Ed Adams

Edward Adams

  • Howard E. Buhse Professor of Finance and Law
N228 Mondale Hall

Degrees

  • Knox College, B.A.
  • University of Chicago, J.D.
  • University of Minnesota, M.B.A.

Expertise

  • Bankruptcy
  • Business Law
  • Corporations & Business
  • Creditors' Remedies/Secured Transactions

Professor Edward S. Adams is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of accounting, corporate finance, corporate law, entrepreneurship, cannabis law, and commercial law.  Professor Adams served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1997 to 2000. He was honored with the Stanley V. Kinyon Teaching and Counseling Award in 1994 and 1996, and was a co-holder of the Julius E. Davis Chair in Law for 1999-2000.  Following his graduation cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School where he served as Managing Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review, Professor Adams clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and worked in the Chicago and Los Angeles offices of the renowned international law firm of Latham and Watkins, LLP.  

Professor Adams is the author of over forty books or editions of books and dozens of articles on business-related issues which have appeared in such prestigious publications as the University of Chicago Law Review, the California Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the Virginia Law Review and the Vanderbilt Law Review.  As further recognition of Professor Adams’s expertise, Professor Adams has served as a commentator to Bloomberg Law, the BusinessInsider.com, and other prominent entities and has had articles published about him and his work in the New York Times and other leading newspapers.

Professor Adams has written and spoken on various corporate and commercial topics to hundreds of law firms, bar groups and academic conferences, served on numerous private and public company boards of directors, acted as chairperson of the noteholders committee of the largest steel industry bankruptcy reorganization in American history, and served as an expert witness in many prominent matters with respect to varied subjects. 

Like virtually everyone, Professor Adams has faced adversity.  A low income, first-generation college and law student of native origin (Choctaw) whose parents both grew up in extreme poverty, Professor Adams overcame childhood challenges—including a life-altering automobile accident—with the help and devotion of his loving parents.  With a passion for “giving-back” inspired by his family’s example, Professor Adams has co-founded a project to provide free legal services to members of the community in New York, was a founding member of a prominent regional project to provide free legal services to families of servicepersons serving in the Persian Gulf, created a program at the University of Minnesota Law School to introduce disadvantaged high school students to potential career opportunities in the legal field, and served as the class representative for his alma mater to raise the single largest annual celebratory gift from a class in school history: over $25 million. Most recently, Professor Adams has worked to turn injustice (a product of events in Minnesota) into justice by authoring a series of articles and a book to shine light on the challenges individuals and businesses face in the current American criminal justice system.

Business Associations/Corporations


Creditors Remedies/Secured Transactions


Corporate Finance


Cannabis Law & Policy: Past, Present, and Future


Books

Corporate Counselor's Business Handbook (Aspen Publishers, 2010) (Supps. 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Bankruptcy Practice Manual (West, 1998) (Rev. eds. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Federal Securities Laws: Selected Statutes, Rules and Forms (Merrill/Magnus, 1994) (Rev. eds. 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
(with
Leonard J. Long
and
James D. Redwood
)
Corporations and Other Business Associations: Statutes, Rules and Forms (West, 1996) (Rev. eds. 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
(with
Proxy Rules Handbook (Merrill/Magnus, 1995) (Rev. eds. 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
(with
Leonard J. Long
and
James D. Redwood
)
The Investment Company Source Book: Statutes, Regulations & Forms (Merrill/Magnus, 1996) (Rev. eds. 1997, 1998, 2001)
(with
Timothy M. Heaney
)
Modern Commercial Paper: The New Law of Negotiable Instruments (and Related Commercial Paper) (West, 1994)
(with
Steve H. Nickles

