business judgment rule has been a part of American common law for a long time and reviewed the benefits it provides. Most business law professors and business lawyers know the reasons–all standard canon. The business judgment rule lets management take business risks without needing to worry that they will suffer personal liability simply because some business risk does not pan out. Removing it would make managers timid and afraid to do anything different than their peers. Insurance companies would struggle to write policies and price risk if any ordinary business decision could result in liability. We also explained that without the

Although not much time has passed since I put out updated tables for Nevada and Texas on October 9, I’ve found another four reincorporations to Nevada recently, so I’ve updated these tables below. In the interest of making this readable, I’ve dropped the tables at the bottom and covered the stated rationales at the top.

The four recent firms announcing moves or attempts to move to Nevada include: (1) Oblong, Inc.; (2) HWH International Inc.; (3) Twin Vee PowerCats, Co.; and (4) Digital Brands Group, Inc. In terms of market capitalization, these are all nano-cap firms with market capitalizations under $50 million. Digital Brands Group is larger than the remainder combined with a market capitalization of roughly $38 million. This is a group where cost concerns about franchise taxes may be more material.

The stated rationales cover franchise tax costs, litigation risk environments, transaction planning, books and records actions, and potential D&O savings. As I am reading more of these proxies, I’m also beginning to develop concerns that not every firm reincorporating to Nevada has consulted with a Nevada lawyer about Nevada law. I’ve added some mild finger wagging to try to help.

Before discussing these, I want to drop