America's Best Teaching Faculty
As an LL.M in American Law student, you have full access to BU Law's renown, award-winning J.D. faculty. The faculty represent several schools of legal thought, from law and economics to feminist legal theory, and they come from a range of legal backgrounds. Their wide-ranging scholarship includes leading texts in several important areas of law -- and many have authored the very textbooks which form the basis of classroom discussion.
Above all, they share a passion for teaching—eight have received the Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest award given each year to one of Boston University’s three thousand faculty members.
BU Law's faculty value the international perspectives that American Law Program students bring to the classroom. And they understand the challenges foreign-trained lawyers face when they begin analyzing U.S. judicial opinions -- rather than codes -- and are asked to do so out loud.
Among the faculty who have engaged LL.M. in American Law students over the years are such noted scholars as:
Enron's collapse represents a widespread trend in the American economy and culture toward the legitimization of dishonesty, according to Professor Tamar Frankel, who has written and taught in the areas of mutual funds, securitization, financial system regulation, fiduciary law and corporate governance. In her recent book, Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroads (Oxford University Press, 2005), Professor Frankel discusses how the decline of ethical standards and acceptance of dishonest dealing diminishes markets and societies. The book,"a call for social enforcement" according to Professor Frankel, argues that the basis of competition must be based on merit rather than fraud, or the American economy and prosperity will be compromised. Professor Frankel's argument was recently spotlighted by the Financial Times. Read about it here.
 Commercial Law LL.M. students who seek a grounding in American commercial law select from a range of classes, including commercial code, secured transactions, bankruptcy and creditors rights. Among the School's several scholars in these fields is Professor Walter Miller who has educated and illuminated BU law students for more than 30 years. "Exposing foreign LL.M.s to the fundamental topics of Uniform Commercial Code, contracts and bankruptcy exhilarates me," says Miller. "These areas are central to understanding the legal context in which American businesses operate. Familiarity with American commercial law gives critical insights to any foreign lawyer planning to interact with American businesses and American business lawyers in his or her career."  Intellectual Property and Civil Procedure Foreign LL.M.s are drawn to BU Law because of the way they are integrated into the classroom experiences here," says Professor Robert G. Bone, who has been on the BU Law faculty for almost twenty years. "They learn much more than American legal rules. They learn a new way to look at and analyze legal issues, and about the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of the American legal system." One of Professor Bone's goals in his civil procedure course is to show that American procedure is much more than a set of dry, technical rules. Procedure embodies controversial value choices and can make an important difference to how people fare in the real world. "It's important for foreign lawyers to see how procedure is closely tied to American ideals of justice, fairness and efficiency," he says. "I try to keep the class focused on how these 'big picture' issues affect what's happening on a practical level." Professor Bone is also a leading intellectual property scholar and teacher. His enthusiastic way of wrestling with the complex, cutting-edge issues related to the legal protection of creative activity earned him the prestigious Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991. "It's an extremely important area of the law," he remarks, "and promises to become even more so as information products make up ever larger shares of the world's wealth. Can we protect ideas without stifling future innovation? Is it even possible to own an idea? These are fascinating questions for lawyers throughout the world."  International Business Transactions "The law's struggle to keep pace with an increasingly interdependent global economy," says William W. Park," will bring both opportunities and challenges to not only the next generation of American lawyers, but to lawyers throughout the world." Each year, his International Business Transactions class attracts J.D. and foreign LL.M. students interested in exploring the legal issues encountered by commercial and financial enterprises doing business across national borders.  American Constitutional law and Political and Civil Liberties Professor Pnina Lahav brings a comparative and international perspective to her popular classes in American Constitutional law and Political and Civil Liberties.  Corporate Law BU Law has long been a leader in corporate legal education—particularly in the areas of securities regulation, securitization, corporate finance, antitrust and tax. "Major changes in corporate structures, in domestic and cross-boundary regulations, and in the banking and financial world create a complex business world, nationally and internationally," says Professor Steve Marks, whose popular classes in corporate law draw LL.M.s worldwide. "One of my goals is to give LL.M.s and J.D.s the fundamental knowledge they need to develop the most effective arrangements for their clients—whether through mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, or stock offerings," he says. "A solid understanding of the structure and financial underpinnings of American corporations is essential preparation for handling so many of today's complex international transactions." |