Journal Articles

Just Don’t Do It: Why Cannabis Regulations are the Reason Cannabis Businesses are Failing, 24 Nevada Law Journal 349 (2024)
An Empirical Constitutional Crisis: When Magistrate Judges Exercise De Facto Article III Power, 2023 Michigan State Law Review 195 (2023)
(with
Edward R. Adams
and
William C. Price Jr.
)
Dismantling the Parking Ticket to Bad Bankruptcy Pipeline and its Disparate Impacts on the Black Community, 53 Cumberland Law Review 347 (2023)
When Taint Teams Go Awry: Laundering Unconstitutional Violations of the Fourth Amendment, 75 Arkansas Law Review 753 (2023)
(with
William C. Price Jr.
)
The Judicial System's Unjust Relationship with Attorney-Client Privilege: How Judges Knowingly (and Erroneously) Abrogate Important Contractual Arrangements in Corporate Transactions, 11 Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review 201 (2022)
When Cannabis Businesses Fail: Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors as an Alternative to Bankruptcy, 2022 Utah Law Review 967 (2022)
Gender Diversity and Disparity in the Legal Profession: An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Profile in National Law Firms and Law Schools, 63 Buffalo Law Review 1211 (2015)
(with
Samuel P. Engel
)
Does Law School Still Make Economic Sense?: An Empirical Analysis of "Big" Law Firm Partnership Prospects and the Relationship to Law School Attended, 63 Buffalo Law Review 609 (2015)
(with
Samuel P. Engel
)
Lessons from Law Firm Bankruptcies and Proposals for Reform, 55 Santa Clara Law Review 507 (2015)
Rethinking the Law Firm Organizational Form and Capitalization Structure, 78 Missouri Law Review 777 (2013)
Bridging the Gap Between Ownership and Control, 34 Journal of Corporation Law 409 (2009)
Coordinating Cross-Border Bankruptcy: How Territorialism Saves Universalism, 15 Columbia Journal of European Law 43 (2008/2009)
(with
Jason Fincke
)
Contracting Around Finality: Transforming Price v. Neal from Dictate to Default, 89 Minnesota Law Review 163 (2005)
(with
Christopher M. Grengs
)
Corporate Governance after Enron and Global Crossing: Comparative Lessons for Cross-National Improvement, 78 Indiana Law Journal 723 (2003)
Ten Common Mistakes of Entrepreneurs, 1 Minnesota Journal of Business Law and Entrepreneurship 1 (2002)
(with
Bob Kommerstad
)
Using Evaluations To Break Down the Male Corporate Hierarchy: A Full Circle Approach, 73 University of Colorado Law Review 117 (2002)
The Trusteeship of Legal Rulemaking, 30 Hofstra Law Review 483 (2001) (reviewing Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2000)) (review essay)
(with
Richard A. Saliterman
)
A Market-Based Solution to the Judicial Clerkship Selection Process, 59 Maryland Law Review 129 (2000)
A Statutory Model for Corporate Constituency Concerns, 49 Emory Law Journal 1085 (2000)
(with
Farmer Cooperatives and the Federal Securities Laws: The Case For Non-Application, 45 South Dakota Law Review 62 (2000)
(with
Jon K. Lauck
)
Not "If" but "How": Reflecting on the ABA Commission's Recommendations on Multidisciplinary Practice, 84 Minnesota Law Review 1269 (2000)
(with
The Easy Case for Derivatives Use: Advocating a Corporate Fiduciary Duty to Use Derivatives, 41 William & Mary Law Review 595 (2000)
(with
David E. Runkle
)
Beyond the Formalism Debate: Expert Reasoning, Fuzzy Logic, and Complex Statutes, 52 Vanderbilt Law Review 1243 (1999)
(with
Daniel Farber
)
Law Redesigns Law: Legal Principles as Principles of Law Firm Organization, 51 Rutgers Law Review 1133 (1999)
(with
Stuart Albert
)
Spin-Offs, Fiduciary Duty, and the Law, 68 Fordham Law Review 15 (1999)
(with
Arijit Mukherji
)
