Business Law Scholarship and Impact
Business Law Scholarship at UC Law San Francisco
UC Law SF faculty are leading voices on a range of business and contract law issues, including artificial intelligence, regulatory compliance and enforcement, venture capital, banking, securities, and autonomous systems.
Recent News | Selected Scholarship | Faculty
Recent News
New Faculty
Zac Henderson joins UC Law San Francisco as a visiting assistant professor and as senior researcher for the Center for Innovation. His research is centered around the nexus between the law and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and blockchain.
Tal Niv is our new director of applied innovation. She will contribute to the continued development of our tech law training program by teaching tech law classes, such as internet law, AI law, and international AI governance, helping to develop tech law curriculum through the tech law and lawyering concentration, and fostering a vibrant tech law community through LexLab activities.
They join Emily Strauss, associate professor of law, who joined the UC Law SF faculty last year from Duke Law School, where she was a lecturing fellow. She is an expert in securities regulation, banking, and business law. She is a former corporate lawyer, teacher, and Peace Corps volunteer.
At the Forefront of Innovation
The UC Law Center for Business Law San Francisco launched two startup-focused initiatives this year: the Startup Litigation Digest and the VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA).
The Startup Litigation Digest, launched by Professors Evan Epstein and Abe Cable, sheds light on the world of private company litigation. Each edition of the publication highlights a new group of cases, including updates from prior editions. The content may involve shareholder litigation and/or enforcement actions from the SEC, DOJ and/or other enforcement agencies.
The VCBA is the center’s new executive education program for corporate directors and is addressing the unique challenges faced by directors of venture-backed companies. The inaugural program took place at Cooley’s SF offices with nearly 100 participants. The most recent VCBA program was held on October 2024, at Nasdaq’s MarketSite in New York City.
2024 SF Economic Outlook: AI & The Future of Corporate Governance
The UC Center for Business Law San Francisco presented the 7th Annual Regional Economic Outlook, co-hosted with the UCLA Anderson Forecast and the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. It addressed the latest economic outlook for the Bay Area, California, and U.S. including the prospect of economic growth, consumption, and investment growth.
A panel of experts discussed how AI integration is influencing business processes and the future of corporate governance.
Watch the Forecast video
Selected Scholarship and Highlights
Abe Cable’s article Regulating Democratized Investing, first published in Ohio State Law Journal, was selected for republication in the Securities Law Review. His Psychic Income & Democratized Investing, published in Colorado Technology Law Journal, explored the increasing difficulties in distinguishing investing from entertainment or other consumer experiences.
John Crawford published The Dollar Dilemma: Hegemony, Control, and the Dollar’s International Role in the Virginia Law & Business Review, which examined the risks created by the offshore U.S. dollar market, along with the tradeoffs involved in potential reforms to address those risks.
Evan Epstein was named one of the most influential leaders in corporate governance by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as part of the 2023 NACD Directorship 100™.
Jodi Short published Regulatory Managerialism as Gaslighting Government in Law & Contemporary Problems, which explored the uneven ways that management theory gets applied to government and businesses. She is co-author, with Jed Shugerman, of Major Questions about Presidentialism: Untangling the ‘Chain of Dependance’ Across Administrative Law, published in Boston College Law Review. Jodi has recently participated in conferences, colloquiums, and workshops relating to the policy and regulation of emerging technologies.
Emily Strauss’s article Is Everything Securities Fraud?, published in UC Irvine Law Review, appeared in The Top Ten List of Corporate and Securities Law Articles of 2023, and was selected for republication in the Securities Law Review. Her article Suing SPACs was selected for republication in the Corporate Practice Commentator.
Business Law Faculty
Alina Ball
Professor of Law, Bion M. Gregory Chair in Business Law, and Co-Director of the Center for Racial and Economic Justice
View Alina Ball’s Profile
Abraham Cable
Professor of Law; Faculty Director of Online Education; Interim Faculty Director, Center for Business Law
View Abraham Cable’s Profile
Evan Epstein
Executive Director of the Center for Business Law & Adjunct Professor of Law
View Evan Epstein’s Profile
