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I recently learned, via e-mail, that Albany Law School has a number of open positions that may interest our readers. The positions, and links to the postings, are provided below:

A couple weeks ago, I wrote Ten Promises For New Law Students to Consider, which discussed the promises I made to myself when I went to law school.  It seems to me appropriate that I should follow up with something applies to me now.

This list for law professors (or at least, this law professor) includes some of the promises I made myself when I left practice, and some that have evolved over the almost decade I have been teaching.  It’s hard to believe this is my tenth year as a full-time teacher. 

To that end, here are my suggestions for faculty members, based on my experience. I don’t always keep these promises, but (as I did with the law school promises) I try.  This list is even less exhaustive than my last effort, and I welcome additions to the list in comments. I am not going to lie, this was a harder list to make, and it’s a challenge to fulfill them all (especially #6). 

I promise: 

(1) To be intentional.  That is, I will choose books, assign readings and exercises, and draft paper assignments and exams with a purpose.  They may not always be the best

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As mentioned in my post about law schools hiring in business law areas, we received the following posting from The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.

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University of Utah Hiring in Business and Tax Law

The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of associate professor beginning academic year 2016-2017. Qualifications for the position include a record of excellence in academics, successful teaching experience or potential as a teacher, and strong scholarly distinction or promise. The College is particularly interested in candidates in the areas of business and tax law. Interested persons can submit an application to the University of Utah Human Resources website at https://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/43173 (please note that the application requires a cover letter, CV, and list of references). Baiba Hicks, Administrative Assistant to the Faculty Appointments Committee (Baiba.hicks@law.utah.edu or 801-581-5464) is available to answer questions.

The University of Utah is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and educator and its policies prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, or veteran’s status. Minorities, women, veterans, and those…

I begin my 30th year of law teaching today. I can still remember that hot August day I first stepped into the huge, tiered classroom at SMU. Standing on the raised platform facing a mob of over a hundred eager students. The low hum generated by dozens of pre-class conversations. The feeling of inferiority as all those pairs of eyes checked out the newest professor.

I was scared to death. I had spent the summer reviewing the law of business associations—reading and highlighting the casebook; reading a corporate law treatise; reading law review articles. I had extensive teaching notes in front of me that first day, some of them cribbed from class notes that the late Alan Bromberg had generously shared with me. But I didn’t have a clue how to teach. For the most part, I was mimicking what my own law school professors had done, without realizing why they had done what they did.

It didn’t go well at first. I was shy and hesitant, and students could sense my lack of confidence. Many of the students weren’t as prepared as I’d hoped, and I wasn’t sure how to draw them out and build on what they…

Apparently the corporate tax inversion crackdown by the Obama administration is not working. The Financial Times reported this week that three companies have announced plans to redomicile in Europe in just one week. I’m not sure that I will have time to discuss inversions in any detail in my Business Associations class, but I have talked about it in civil procedure, when we discuss personal jurisdiction.

From my recent survey monkey results of my incoming students, I know that some of my students received their business news from the Daily Show. In the past I have used Jon Stewart, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert to illustrate certain concepts to my millennial students. Here are some humorous takes on the inversion issue that I may use this year in class. Warning- there is some profanity and obviously they are pretty one-sided. But I have found that humor is a great way to start a debate on some of these issues that would otherwise seem dry to students. 

1)   Steve Colbert on corporate inversions-1– note the discussion on fiduciary duties

2)    Steve Colbert on corporate inversions interviews Allan Sloan

3)   Jon Stewart- inversion of the money snatchers and on…

It is orientation time for West Virginia University College of Law, and I am sure other law schools around the country. If not, it’s coming soon. I always like the buzz of the new students returning to the building, though it is a little bittersweet as the time I had for other projects is clearing nearing the end. All in all, though, I miss the students and the activity, so I’m happy the new year is getting ready to start. 

The combination of excitement and trepidation (if not fear) seems to be what stands our to me the most. It makes sense. Law school is a big undertaking, and it’s not easy.  And it can be hard because it can be challenging both academically and socially.  As my wife has noted, “Law school can be more like high school than high school.”  (I had a distinct advantage in skipping a lot of that because we were married when we started law school.)

To that end, here are my suggestions, based on the promises I made to myself when I left my job and went back to law school. Give it a try (and I welcome additions to the list…

The law school in the state next door to mine is hiring faculty. Their football team isn’t as good as ours, but it’s a pretty good law school in spite of that deficiency. Here’s the listing:

THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COLLEGE OF LAW anticipates hiring several tenured/tenure track faculty members and clinical faculty members (including a director for field placement program) over the coming year. Our goal is to find outstanding scholars and teachers who can extend the law school’s traditional strengths and intellectual breadth. We are interested in all persons of high academic achievement and promise with outstanding credentials. Appointment and rank will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Candidates should send resumes, references, and descriptions of areas of interest to:  Faculty Appointments Committee, College of Law, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa  52242-1113.

THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, religion, associational preference, status as a qualified individual with a disability, or status as a protected veteran.

As I continue my (futile?) quest to exhaust my electronic reading pile before the fall semester begins, I recently read a nice article on business lawyering: Praveen Kosuri, Beyond Gilson: The Art of Business Lawyering, 19 LEWIS & CLARK L. REV. 463 (2013), also available on SSRN here.

Kosuri asks what distinguishes great business lawyers, and develops a three-tiered pyramid of the skills that transactional business lawyers need. At the bottom of the pyramid are what Kosuri calls foundational skills: reading and understanding contracts; research and drafting; financial literacy; and a basic knowledge of business law. The next level of the pyramid, which Kosuri calls transitional skills, includes negotiation; structuring deals; risk management; and transaction cost engineering. The top level of the pyramid, which Kosuri calls optimal skills, includes understanding business; understanding people; problem-solving; and advising.

Kosuri then considers who would be best at teaching each of those categories of skills and how to teach them. I don’t agree with everything he says, but the article is insightful and certainly worth reading.

Here’s the abstract:

Thirty years ago, Ronald Gilson asked the question, “what do business lawyers really do?” Since that time legal scholars have continued to grapple…

From an e-mail I received earlier today:

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University of South Carolina School of Law

Hiring Advertisement

The University of South Carolina School of Law invites applications for tenured, tenure-track, or visiting faculty positions to begin fall semester 2016. Candidates should have a juris doctorate or equivalent degree. Additionally, a successful applicant should have a record of excellence in academia or in practice, the potential to be an outstanding teacher, and demonstrable scholarly promise.  Although the School of Law is especially interested in candidates who are qualified to teach in the areas of taxation, clinical legal education, environmental law and small business, we are equally interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity of our law school community whose teaching interests may fall outside of these areas. 

Interested persons should send a resume, references, and subject area preferences to Prof. Eboni Nelson, Chair, Faculty Selection Committee, c/o Kim Fanning, University of South Carolina School of Law, 701 S. Main St., Columbia, SC 29208 or, by email, to HIRE2016@LAW.SC.EDU (electronic The University of South Carolina is committed to a diverse faculty, staff, and student body.  We encourage applications from women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and others whose background, experience, and…