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Benjamin P. Edwards

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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 University of Colorado Law School invites applications from entry-level and lateral candidates for one or more full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty positions to begin at the start of the 2023-24 academic year. We welcome applications from candidates in all subject areas and at all levels of seniority. However, we have especially strong needs in Health Law, Business/Commercial Law, American Indian & Indigenous Peoples Law, Immigration Law, and Telecommunications & Internet Law. We also have needs in Negotiation/Alternative Dispute Resolution, Race and the Law (broadly construed), Environmental/Natural Resources Law (with an emphasis on Energy Law), International Law, and Evidence. We are also very interested in candidates who can teach classes in the first-year curriculum, especially Tort Law, Criminal Law, and Constitutional Law.  We seek candidates with great potential for, and/or records of, both innovative scholarship and engaged teaching. Candidates must hold a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school or equivalent degree in a related field.

We strongly encourage applications from people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ people, veterans, and others whose background, experience, and viewpoints would contribute to the diversity of our faculty. The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty…

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE WHARTON SCHOOL, Philadelphia PA The Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, is seeking applicants for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position at any level: Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor. The appointment is expected to begin July 1, 2023. Information about the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department and the research expertise of its current faculty may be found at: https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants must have either a JD (or equivalent) or a PhD from an accredited institution or both (expected completion by June 30, 2024 is acceptable). We seek outstanding researchers and teachers with a commitment to business-relevant scholarship. The Department’s faculty hold graduate degrees in a variety of areas, including law, philosophy, sociology, history, psychology, and political science. They teach courses in business ethics and law to undergraduates, MBAs, Executive MBAs, and PhD students.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Applications, including a cover letter, a one-page research statement or summary, curriculum vitae, and either a published work or a work in progress, may be submitted online beginning July 1, 2022. We encourage early submission of applications, as they will be reviewed until our deadline of November 1, 2022. Applications should be…

This came in from our student editor and faculty friends at Penn Law:

The University of Pennsylvania Law Review will host its annual symposium on Friday, October 7, 2022, in-person. This year’s topic, “Debt Market Complexity: Shadowed Practices and Financial Injustice,” will explore the rise of increasingly complicated debt structures associated with private equity. We are issuing a call for papers for publication in the Law Review’s corresponding symposium issue.

To submit a paper for consideration, please provide an abstract no longer than 750 words to symposium@pennlawreview.com by July 31, 2022. If selected for publication, completed drafts will be due January 1, 2023. 

The complete call for papers, which includes more detail, is available here.

This looks like a great topic for a program!  I know many of you out there work routinely in the debt space from a variety of perspectives.  I hope you will consider submitting.

Stefan’s Independence Day post is far more erudite than mine.  Kudos and thanks to him for the substantive legal content.  This post covers more of a teaching point–one that I often think about in the background but want to being to the fore here.

I am focused in writing this on things like family reunions, local holiday festivities, grilling out, and fireworks.  It has been a rocky road to the Fourth in these and other aspects this year.  Overlapping causes can easily be identified.  As if the continuing COVID-19 nightmare were not enough . . . .

I will start with COVID-19, however.  I have heard of many who are missing family and other events this weekend because of positive COVID-19 diagnoses, test results, or exposures.  I was sad to learn, for example, that Martina Navratilova had to miss the historic Wimbledon centennial celebration, including the Parade of Champions, yesterday.  But there is more.

The air travel debacles have been well publicized.  Weather, labor shortages, and other issues contribute to the flight changes and cancellations airlines need to make on this very popular travel weekend–expected to set records.  And gas prices have stymied the trips of some by land (again…

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS SCHOOL OF LAW invites applications from both entry-level and experienced candidates for possibly several positions to begin July 1, 2023. Our hiring goals are flexible, but we have especially strong teaching needs in intellectual property, evidence, and international law, in addition to classes in the first-year curriculum. We seek candidates with scholarly distinction or promise, as well as a commitment to excellence in teaching. Candidates must hold a J.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree by the date of their application. All candidates must apply through the UC Recruit system at the following link: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF05036.

For full consideration, applicants should apply by September 1, 2022, although we recommend that you submit your materials at your earliest convenience. We require a cover letter, curriculum vitae, research agenda, writing sample, as well as teaching evaluations and/or transcripts and contact information for three references. Candidates must also include a Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Information about the Statement can be found at http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/diversity/equity_inclusion/diversity_statements_writin g/. Please note that we may require further documentation at a future date, including, but not limited to, letters of recommendation, which will be treated as confidential under University of California Policy and…

The University of Oklahoma College of Law 

Hiring For Associate/Full Professor of Law 

The University of Oklahoma College of Law seeks outstanding applicants, entry-level or lateral, for up to three full-time tenure-track positions beginning fall 2023. We welcome candidates in all subject areas, with particular interest in filling curricular needs in tax, patents, wills & trusts, evidence, civil procedure, antitrust, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). 

