Special Report: The Summit on the Academic Profession of Business Law

• Author: Robert C. Bird,Cheryl Kirschner
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12102
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Date: 01 December 2020

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 37, Issue 1, 87–109, Winter 2020

Special Report: The Summit on the

Academic Profession of Business Law

Robert C. Bird∗and Cheryl Kirschner∗∗

I. INTRODUCTION

On May 29–31, 2019, the School of Business at the University of Connecticut

hosted the Summit on the Academic Profession of Business Law (summit).1The

purpose of this summit was to identify and disseminate best academic prac-

tices from thought leaders; acquire professional development of teaching,

research, and service initiatives; and develop better responsiveness to the

mission and expectations of relevant stakeholders. This summit was the first

of its kind in the business law discipline, focusing almost entirely on the field

and its unique value proposition in the rapidly changing environments of

business schools, higher education, and global commerce. Information was

shared in various sessions ranging from transformative practices in business

law to the future of AACSB International (AACSB).2Connecticut’s Lieu-

tenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz delivered the keynote address.

Although the authors compiled the report, numerous individuals made

this conference possible. I (Robert) am grateful to former University of Con-

necticut School of Business Dean and now Interim Provost John Elliott’s

support of the event. Financial and administrative support from the School

∗Professor of Business Law and Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics, University of Con-

necticut.

∗∗Senior Lecturer in Law, Babson College.

Thanks to Constance Bagley, Jeffrey Boles, Dan Cahoy, Stephen Hudspeth, Susan Marsnik, David

Orozco, Josh Perry, Abbey Stemler, and Adam Sulkowski for thoughts and comments on earlier

versions of this article. All errors and omissions are our own.

1See Summit on the Academic Profession of Business Law,UCONN SCH.BUS., https://business

law.business.uconn.edu/blawsummit/ (last visited Oct. 7, 2019).

2AACSB INT’L, https://www.aacsb.edu (last visited Aug. 1, 2019). The AACSB was formerly

known as The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

C2020 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2020 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

87

88 Vol. 37 / The Jour nal of Legal Studies Education

of Business and the Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics were essen-

tial to make this conference a success. I also appreciate early guidance and

assistance from Dan Cahoy and Phil Nichols, who helped form the idea of

the summit with me and shaped the broad outlines that are now present in

this report. I also appreciate the support of an advisory board comprising,

among others, Janine Hiller, Jamie Prenkert, and Stephanie Greene, who

provided essential feedback at times when the optimal path toward a suc-

cessful summit was being formed. My colleagues Stephen Park and Gerlinde

Berger-Walliser offered wise local counsel and kept me on course during the

eighteen months of planning and preparation. During the conference, mod-

erators Mystica Alexander, Abbey Stemler, Colleen Baker, Michael Garrison,

Laurie Lucas, Jeremy Kress, Stephanie Greene, Catherine Bashaw, and Dan

Cahoy took thoughtful notes without which this report would not be possi-

ble. I also thank the School of Business’s information technology department,

and in particular Mat Krest and Kenny Vega, who skillfully managed the nu-

merous technology requirements needed to make the summit a success. Kate

Copeland and her team’s expert conference services ensured a smooth and

polished event. Erin Peterson provided able graduate assistance and detailed

observations of the summit sessions. Finally, I thank everyone who attended,

both virtually and in-person, and who shared their thoughtful contributions.

I aimed for this to be a workshop with twenty, perhaps twenty-five people,

but instead more than sixty faculty and administrators found it worthwhile to

attend.3This workshop-now-summit could not have succeeded without you,

and to you I offer my most sincere thanks.

Some administrative remarks are necessary at the outset. The summit

was a mixture of individual and all-attendee sessions. Moderators took

session notes, and it is from these notes that the report is primarily, though

not exclusively, derived. These notes were not transcripts, but an attempt

to convey general points made and themes developed. Conference notes

were taken using the Chatham House Rule, whereby “participants are free

to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation

of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.”4

3Most attendees were members of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB), “an as-

sociation of teachers and scholars in the fields of business law, legal environment, and law-

related courses outside of professional law schools.” About the ALSB,A

CAD.LEGAL STUD.BUS.,

https://alsb.org/about-the-alsb/ (last visited Dec. 26, 2019).

4Chatham House Rule,CHATHAM HOUSE, https://www.chathamhouse.org/chatham-house-rule

(last visited Dec. 26, 2019).