Penn State Professor Authors Two Forthcoming Books

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA-Two forthcoming books written by John W. Bagby, professor of business law in Penn State's Smeal College of Business, will provide an understanding of the major legal issues confronting cyberspace and e-commerce.

Bagby authored "e-Commerce Law: Issues for Business," which integrates traditional law with the emerging law of cyberspace to provide a perspective to help readers see how and why business decision-makers may seek legal assistance before their transactions become irrevocably fixed or their costly actions become irreversible.

"I used court decisions, federal and state statutes, administrative rulings, the legal literature, and ethical issues relating to Internet Law to demonstrate how e-commerce and the law relate to one another," says Bagby. The book, published by West Publishing Company, is available July 31, 2002.

In addition, Bagby co-authored the forthcoming, "The Legal and Regulatory Environment of e-Business: Law for the Converging Economy," with F. William McCarty of Western Michigan University. The book integrates both e-commerce and traditional legal environment issues, serving as a bridge between the two by covering the legal environment of business and its extension into e-commerce.

"A major focus is on how existing laws will accommodate the transition and on what issues new perspectives are needed from legislation, regulation, private law, and judicial interpretation," explains Bagby. The book, also published by West Publishing Company, is available on July 15, 2002.

A noted researchers and scholar, Bagby has published articles in Harvard Business Review, American Business Law Journal, the Business Lawyer, Georgia Law Review, New England Law Review, Journal of Product Liability, The Transportation Journal, The CPA Journal, Securities Regulation Law Journal, Accounting Horizons, ITS Quarterly, the Business Lawyer, Business Law Today and the Virginia Environmental Law Journal among others. He has published numerous books or parts of books including Irwin's Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business (Third Edition, IRWIN/MCGRAW-HILL), Legal Aspects of the Management Process (Fourth Edition WEST), and the forthcoming West's Cyberlaw . He served as editor of a "Cyberlaw" issue for The American Business Law Journal (ABLJ), the top scholarly journal of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB).

Bagby's areas of expertise include cyberlaw, liability risk management, securities regulations, regulatory process and policy, and business organizations. He has completed funded research projects in liability risk management and technology transfer for numerous sponsors including the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Transportation Research Board and the Applied Research Lab. He is a Research Associate at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) and a Faculty Associate of the eBusiness Research Center (eBRC).

He teaches various business law courses to undergraduates and MBA students including regulatory process, business organizations, securities regulation, and intellectual property. He has also chaired thesis committees for Ph.D. and university scholars in the Schreyer Honors College. He has taught in executive education and continuing legal education seminars.

Bagby has served as reviewer and staff editor for numerous journals including the American Business Law Journal . He is past president and has served as program chair and secretary of the Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business and in the House of Delegates of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. His practice experience includes clerkships for a multi-national oil company and with a Wall Street law firm in matters of securities regulation, energy regulation and commercial law.