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Joan Heminway

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Professor Heminway brought nearly 15 years of corporate practice experience to the University of Tennessee College of Law when she joined the faculty in 2000. She practiced transactional business law (working in the areas of public offerings, private placements, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and restructurings) in the Boston office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP from 1985 through 2000.

She has served as an expert witness and consultant on business entity and finance and federal and state securities law matters and is a frequent academic and continuing legal education presenter on business law issues. Professor Heminway also has represented pro bono clients on political asylum applications, landlord/tenant appeals, social security/disability cases, and not-for-profit incorporations and related business law issues. Read More

The University of Iowa College of Law seeks applicants for one or more tenure-track faculty positions. We have a strong interest in applicants who possess excellence in their academic and professional backgrounds. Entry-level and lateral candidates are welcome to apply.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The College of Law’s primary hiring interest is in business, corporate, and commercial law.

Consistent with the mission and responsibilities of a top-tier public research university, we are interested in candidates who are recognized scholars and teachers and who will participate actively in the intellectual life of the College of Law. In addition, we desire candidates with a demonstrated ability to maintain effective and respectful working relationships with the campus community to uphold a standard of cultural competency and respect for differences. We also desire candidates who would bring significant new scholarly strengths to the College of Law. Candidates who can contribute to these goals are encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths in these areas.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

To apply, candidates should submit a letter of interest, CV, a list of three references, a law school transcript, and teaching evaluations (if applicable) through Jobs@UIOWA, https://jobs.uiowa.edu, refer to Requisition #75664.

Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any misconduct history or pending research…

Washington and Lee University School of Law (“W&L Law”) invites up to ten tenure-track or tenured legal scholars to join its faculty for an intensive four-day writing retreat at House Mountain Inn located in the Shenandoah Valley, a home to artists, artisans, and scholars alike. Nestled high atop the slopes of Big House Mountain, the House Mountain Inn offers 1,000 private acres of mountain preserve with breathtaking views of the surrounding natural beauty. The scenic location offers the ideal setting for this retreat dedicated to intensive academic writing, meaningful peer engagement, and the cultivation of long-term professional relationships among leading legal scholars from across the country. This retreat reflects the W&L Law faculty’s deep dedication to advancing impactful legal scholarship and its commitment to nurturing curiosity, collaboration, and community.

The 2026 Writing Retreat will meet from Sunday, June 14, to Thursday, June 18, 2026. Attendees are asked to join the retreat for its full duration in order to support a shared, immersive writing experience for all participants.

FUNDING

W&L Law will provide lodging and meals for all attendees at House Mountain Inn for four nights, plus a travel stipend up to $500. Funding for the retreat is generously provided by…

I was fortunate to run into my friend Pamela Foohey at a reception at the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting last week. I had known that the book on consumer bankruptcy she coauthored (with Robert Lawless and Deborah Thorne) had been released. But I had not yet read it. I was especially lucky to catch Pamela that night when she had a copy of the book with her. After a brief conversation, she was kind enough to offer it to me. I began reading it on the flight home. So far, it is an illuminating and fascinating read. 

The book I am referencing, Debt’s Grip, reports on the most recent iteration of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project. For those who may be unfamiliar with the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, it is a long-term (now over 40 years in duration), periodic review of consumer bankruptcies. This most recent study involves the reporting and analysis of eleven years of data assembled from bankruptcy case files and surveys of the related households. While some of the takeaways are unsurprising, the book’s documentation of the nature the filers, their cases, and the outcomes paints a compelling picture of the greater socioeconomic environment…

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW invites applications for one entry-level tenure-track faculty position with interest in teaching contracts, business law and related areas, beginning August 2026.

Duties include engaging in high-quality teaching and research, as well as being an active participant in law-school and university service.

Qualifications include a J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school  (or a law school program that is deemed substantively equivalent to an ABA-approved J.D. program for purposes of taking a US State bar examination); ability to engage in high-quality teaching; ability to engage in high-quality research; and ability to be an active participant in law school and university service.

Preferred qualifications include a record of scholarly publication, teaching experience (particularly in a law school), legal-practice experience, a strong law-school record, law-journal membership, and clerkship experience.

If you wish to apply or have questions, please contact Professor David Rosenfeld, Chair of the Appointments Committee, at niucol@niu.edu. Preference will be given to applications received by February 13, 2026, though applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

To be officially considered for the position or positions, a cover letter, résumé, and contact information for three current professional references will be required to be uploaded…

And so, we reach the end of another calendar year . . . .  And it has been a busy one for the Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law at Tennessee Winston Law.  The change in the calendar, like the change in seasons, always seems to be a time of reflection for me.  And that reflection typically leads to a sense of gratitude.  I will share some of what I am thankful for here.

I appreciate so much the wonderful stewardship of Brian Krumm, who directed the Clayton Center for the first seven months of 2025.  We are a student-focused institution, and Brian exemplifies that in all that he does for our business law program.  And as the ongoing coach of our students in four upcoming transactional law competitions (The Closer at Baylor Law, the Wayne State University Law & Taft Stettinius & Hollister Transactional Law Competition, Syracuse Law’s Transatlantic Negotiation Competition, and the William & Mary Colonial Cup), Brian will continue to earn my respect and gratitude as the academic year continues, for that work and so much more.

I am grateful for our newest business law colleague, Andrew Appleby.  In a semester of professional and personal…

Tina L. Stark Emory Law, October 2007

Transactional lawyering and the education of transactional lawyers has been transformed by Tina L. Stark (Weisenfeld). You may have known her for her wonderful books–Drafting Contracts: How & Why Lawyers Do What They Do and Negotiating and Drafting Contract Boilerplate are on my bookshelves and those of so many others. You may have heard her speak at a conference or symposium.

Yet, many of us also knew Tina on a more personal level. Some of us had her as an instructor or as a colleague. Long a consultant and advisor to law schools, bar associations, and legal employers on transactional legal education and training, Tina also held full-time administrative and teaching appointments at Emory University School of Law and Boston University School of Law and was a visitor at Fordham University School of Law. Earlier in her career, she was an adjunct law professor at Fordham Law and the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.

Tina passed away earlier this week. But her presence will continue to be felt in so many ways. She and I initially bonded over our not only our love of teaching plainly…

Following on my Weinberg Center blog post back on October 27, I write today to promote participation in a survey hosted by the University of Delaware’s John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance on public company Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The survey website explains that the Weinberg Center “seeks to gather practical insights from companies, investors, and related professionals about the scope and effectiveness of the current federal shareholder proposal rule (Rule 14a-8).” I suspect that the referenced professionals include lawyers representing both public companies and shareholders, as well as other advisors to each. More information about the survey can be found on the website.

In the spirit of that October 27 blog post, I am appreciative of the effort to gather information from a wide variety of constituents. I have taught group-oriented change leadership to undergraduate honors students here at The University of Tennessee using design thinking methods, in which the first step is undertaking to empathize. This step involves the team researching, and endeavoring to understand, the needs of various stakeholders. One design thinking website describes this first stage of a group-oriented process of innovation through design thinking…

Please see the call for papers here from friend-of-the-BLPB Paolo Farah. Abstract submissions are due December 20, 2025. According to the the call for papers, “[t]his symposium aims to bridge disciplines and communities, fostering dialogue between law, policy, science, and industry in advancing tribal energy sovereignty and climate resilience. We invite you to contribute your voice and expertise to this important conversation.”