Conferences

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It was great to see many of you last week in Los Angeles for the National Business Law Scholars conference at UCLA Law. It was, as always, a positive whirlwind of activity. The array of panels and topics was, as usual impressive. The full agenda can be found here. Michael Dorff and his team did an amazing job of welcoming (and feeding!) us throughout the two days of sessions. As a former host of the conference, I know how tough that can be. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.

I was fortunate to be able to both participate in the opening plenary on the recent changes to Delaware corporate law and also present some of my research and ideas on ESG and corporate compliance.

In the former, I invoked Larry Hammermesh’s amazingly insightful 2006 article in the Columbia Law Review. If you haven’t ever–or recently–read it and are researching or writing about Delaware lawmaking, it is a “must read.” As I noted in the plenary session at the conference, Tennessee attempts to emulate the key parts of the process Larry describes as and when it can. In addition to sharing some of my own views about…

Call for Papers

The University of Richmond School of Law, in partnership with the University of Illinois College of Law, UCLA School of Law, and Vanderbilt Law School, invites submissions for the Twelfth Annual Workshop for Corporate & Securities Litigation. This workshop will be held on Thursday, October 23 and the morning of Friday, October 24, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia. 

Overview 

This annual workshop brings together scholars focused on corporate and securities litigation to present their scholarly works. Papers addressing any aspect of corporate and securities litigation or enforcement are eligible, including securities class actions, fiduciary duty litigation, and SEC enforcement actions. We welcome scholars working in a variety of methodologies, as well as both completed papers and works-in-progress. Authors whose papers are selected will be invited to present their work at a workshop hosted by the University of Richmond School of Law. Participants will pay for their own travel, lodging, and other expenses. 

Submissions 

If you are interested in participating, please send the paper you would like to present, or an abstract of the paper, to corpandsecworkshop@gmail.com by Friday, June 20, 2025. Please include your name, current position, and contact information in the e-mail accompanying the submission. Authors…

Friends keep sending me contracts they created with ChatGPT or Claude.

They read well. The formatting is clean.

But essential clauses are often missing—or the terms don’t reflect the actual business deal.

Sometimes I revise heavily. Sometimes I start over.

This post isn’t about whether AI is capable.

It’s about whether the person prompting knows how contracts actually work in business.

A contract isn’t a CYA document like my friends think. It reflects how the parties have chosen to allocate risk, reflect their priorities, and protect relationships and business interests.

AI can assist with drafting. I use it. I teach it. But without commercial judgment, even the best prompt won’t protect the business.

We’re need to train future lawyers and all workers not to rely on AI but to partner with it.

At University of Miami School of Law, we’re preparing students to step into the real world—with both digital and business acumen.

In our Transactional Skills Program, students don’t learn theory.

They negotiate, redline, bill, meet with simulated clients, and use AI responsibly. They also work with real-world agreements—documents they’ll see in practice:

✅ NDAs, employment, and contractor agreements

✅ SaaS, MSAs, and licensing deals

✅ Escrow, loan…

Friend of the BLPB Paolo Farah reached out to let me know about severl discussion groups, described below, that he is organizing for the 2025 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference this summer. If you have interest in participating, please contact Paolo at PDFarah@mail.wvu.edu.

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“Transforming Global Agriculture and Cultivating Tomorrow: Farmers’ Rights, Animal Law, Trade, Sovereignty, Ethics, and Innovation for Sustainable Progress“

This session unites diverse perspectives to explore challenges and opportunities in agriculture. By integrating disciplines like law, trade, ethics, and innovation, the panel addresses critical issues such as protecting farmers’ rights, evolving animal law, the effects of international trade, and food sovereignty’s role in sustainable development. Topics include ethical considerations, technological advancements, and policy frameworks essential for navigating transformation. Panelists will offer insights into fostering global and domestic collaboration to build equitable, sustainable agricultural systems while tackling climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security challenges, driving meaningful progress for a sustainable future.

“Enhancing Experiential Learning in Environmental, Energy, and Sustainability Law and Policy Education“

This discussion group explores innovative ways to integrate real-world experiences into legal education. Bringing together educators, practitioners, and policymakers, it highlights approaches to teaching environmental, energy…

Call for Papers

The National Business Law Scholars Conference (NBLSC) will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25-26, 2025, at UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles, California.  This is the sixteenth meeting of the NBLSC, an annual conference that draws legal scholars from across the United States and around the world. We welcome all scholarly submissions relating to business law.  Junior scholars and those considering entering the academy are especially encouraged to participate.