OU Law is a high-quality, affordable, and forward-looking institution committed to developing a socially-involved and inclusive legal profession. We boast world-class facilities and a diverse student body. Our strong national reputation is buttressed by a commitment to attracting and supporting excellent faculty with summer research grants, publication placement bonuses, course reductions based on productivity, and an extraordinary number of endowed positions.

Our law school sits on the main OU campus in Norman, a university town alive with entertainment, arts, food, and sports. A perennial “best place to live,” Norman has excellent public schools and low cost-of-living. Neighboring Oklahoma City features a dynamic economy, outstanding cultural venues, and a major airport. Visit http://www.ou.edu/flipbook and http://soonerway.ou.edu for more information.

Qualifications

  1. Must have a J.D. or equivalent academic degree.
  2. Must have strong academic credentials.
  3. Must have

…

Courtesy of friend-of-the-BLPB Bernie Sharfman, I am linking to his coauthored (with James Copland) comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the climate change rule-making proposal.  The letter includes copious footnotes.  As with other comment letters that have been written on the substance of the SEC proposal, there are some interesting definitional questions on which intelligent folks disagree.  E.g., what is included under the umbrella of investor protection?  What regulation promotes “efficiency, competition, and capital formation”?  These all are among the big picture issues on which the SEC has the opportunity to speak.  I expect thoughtful responses.

In a post last month, I mentioned my recently published article on teaching change leadership in law schools.  That article, Change Leadership and the Law School Curriculum, 62 Santa Clara L. Rev. 43 (2022), offers some ideas about preparing our students for leading change.  The SSRN abstract follows.

Lawyers, as inherent and frequent leaders in professional, community, and personal environments, have a greater-than-average need for proficiency in change leadership. In these many settings, lawyers are charged with promoting, making, and addressing change. For example, one commentator observes that, “as stewards of the family justice system and leaders of change, family law attorneys have an ongoing responsibility to foster continuous system improvement.” Change is part of the fabric of lawyering, writ large. Change leadership, whether voluntarily assumed or involuntarily shouldered, is inherent in the lawyering task. Yet, change leadership—well known as a focus for attention in management settings and related academic literature—is rarely called out for individual or focused attention in the traditional law school curriculum. This article presents a brief argument for the intentional and instrumental teaching of change leadership to law students.

Many of our students already have been in or are assuming leadership roles.  Others…

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University invites applications for a Visiting Professor for Spring 2023 

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is currently seeking applicants for a Visiting Professor to teach during the Spring 2023 semester. We are particularly interested in applicants who can teach Constitutional Law, Corporations and other courses in the business law area.

All applicants should have excellent academic credentials as well as demonstrated skill and experience in teaching.  The position is a temporary, non-tenure-track appointment.

Applicants should be willing and available to teach using in-person or hybrid formats, depending on changing circumstances and the needs of the particular classes.

Applications are encouraged from people of color, individuals of varied sexual and affectional orientations, individuals who are differently-abled, veterans of the armed forces or national service, and anyone whose background and experience will contribute to the diversity of the law school.  Pace University is committed to achieving completely equal opportunity in all aspects of University life.

Please apply via https://careers.pace.edu/postings/22602. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law offers J.D. degrees, Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, and a series of…

This post alerts everyone to a comment letter, drafted by Jill Fisch, George Georgiev, Donna Nagy, and Cindy Williams (signed by the four of them and 26 other securities law scholars, including yours truly and Ann Lipton), affirming that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent proposal related to the enhancement and standardization of climate-related disclosures for investors is within its rulemaking authority.  The letter was filed with the Commission yesterday and has been posted to SSRN.  The SSRN abstract is included below.

This Comment Letter, signed by 30 securities law scholars, responds to the SEC’s request for comment on its March 2022 proposed rules for the “Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” (the “Proposal”). The letter focuses on a single question—whether the Proposal is within the SEC’s rulemaking authority—and answers this question in the affirmative.

The SEC’s authority for the Proposal is grounded in the text, legislative history, and judicial interpretation of the federal securities laws. The letter explains the objectives of federal regulation and demonstrates that the Proposal’s requirements are properly understood as core capital markets disclosure in the service of those objectives. The statutory framework requires the SEC to adjust and update the content of the…