Photo of Joan Heminway

Joan Heminway

Subscribe to Joan Heminway's Posts

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

Back in June of 2024, in connection with the legislative debate in Delaware over the approval of § 122(18) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (DGCL § 122(18)), I authored a blog post in which I raised concerns about whether there was adequate understanding of the public policy impacts of the proposal to adopt DGCL § 122(18).  I then wrote:

I have one large and important question as Senate Bill 313 continues to move through the Delaware legislative process: do members of the Delaware General Assembly voting on this bill fully understand the large shift in public policy represented by the introduction of DGCL § 122(18)?  If so, then they act on an informed basis and live with the consequences, as they do with any legislation they pass that is signed into law.  If not, we all must work harder to enable that understanding.

Later that month, I authored and published a second blog post that cross-referenced the earlier blog post and offered several policy-related values relevant to the proposal.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, I found myself affected by similar concerns about the need for serious, thoughtful policy engagement in Delaware.  The occasion was the Gala Celebration…

The College of Law at the University of Oklahoma (OU Law) welcomes applications and nominations for an outstanding faculty member for the Puterbaugh Foundation Chair, to begin in the Fall Semester of 2026.

The primary needs for this search are in the areas of constitutional law or contracts.  In addition, we have curricular needs in the following areas: bankruptcy, antitrust, partnership tax, corporate transactions, secured transactions, banking, finance, consumer law, cybersecurity law, technology and AI and the law, a doctrinal course in any field with a strong AI component, alternative dispute resolution, and experiential offerings in any of the areas listed above.

OU Law has a renowned reputation for scholarly excellence, which it aims to strengthen through the holder of this endowed position. OU Law is committed to attracting and retaining exceptional faculty with summer research grants, publication placement bonuses, and course reductions based on scholarly productivity. The Puterbaugh Foundation Chair comes with a competitive salary along with significant support for research and travel.

OU Law is a high-quality, affordable, and forward-looking institution. It boasts world-class facilities, a commitment to technological innovation, and a varied student body. OU Law sits on the university’s main campus in Norman, a college town…

As you start in on the new work week, I want to let you know about the Section on Leadership’s webinar on Wednesday, September 17th, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET/12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CT/11:00 am – 12:00 am MT/10:00 am – 11:00 am PT.  The title for the program is “Adaptive Leadership Theory & Rule of Law as Resources in Challenging Times for Law & Legal Education.” The program description is set forth below.

Under authoritarian pressure, law schools may be tempted to self-censor or compromise their missions. Adaptive leadership offers deans and administrators strategic and moral tools to regulate stress, preserve mission integrity, and cultivate leadership across their communities. Complementing this, the Rule of Law Working Group—through the Holloran Center and Mellon-funded “Pluralizing” Legal Professional Identity project—is creating resources to embed democracy, equity, justice, and the rule of law into the curriculum.

You can register here.

The session has been organized, and is being led, by the section’s chair-elect, Tania Luma.  She is joined by Kendall Kerew and Kelly Terry.  This program promises to offer much wisdom to faculty and staff both in our institutional and instructional lives at work.  I am excited to…

In deleting old email messages, I found one on this job opening unopened from last month. Sorry for the delay in posting!

We’re delighted to share that Cornell is hiring a transactional clinician to be based in Ithaca in the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic and the Blassberg-Rice Center for Entrepreneurship Law. 

David Reiss recently joined Cornell’s faculty to launch a new section of the ELC at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island, establishing Cornell’s first New York City-based law clinic in January 2025. Our search this year is for a co-director based in Ithaca. The new hire will have full-time teaching responsibility in the ELC, working alongside David. The appointment will be to the long-term, presumptively renewable, contract track for permanent clinical faculty at Cornell Law School, with voting rights and academic leave rights consistent with the other permanent clinicians.  

The full job posting is linked and attached.  

The application deadline is September 30, but we encourage candidates to apply early. If you have any questions, feel free to contact David (david.reiss@cornell.edu) and Beth (mbl235@cornell.edu). 

Friend-of-the-BLPB Will Moon has notified us that the University of Maryland is hiring a tenure-track or tenured position for its small business clinic.

The advertisement is linked below:
Job Description – Tenure-Track Professor, Small Business Clinic (250000O9)

Will suggests that the best way to apply is through the Taleo link found in the advertisement. While the position mentions “tenure track,” Will confirms that the committee is reviewing applications from both pre-tenured and tenured faculty.

At the University of Dayton, we value our inclusive climate because we know that diversity in experiences and perspectives is vital to advancing innovation, critical thinking, solving complex problems, and creating an inclusive academic community. Because we seek a workforce with a wide

…

As the erstwhile “Monday blogger” for the BLPB, I have written Labor Day posts over the years on a variety of Labor Day topics–from the history surrounding the holiday, to the labor of law teaching. Last year, I wrote about gratitude on Labor Day. This year, I carry that gratitude theme forward in a specific context: appreciation for lawyers and for being a lawyer.

I know that the holiday is not generally seen as a moment in the calendar year in which we step back to honor service professionals. As I have noted in prior Labor Day posts, the workers intended to be honored are those who made our country prosperous in and around the time of the Industrial Revolution–working long, hard hours for low pay. The Department of Labor’s website offers a summary description.

Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

I mean no disrespect to that original intention by focusing on lawyers here. I continue to believe that…