ROBERT BLAKEY THOMPSON
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC 20001
Employment
2010-Present Peter P. Weidenbruch Jr. Professor of Business Law, Georgetown
University Law Center
2009-2010
Ralph V. Whitworth Distinguished Visiting Professor in Business Law,
Georgetown University Law Center
2000-2010
Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN
2000-2010
New York Alumni Chancellor’s Chair in Law
2005-2010
Professor of Management, Owen Graduate School of
Management
2003-2004
FedEx Research Professor
Spring, 2008 Visiting Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
1979-2000
Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO
1993 - 2000 George Alexander Madill Professor of Law
1999 - 2000 Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
1993 - 1994 Interim Co-Director, Business Law & Economics Center,
John M. Olin School of Business
1984 - 1993 Professor of Law
1990 - 1991 Israel Treiman Faculty Fellow
1979 - 1984 Associate Professor of Law
2000, 2002, 2004 & 2010 University of Sydney Law School (short course
on International Merges and Acquisitions)
Fall, 1992
Visiting Professor of Law, Northwestern University
1974-1979
(summer 1973)
Associate, Jones, Bird & Howell
Atlanta, Georgia (Now Alston & Bird)
Teaching Fields
Corporations, Securities Regulation, Corporate Takeovers, Corporate Finance,
Limited Liability, Equity Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions
Robert Blakey Thompson - 2
Education
University of Virginia, J.D., 1974 (Order of the Coif) (Member, Virginia Law
Review)
Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1971 (Phi Beta Kappa)
Publications
Books
Corporations and Other Business Associations, Cases and Materials, Aspen
Publishers, 6th Edition (2010) (with Teacher’s Manual) (with C.R.T. O’Kelley)
Mergers and Acquisitions: Law and Finance, Aspen Publishers (2010)
Corporations and Other Business Associations, Selected Statutes, Rules, and
Forms, Wolters Kluwer (2012) (with C.R.T. O’Kelley)
O’Neal and Thompson’s Close Corporations and LLCs: Law & Practice, (Revised
3d Edition) (Thomson/West 2004 with revised chapters and annual supplements);
(3d ed. 1986-2003 with F. Hodge O’Neal through 1991)
O’Neal and Thompson’s Oppression of Minority Shareholders and LLC
Members, (Revised 2d Edition) (Thomson/West 2004 with revised chapters and
annual supplements); (2d edition 1985-2003 with F. Hodge O’Neal through 1991)
Chapters in Books
“Empirical Studies of Representative Litigation” in Research Handbook on the
Economics of Corporate Law (Claire A. Hill & Brett H. McDonnell, editors)
(Edward Elgar 2012) (with Randall S. Thomas)
“Restructuring Policy: Carrots, Sticks, and the Sometimes Need of Government
to Provide Bailouts” in Restructuring Companies in Troubled Times: Director and
Creditor Perspectives (R.P. Austin & F. Aoun, editors) (Ross Parsons Centre,
Sydney 2012)
“The Story of Meinhard v. Salmon: Fiduciary Duty’s Punctilio” in Corporate Law
Stories (J. Mark Ramseyer, Ed) (Foundation Press 2009)
“Mapping Judicial Review: Sinclair v. Levien” in Iconic Cases in Corporate Law,
(Jonathan Macey Ed.) (Thomson/West 2008)
“The Private Company and Our Two Corporate Laws” and “Close Corporations
in the United States of America” in The European Private Company? (H. de
Kluiver & W. Van Gerven, editors) (Maklu 1995)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 3
“Tender Offer Regulation and the Federalization of State Corporate Law” in
Public Policy Toward Takeovers (M. Weidenbaum & K. Chilton, Eds.)
(Transaction Books 1988)
“Accounting in a Global Market and in an Electronic Age,” in Festschrift for
Bernhard Grossfeld, (Verlag Recht und Wirtschaft, 1999)
Works in Progress
Redrawing the Public-Private Boundaries in Entrepreneurial Capital-Raising
(with Donald C. Langevoort) forthcoming Cornell L. Rev. (2013)
The Shareholder Role in Corporate Governance
Articles
“Publicness” in Contemporary Securities Regulation After the JOBS Act (with
Donald C. Langevoort), 101 Georgetown U. L. J. 337-386 (2013)
A Theory of Representative Suits and Its Application to Multijurisdictional
Litigation (with Randall S. Thomas), 106 Northwestern U. L. Rev.1753-1819
(2012)
Shareholder Litigation in Mergers and Acquisitions (with C.N.V. Krishnan,
Ronald W. Masulis & Randall S. Thomas) 18 J. Corp. Finance 1248-1268 (2012)
Market Makers and Vampire Squid: Regulating Securities Markets after the
Financial Meltdown, 89 Washington U. L. Review 323-375 (2011)
Allocating the Roles for Contracts and Judges in the Closely Held Firm, 33 West.
