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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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Image result for olympic trials in the marathon

Last year, in a post about personal finance, I mentioned my friend Joey Elaskr, who is completing a PHD/MD program at Vanderbilt University. In late 2019, Joey qualified for the Olympic Trials at the Monumental Marathon in an impressive 2:18:57 (5:18 per mile for 26.2 miles). On February 29th this year, just a couple weeks after successfully defending his dissertation, he competed in the Olympic Trials in Atlanta. You can read a bit about Joey’s running on Lets Run and on Money & Megabytes. While the tie to “business law” is admittedly stretched, I do think our readers can learn a good bit about juggling demanding responsibilities from Joey, and I am glad he agreed to answer a few questions below the break.

These job postings were forwarded to me by a reader of the blog. 

(1) Kickstarter – General Counsel – Brooklyn, NY

(2) Hills Stern & Morley LLP – Lateral Partners & Associates – Washington D.C. 

Hills Stern & Morley LLP, a successful boutique firm focused on global transactions and based in Washington, seeks lateral partners to expand and complement its current practice areas in (i) project finance and development, (ii) energy and infrastructure finance, (iii) private equity fund formation and investment, (iv) private acquisitions, and (v) general corporate and finance.  Must have strong academic credentials, a stable work history, and relevant deal experience; portable business and a track record of business development are strongly preferred.  The firm offers an attractive alternative to the Big Law business model, a collegial work environment, and an impressive client list (including multiple development finance institutions).  Interested in a better platform to expand your practice?  Please send your CV, deal list and contact info to Michael Abbey at mabbey@hillsstern.com.

HSM is also looking for seasoned associates to support our practice areas.  Why not enhance your skills working with experienced partners on exciting global transactions and enjoy life outside the office as well?  Please send your CV, deal list and contact info to Michael Abbey.

(3) Social Finance – Assistant General Counsel – Boston, MA

See extensive information about the position under the page break. 

This fall semester flew by. Hoping to make time to read and listen to more good content next semester. Always open to suggestions, especially podcasts because my commute is now about 30 minutes each way. 

Books

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy – William B. Irvine (Philosophy) (2009). Review of stoicism and an attempt at modern application. “Unlike Cynicism, Stoicism does not require its adherents to adopt an ascetic lifestyle. To the contrary , the Stoics thought that there was nothing wrong with enjoying the good things life has to offer, as long as we are careful in the manner we enjoy them. In particular, we must be ready to give up the good things without regret if our circumstances should change.” (46).

Utilitarianism – John Stuart Mill (Philosophy) (1863). Reread before my spring business ethics class. “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool or the pig think otherwise, that is because they know only their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.” (7). “Next to selfishness, the …

Win

In running circles, Nike has been in the news quite a lot this year.

In May, Nike was criticized for its maternity policy (of lack thereof) for sponsored runners (See “Nike Told Me to Dream Big, Until I Wanted a Baby”).

In September, Nike’s running coach, Alberto Salazar, was suspended for 4 years for facilitating doping. (See “Nike’s Elite Running Group Folded After Suspension of Coach Alberto Salazar”)

In October, Nike’s sponsored runner, Eliud Kipchoge, ran the first sub-2 hour marathon, wearing the much-hyped Nike Vaporfly shoes. (See “Eliud Kipchoge runs first ever sub-two hour marathon in INEOS 1:59 challenge”) (See also, “Achieving the Seemingly Impossible: A Tribute to Eliud Kipchoge” by our own Colleen Baker)

In November, former Nike-sponsored runner Mary Cain’s allegations of verbal abuse and weight shaming went viral. (See “I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike: Mary Cain’s male coaches were convinced she had to get “thinner, and thinner, and thinner.” Then her body started breaking down.”) (See also, “Mary Cain Speaks Out Against Nike and Coach Alberto Salazar Over Emotional, Physical Abuse”)…

Have you ever wanted to learn the basics about blockchain? Do you think it’s all hype and a passing fad? Whatever your view, take a look at my new article, Beyond Bitcoin: Leveraging Blockchain to Benefit Business and Society, co-authored with Rachel Epstein, counsel at Hedera Hashgraph.  I became interested in blockchain a year ago because I immediately saw potential use cases in supply chain, compliance, and corporate governance. I met Rachel at a Humanitarian Blockchain Summit and although I had already started the article, her practical experience in the field added balance, perspective, and nuance. 

