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.

David E. Pierce
Director, Business and Transactional Law Center & 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. He is the faculty advisor for the Business and Transactional Law Certificate.

Bradley T. Borden
Associate Professor of Law

Professor Borden specializes in federal income tax, focusing on partnership, corporate, and real estate taxation. He is nationally known for the work he has done on tax-free exchanges and other areas of taxation. In private practice with the San Antonio law firm of Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison & Tate, Inc., he represented a broad range of property and business owners. He serves actively on committees in the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. He also holds an MBA and is a certified public accountant. He is the faculty advisor for the Tax Law Certificate and the Estate Planning Certificate.

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 &
Associate 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.

James B. Wadley
Professor of Law

Several of Professor Wadley's areas of interest and expertise benefit students interested in a career in business or transactional law. He teaches Agricultural Law, Water Rights, Entertainment Law, and Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights. He has written extensively on agricultural law, zoning, and land use law.

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