The deadline for submission is Friday, March 28, 2025.  Please include the following information in your submission:

• Name
• E-mail address
• Institutional Affiliation & Title
• Paper title
• Paper description/abstract
• Keywords (3-5 words)
• Willingness to be a panel moderator
• Known scheduling conflicts
• Dietary restrictions
• Mobility restrictions

Please email your submission to Professor Eric C. Chaffee at eric.chaffee@case.edu. 

We realize that this conference may overlap with part of at least one other conference.  Unfortunately, these conflicts are unavoidable because of the number of conferences and other events in June and the event schedule at the UCLA School of Law, our host school.  We always are happy to work with any conflicts to permit those desiring to…

This year’s symposium, titled Navigating the Relationship Between the Administrative State and Emerging Technology, will focus on the evolving regulatory frameworks around emerging technologies like digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies are rapidly transforming the way individuals and businesses engage in commerce, interact socially, and innovate. These advancements, however, raise profound questions about the applicability of existing regulatory structures. The symposium will bring together leading experts to discuss how the administrative state can balance the protection of innovation with the mitigation of risks associated with these technologies, while ensuring that laws evolve to meet the challenges of the future.

We are thrilled to welcome Michele Korver, Head of Regulatory & Operating Partner at a16z crypto, to deliver the opening keynote. Michele’s wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors will provide invaluable insights into the state of digital asset regulation. The event will conclude with a thought-provoking closing address, offering reflections on the key discussions of the day.

Welcome and Opening Remarks (1:15 PM – 1:25 PM)

The symposium will begin with brief welcoming remarks, setting the stage for an afternoon of in-depth discussions and exploring the complexities surrounding the intersection of technology, law, and…

Announcement
By now, we hope that you’ve all seen the Press Release announcing the historic 6 million dollar gift from Emory’s emeritus professor Bill Carney for the formation of the William and Jane Carney Center for Business and Transactional Law.We are thrilled to jointly present this Conference, which will celebrate three pillars of the new Carney Center: doctrine, practice, and pedagogy. We will welcome you as scholars, lawyers, and teachers engaged in preparing students to become business and transactional attorneys.

The Conference will be held at Emory, beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 30, 2025, and ending at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, 2025. Information about registration and accommodations is forthcoming.
Call for Proposals
We are accepting proposals immediately, from now through the end of March. You may present alone or with colleagues.  Please prepare to give a 60-minute, interactive presentation on any aspect of business and transactional law and skills education viewed
…

Dear Readers:

“The Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference is held in
conjunction with the MBAA International Conference. MBAA International draws hundreds of academics from business-related fields such as accounting, business/society/government, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, health administration, information systems, international business, management, and marketing. The MALSB has its own program track on Legal Studies and attendees may take advantage of the multidisciplinary nature of this international conference and attend sessions held by the other program tracks.

Presentations in 2025 will have the option of in person or live online delivery. Tentatively MALSB paper and panel in person/live online presentations are scheduled to begin Thursday morning (April 10, 2025) and conclude Friday afternoon (April 11, 2025). If registration numbers require additional sessions, they will be held Wednesday afternoon (April 9, 2025).”

Note that the registration/submission deadline is January 26, 2025.  The complete call for conference participation is here.”

Following on some email communications regarding my post last week relating to optimal statutory resources for a business associations course, Itai Fiegenbaum and I have decided to organize a discussion group at the 2025 Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) conference (to be held at the Omni Resort in Amelia Island, Florida, July 26-Aug. 2) on teaching practices in the basic business associations course. In addition to addressing the need for and type of statutory resources used in teaching the course, we would expect the discussion group to cover, e.g., teaching and learning objectives, the aggregate number of credit hours devoted to the basics of business associations law, the statutes taught, the overall range of topics covered, assessment methods, and teaching methodologies and tools. Please email me at jheminwa@tennessee.edu to let me know if you are interested in joining us at Amelia Island next summer for this discussion group.

I know this is late notice, but I have a small role in an online symposium on benefit corporations being held today at 3:30 pm Eastern (12:30 pm Pacific). The symposium features essays on Professor Michael Dorff’s recent book on benefit corporations, Becoming a Benefit Corporation. The essays will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Southwestern University Law Review. I am writing a foreword for the issue. If you have time and want to register to attend, the flyer is included above. You also can just register here.