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Joshua Fershee

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Joshua Fershée, JD, became the 11th dean of the Creighton University School of Law on July 1, 2019. Fershée previously served as associate dean for faculty research and development, professor of law, and director of LLM programs at West Virginia University College of Law.

Earning a bachelor’s degree in social science from Michigan State University in 1995, Fershée began his career in public relations and media outreach before attending the Tulane University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2003 and serving as editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. He worked in private practice at the firms of Davis Polk & Wardell in New York and Hogan & Hartson, LLP, in Washington, D.C., before joining the legal academy. Read More

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We just finished our first week of class for the spring semester!  It was a busy several days (as I would imagine the first week of the semester tends to be for all!).  As I returned to teaching mode, I thought of some teaching materials I’d like to share (and somewhat reshare) with BLPB readers.

First, several years ago, I blogged about Professor Richard Shell’s Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success (here and here).  I mentioned his Six Lives Exercise, but I didn’t explain much about it.  Not only do I think it’s a great personal reflection exercise, but it generally generates a significant amount of classroom discussion and interest.   As I’ve used it several times now and it tends to generate a lot of student discussion, I thought I’d reshare about it!  Although I recommend buying the book, it’s not necessary to do the exercise, which is available here.  Shell provides vignettes of six lives: a teacher, wealthy investor, tennis pro, stone mason, and non-profit executive.  After reading their stories, students (or the reader) is invited to rank the lives in the order of “most successful” to “least successful” from their perspective.  Shell argues…

Dear BLPB Readers:

“GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY invites applications for a non-tenure-track appointment in Legal Studies, effective fall 2022 in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business.  Rank is open, but we expect to hire at the level of Clinical Assistant Professor (non-tenure track) or Clinical Associate Professor (non-tenure track). The salary level and course load are competitive.

 JOB QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must have a J.D. degree from an ABA accredited law school, the capability to publish research in refereed pedagogical and/or professional journals, and demonstrated potential to be an outstanding teacher. Significant professional experience as a lawyer is also highly valued.  While we welcome applications from candidates in all areas of business law, we would be especially interested to hear from applicants who have a background in insurance, innovation, or entrepreneurship, and those who could help advance the Robinson College of Business’s equity and inclusion initiatives and programs.“

The full job posting is here: Download GSU Legal Studies Clinical Faculty Position

Yesterday, Professor Art Wilmarth posted on SSRN a new article, It’s Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks.  As I’ve written about stablecoins (here) and am planning future research on this topic, I’m really looking forward to reading this piece.  Here’s its abstract:

“In November 2021, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) issued a report analyzing the rapid expansion and growing risks of the stablecoin market. PWG’s report determined that stablecoins pose a wide range of potential hazards, including the risks of inflicting large losses on investors, destabilizing financial markets and the payments system, supporting money laundering, tax evasion, and other forms of illicit finance, and promoting dangerous concentrations of economic and financial power. PWG called on Congress to pass legislation that would require all issuers of stablecoins to be banks that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). PWG also recommended that federal agencies and the Financial Stability Oversight Council should use their “existing authorities” to “address risks associated with payment stablecoin arrangements . . . to the extent possible.”

At present, stablecoins are used mainly to make payments for trades in cryptocurrency markets…

As the year quickly draws to a close, I want to wish BLPB readers a Happy New Year and a wonderful start to 2022!  I also wanted to share some exciting end of the year news: the 2nd edition of FinTech: Law and Regulation (ed. Jelena Madir) is now available (here and here)!  I’m honored to have contributed a chapter, Blockchain in Financial Services, with coauthor Professor Kevin Werbach.  Below, I provide a summary of the book and its contents from the publisher’s (Edward Elgar) website.

“This fully updated and revised second edition provides a practical examination of the opportunities and challenges presented by the rapid development of FinTech in recent years, particularly for regulators, who must decide how to apply current law to ever-changing concepts driven by continually advancing technologies. It addresses new legislative guidance on the treatment of cryptoassets and smart contracts, the European Commission’s Digital Finance Strategy and FinTech Action Plan, as well as analysing significant recent case law.”

Amid exam grading and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, don’t overlook the FSOC’s recently released 2021 Annual Report.  Even if you don’t have time for a thorough reading (I didn’t!), its 10 page Executive Summary provides a really comprehensive overview. 

