Center Faculty
Faculty members of the Business and Transactional Law Center bring diverse and sophisticated backgrounds to the Center. The combined experience of the faculty make the educational experience of Center students rich, rigorous, and rewarding. Students learn from former government attorneys, big-firm practitioners, investment bankers, in-house counsel, and non-profit executives. The faculty includes MBAs, a CPA, active members of state and national bar associations, leading scholars, and graduates of the country's top educational institutions, all of whom are well-respected teachers.
Amy Deen Westbrook
Director, Business and Transactional Law Center & Associate Professor of Law
Professor Westbrook's teaching and research focus on international, financial and transactional subjects. Her current work focuses on whether U.S. securities laws require disclosure of companies' operations in countries that sponsor terrorism. She also continues her long-standing work on legal education for transactional practice. In her previous position at the University of Buffalo Law School, Professor Westbrook was the Director of the University of Buffalo New York City Program in International Finance and Law.
Ronald C. Griffin
Professor of Law
Professor Griffin's broad range of skills, knowledge, and experience bring a unique perspective to the Center. Professor Griffin is a scholar and consultant in the specialized fields of international trade and sales. He has also written extensively on topics related to race and the law. He teaches Contracts, Secured Transactions, and Debtor-Creditor Relations to students pursuing business and transactional law careers.
Janet Thompson Jackson
Director, Small Business and Transactional Law Clinic &
Professor of Law
In addition to directing the Small Business and Transactional Law Clinic and teaching, Professor Jackson chairs the Community Economic Development Committee of the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. She has practiced law with law firms in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was Executive Director of a non-profit organization that provides housing and employment services to homeless and low-income families.
L. Ali Khan
Professor of Law
Professor Khan attended law school and practiced law in Pakistan before pursuing advanced legal studies at New York University. His broad international experience and legal expertise bring a unique and sophisticated international perspective to the Center. In addition to teaching International Law and International Business Transactions, Professor Khan also teaches Payment Systems and Secured Transactions, all of which have a significant impact on business transactions. He writes extensively on topics of international significance and is often asked to speak on those topics.
David E. Pierce
Professor of Law
Professor Pierce's career as a lawyer and teacher exemplifies that of the accomplished transactional lawyer. Whether pursuing his specialty of Oil and Gas Law or the more generic areas of Contracts and Property, his students learn their role in planning, structuring, documenting, and implementing transactions that will accomplish client goals. Professor Pierce comes from a diverse legal background having been a solo practitioner, city attorney, in-house corporate counsel, and a lawyer with large and small law firms.
Adjunct Faculty
S. Lucky DeFries, Coffman, DeFries & Nothern, A.P.A.
State and Local Taxation
Joe E. McKinney, Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer
Law & Accounting, Taxation of Corporations
Keenan M. Post, Schlagel, Damore & Gordon, LLC
Taxation of Estates and Gifts
Benoit M.J. Swinnen, Schroer Rice
International Business Tranactions
Roger N. Walter, Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy Chtd.
Securities Regulation