At the End of Palsgraf, There is Chaos: An Assessment of Proximate Cause in Light of Chaos Theory, 59 University of Pittsburgh Law Review 507 (1998)
(with
Gordon B. Brumwell
and
James A. Glazier
)
Constructing a Jury that Is Both Impartial and Representative: Utilizing Cumulative Voting in Jury Selection, 73 New York University Law Review 703 (1998)
(with
Christian J. Lane
)
In Pursuit of Excellence--A History of the University of Minnesota Law School, Part VII: The Stein Years--A Time of Advancement and Prosperity, 82 Minnesota Law Review 1527 (1998)
Law Firms on the Big Board?: A Proposal for Nonlawyer Investment in Law Firms, 86 California Law Review 1 (1998)
(with
Feudalism Unmodified: Discourses on Farms and Firms, 45 Drake Law Review 361 (1997)
(with
Jim Chen
)
Solving a Profound Flaw in Fraud-on-the-Market Theory: Utilizing a Derivative of Arbitrage Pricing Theory to Measure Rule 10b-5 Damages, 145 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1097 (1997)
(with
David E. Runkle
)
A Privatization Solution to the Legitimacy of Prepetition Waivers of the Automatic Stay, 38 Arizona Law Review 1 (1996)
(with
James L. Baillie
)
A Charitable Corporate Giving Justification for the Socially Responsible Investment of Pension Funds: A Populist Argument for the Public Use of Private Wealth, 80 Iowa Law Review 211 (1995)
(with
Karl D. Knutsen
)
A Revised Filing System: Recommendations and Innovations, 79 Minnesota Law Review 877 (1995)
(with
Steve H. Nickles
,
Susan Sande
and
William R. Shiefelbein
)
Fuzzifying the Natural Law--Legal Positivist Debate, 43 Buffalo Law Review 85 (1995)
(with
Torben Spaak
)
Personal Jurisdiction in the Bankruptcy Context: A Need for Reform, 44 Catholic University Law Review 1081 (1995)
(with
Rachel E. Iverson
)
Amending the Article Nine Filing System to Meet Current Deficiencies, 59 Missouri Law Review 833 (1994)
(with
Steve H. Nickles
)
Pawnbrokers, Police, and Property Rights--A Proposed Constitutional Balance, 48 Arkansas Law Review 793 (1994)
(with
Steve H. Nickles
)
Tracing Proceeds to Attorneys' Pockets (and the Dilemma of Paying for Bankruptcy), 78 Minnesota Law Review 1079 (1994)
(with
Steve H. Nickles
)
Wedding Carlson and Schwartz: Understanding Secured Credit as a Fuzzy System, 80 Virginia Law Review 2233 (1994)
(with
Steve H. Nickles
and
Thomas Harju Ressler
)
Governance in Chapter 11 Reorganizations: Reducing Costs, Improving Results, 73 Boston University Law Review 581 (1993)
Toward a New Conceptualization of the Absolute Priority Rule and Its New Value Exception, 1993 Detroit College of Law Review 1446
Battles in the Hallowed Halls, 55 Albany Law Review 849 (1992) (reviewing Dinesh D'Souza, Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (Free Press, 1991)) (review essay)
Random Drug Testing of Government Employees: A Constitutional Procedure, 54 University of Chicago Law Review 1335 (1987) (comment)

Book Chapters

The Hybrid Identity of Law Firms, in Corporate and Organizational Identities: Integrating Strategy, Marketing, Communication, and Organizational Perspectives (Bertrand Moingeon & Guillaume Soenen, eds., Routledge, 2002)
(with
Stuart Albert
)
Amending the Article Nine Filing System to Meet Current Deficiencies, in Commercial Law Annual 1995 (Clark Boardman Callaghan)

Other Publications

Continuing the Path to Excellence: University of Minnesota Law School Dean Alex M. Johnson, Jr., 91 Minnesota Law Review 10 (2006)
Dean E. Thomas Sullivan: Building a Stronger Foundation, 88 Minnesota Law Review 1 (2003)
Foreword, 79 Minnesota Law Review 519 (Symposium: Managing the Paper Trail: Evaluating and Reforming the Article 9 Filing System) (1995)