Of course, I did read the section about clearing (pp. 116-119) and particularly appreciated its helpful graphs and discussion of intraday margin calls related to the trading of GameStop shares in January 2021 (see BLPB posts on this topic here and here).  I also liked that the short section on clearing in the Executive Summary mentioned the possibility of both clearinghouse default and non-default losses.  I hope the increasing focus on the latter issue continues, as much remains unsettled in this area.  Were a clearinghouse to experience both types of losses, it is unlikely that it would be able to separate them out completely.  This short section ends with the statement: “Finally, the Council encourages regulators to continue to advance recovery and resolution planning for systemically important FMUs [clearinghouses are FMUs] and to coordinate in designing and executing supervisory stress tests of multiple systemically important CCPs.” (p.14). As 2022 starts soon, I also want to…

Yesterday in reading the minutes from the FOMC’s November 2021 meeting, I noticed that once again (see previous post), some participants expressed concern about “the risk of a sudden reduction in the liquidity of collateral used at central counterparty clearing and settlement systems.” (p.9)  I’ve been wanting to read Dermot Turing’s Clearing and Settlement (3rd ed.) since receiving a review copy (for which I’m very grateful!).  So, given comments about clearinghouses in recent FOMC meeting minutes, I thought this would be a great time to get started! Robust clearinghouses remain critical to global financial market stability.  

Until 2014, Dermot Turing was a partner at Clifford Chance, specializing in “financial sector regulation, particularly the problems associated with failed banks, and financial market infrastructure.”  He’s also the nephew of famed computer scientist Alan Turing and has written books about his uncle (here) and historical works about computing (for example, here ).  I’ve read several of Turing’s articles related to financial market infrastructures (for example, here and here) and have always learned a lot.  So, I’ve decided to start reading through Clearing and Settlement (the book) and to invite interested BLPB readers to…

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The University of Surrey School of Law seeks to appoint a Financial Law expert with a specific focus on FinTech and financial regulation. The appointment may be made at Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Reader Level.

Interested candidates should apply here: https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=070521

Applicants are expected to have an excellent record of scholarship with published work of international significance and rigour. Candidates should have experience in applying for, and obtaining research income, or they should demonstrate the potential to do so. Those applying at Reader level should have an established record of generating research income, leading research projects, supervising research students, and providing administrative leadership. Applicants should be able to deliver outstanding teaching in law at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and must be able to teach on our FinTech & Policy MSc programme run with Surrey Business School. A qualifying law degree (LLB, JD or similar) is essential and a doctorate in law or a related field is strongly preferred. We are keen on candidates who combine theoretical understanding of the area with demonstrated practical experience or expertise.“

The complete job posting is here.

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The George Washington University Law School is currently seeking a candidate to fill the position of Assistant Dean for the Business and Finance Law Program. GW Law is seeking a candidate with significant demonstrated achievements and strong visibility in the legal profession, the academic or nonprofit community, and/or the government sector. The Assistant Dean will report to the Dean, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Faculty Director(s) of the BFL Program and will have the following responsibilities:
 
Program Responsibilities
• Coordinates management and execution of the BFL Program under the oversight of the Dean, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Faculty Director(s) of the Program, including academic advising, creation of program materials, planning and executing events, community outreach, marketing, student recruitment, and other relationship building activities with students, faculty, alumni, and supporters of the BFL Program and its affiliated centers and initiatives (including the Center for Law, Economics & Finance (C-LEAF), the Falk Academy of Management and Entrepreneurship (FAME), and GW in New York (GWNY)). 
• Works with the Law School Dean’s office, Executive Director of Development, BFL Faculty Director(s), and alumni to support

…

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The University of Michigan Law School is pleased to invite junior scholars to attend the 8th Annual Junior Scholars Conference, which will take place in-person on April 22-23, 2022, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Conference provides junior scholars with a platform to present and discuss their work with peers and receive feedback from prominent members of the Michigan Law faculty. The Conference aims to promote fruitful collaboration between participants and to encourage their integration into a community of legal scholars. The Junior Scholars Conference is intended for academics in both law and related disciplines. Applications from graduate students, SJD/PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers, teaching fellows, and assistant professors (pre-tenure) who have not held an academic position for more than four years, are welcomed.”

The complete call for papers is here: Download CFP Michigan Law School 2022 Junior Scholars Conference

Since reading the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee July 27-28, 2021, I’ve wanted to learn more about the following statement: “Some participants cited various potential risks to financial stability including the risks associated with expanded use of crypotcurrencies or the risks associated with collateral liquidity at central counterparties [CCPs] during episodes of market stress.” (p.11)  Today, I finally got my wish in reading about CCPs and collateral liquidity risks in the Federal Reserve’s recently released November 2021 Financial Stability Report (Report).   

A box on p.51 of the Report entitled, Liquidity Vulnerabilities from Noncash Collateral at Central Counterparties, provides background on CCPs and collateral posting practices, noting that CCPs might need to monetize quickly noncash collateral in a time of extreme financial market stress.  Were a CCP unable to do this, it could lead to a clearing member’s failure and further stress in markets.  CCPs have liquidity requirements, which encompass cash and tools to monetize noncash collateral.  The Report states: “The designated CCPs generally rely on three types of tools to monetize noncash collateral: (1) committed tools, such as committed lines of credit or committed foreign exchange swap facilities; (2) rules-based tools, for which the CCP…