Professional Identity in Context: The Transactional Business Lawyer as Counselor and Leader

A lawyer’s professional identity development is a continuous journey of self-leadership in their lawyering role. The self-leadership may be unplanned, or it may be purposeful. Regardless, the journey is real. And I have come to believe it is important to the individual and the profession.

I identify, in my legal professional space, as a transactional business lawyer. For fifteen years before becoming a law professor, I practiced law full-time in a private firm, principally working on matters involving the legal aspects of business finance and governance in transactional, advisory, and compliance contexts. Most of my full-time law practice involved corporate and securities law, although I did work with unincorporated entities and engage with other areas of law as needed. My pro bono work spanned a wider range, including landlord-tenant and immigration asylum law matters.

As a law professor, I teach legal doctrine from a transactional perspective as well as courses focusing on transactional business law and skills and lawyer leadership. I also continue to engage in law practice in transactional and other contexts on a limited basis and occasionally serve as an expert witness on business law matters.