The abstract is below:

Although many people equate blockchain with bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts, the technology also has the potential to transform the way companies look at governance and enterprise risk management, and to assist governments and businesses in mitigating human rights impacts. This Article will discuss how state and non-state actors use the technology outside of the realm of cryptocurrency. Part I will provide an overview of blockchain technology. Part II will briefly describe how public and private actors use blockchain today to track food, address land grabs, protect refugee identity rights, combat bribery and corruption, eliminate voter fraud…

I had planned to write about the Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation signed by 200 top CEOs. If you read this blog, you’ve likely read the coverage and the varying opinions. I’m still reading the various blog posts, statements by NGOs, and 10-Ks of some of the largest companies so that I can gather my thoughts. In the meantime, many of these same companies  will be at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights touting their records. I’ve been to the Forum several times, and it’s worth the trip. If you’re interested in joining over 2,000 people, including representatives from many of the signatories of the Statement, see below. You can register here:

The UN annual Forum on Business and Human Rights is the global platform for stock-taking and lesson-sharing on efforts to move the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from paper to practice. As the world’s foremost gathering in this area, it provides a unique space for dialogue between governments, business, civil society, affected groups and international organizations on trends, challenges and good practices in preventing and addressing business-related human rights impacts. The first Forum was held in 2012. It attracts more…

     Last week, I led a “legal hack” for some of the first year students during orientation. Each participating professor spoke for ten minutes on a topic of our choice and then answered questions for ten minutes. I picked business and human rights, my passion. I titled my brief lecture, “Are you using a product made by slaves, and if you are, can you do anything about it”?

     In my ten minutes, I introduced the problem of global slavery; touched on the false and deceptive trade practices  litigation levied against companies; described the role of shareholder activists and socially responsible investors in pressuring companies to clean up supply chains; raised doubts about the effectiveness of some of the disclosure regimes in the US, EU, and Australia; questioned the efficacy of conscious consumerism; and mentioned blockchain as a potential tool for provenance of goods. Yes. In ten minutes. 

     During the actual hack later in the afternoon, I had a bit more time to flesh out the problem. I developed a case study around the Rana Plaza disaster in which a building collapse in Bangladesh killed over 1,000 garment workers six years ago. Students brainstormed solutions …

Later today, the students in my nine-week online Transactional Lawyering: Drafting and Negotiating Contracts Course will breathe a sigh of relief. They will submit their final contracts, and their work will be done. They can now start reading for their Fall classes knowing that they have completed the work for their required writing credit. My work, on the other hand, won’t end for quite a while. Although this post will discuss teaching an online course, much of my advice would work for a live, in person class as well.

If you’ve ever taught a transactional drafting course, you know that’s a lot of work. You are in a seemingly never ending cycle of developing engaging content, teaching the material, answering questions, reviewing drafts, and grading the final product. Like any writing course, you’re in constant editing and feedback mode with the students.

If you’ve ever taught an online course, you know how much work it can be. I taught asynchronously, meaning I uploaded materials and the students had a specific time within which to complete assignments, typically one week or more. Fortunately, I had help from the University of Miami’s instructional design team, otherwise, I would likely have been a …

When was the last time you sat in a classroom for 6 hours a day learning material that you weren’t sure that you would use on a daily basis for your job? I’m not talking about attending a CLE or an academic conference where you pick what you want to learn and from whom. I’m talking about taking notes, doing homework everyday, and being called on— you know, like we do with our students. 

 

Well I’ve just finished this experience and it will change how I teach from now on. Since mid June, I’ve taken 90 hours of immersive Spanish classes—30 hours through weekend work at the University of Miami and 60 hours through Habla Ya in Panama for two weeks. I did this while teaching a transactional drafting course online (asynchronously), which required me to hold individual video conferences with my 16 students and markup and review drafts. I also worked on a time consuming project for a client. This was no vacation. At times, it was pure hell. 

Here’s what I learned. 

  1. The teacher really does matter. I often hear my students saying “I just can’t learn from Professor X.” I always thought it was a lame

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The AALS Section on Transactional Laws and Skills is pleased to announce its program, “Markets and Regulation: The Shifting Context of Transactional Practice,” to be held (per the draft program) from 8:30-10:30 on Sat. Jan. 4 at the AALS 2020 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. on “Pillars of Democracy: Law, Representation, and Knowledge.” This session will explore the changing regulatory context of transactional legal practice, which is rapidly evolving in response to new innovations and challenges across a range of markets. Emerging issues range from privacy law and cybersecurity, to national security concerns, antitrust, and international trade and investment, to the prospect of new regulatory responses to climate change and other environmental threats. The forms these regulatory responses take are also diverse, including not only traditional public regulation, but also private governance, which draws upon the efforts of NGOs, trade associations, and international organizations.

Pedagogy Panel: In addition to paper presentations from our Call for Papers (circulated separately), the program will feature a panel of 3-4 speakers who will focus on how to incorporate regulatory concepts and issues across the transactional curriculum, including in clinics and other experiential courses, as well as in doctrinal courses. Our Section is proud to…