N. Eng. L. Rev. 369-403 (2011) (Symposium on Fiduciary Duties in the Closely
Held Business)
The Case for Iterative Statutory Reform: Appraisal and the Model Business
Corporation Act, 74 L. & Contemp. Prob. 253-269 (2011)
The Short, But Interesting Life of Good Faith as an Independent Liability Rule,
55 N.Y.L.Sch. L. Rev. 543-559 (2010/11)
The Future of Agency Independence (with Lisa Schultz Bressman) 63 Vand. L.
Rev. 599-672 (2010)
The SEC after the Financial Meltdown: Social Control over Finance? 71 U. Pitt.
L. Rev. 567-583 (2010)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 4
Securities Law and the New Deal Justices (with Adam C. Pritchard) 95 Va. L.
Rev. 841-926 (2009).
Corporate Voting (with Paul Edelman) 62 Vand. L. Rev. 129-175 (2009).
Delaware’s Disclosure: Moving the Line of Federal-State Corporate Regulation
2009 U. Illinois. L. Rev.167-190.
Defining the Shareholder’s Role, Defining a Role for State Law, 33 Del. J. Corp.
L. 771-788 (2008)
Globally Integrated Corporations as “Good for the Country”: The Impact of Soft
Law. 10 Soft Law J. 33-56 (2007) (translated to Japanese).
The Dilemma of Odious Debts (with Lee C. Buchheit and G. Mitu Gulati), 56
Duke L. J. 1201-1262 (2007).
Corporate Federalism in the Administrative State: The SEC’s Discretion to Move
the Line Between the State and Federal Realms of Corporate Governance 82
Notre Dame L. Rev. 1143-1186 (2007).
Securities Litigation and Its Lawyers: Changes during the First Decade after the
PSLRA, (with Stephen J. Choi) 106 Colum. L. Rev. 1489-1533 (2006)
Federal Corporate Law: Torts and Fiduciary Duty, 31 J. Corp. L. 877-891 (2006)
Wall Street Scandals: The Curative Effects of Finance and Law (with William G.
Christie), 84 Washington U. L. Rev. 1567-1590 (2006)
Corporate Law Criteria: Law’s Relation to Private Ordering, 2 Berkeley Bus. L. J.
(2005) 95-104
Piercing the Veil: Is the Common Law the Problem? 37 Conn. L. Rev. 619-637
(2005)
The Public and Private Faces of Derivative Suits, 57 Vand. L. Rev. 1747-1793
(2004) (with Randall S. Thomas)
The Supreme Court and Private Law: The Vanishing Importance of Securities and
Antitrust, 53 Emory L. J. 1571-1644 (2004) (with E. Thomas Sullivan)
Delaware, the Feds and the Stock Exchange: Challenges to the First State as First
in Corporate Law, 29 Del. J. Corp. L. 779-804 (2004)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 5
The New Look of Shareholder Litigation: Acquisition-Oriented Class Actions, 57
Vand. L. Rev. 133-209 (2004) (with Randall S. Thomas)
Agency Law and Asset Partitioning, 71 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1321-1343 (2003)
Collaborative Corporate Governance: Listing Standards, State Law, and Federal
Regulation, 38 Wake Forest L. Rev. 961-982 (2003)
Securities Fraud as Corporate Governance: Reflections upon Federalism, 56
Vand. L. Rev. 857-908 (2003) (with Hillary A. Sale)
Corporate Governance After Enron, 40 Houston L. Rev. 99-117 (2003)
Takeover Regulation after the Convergence of Corporate Law, 24 Sydney L. Rev.
323-335 (2002)
Van Gorkom's Legacy: The Limits of Judicially Enforced Constraints and the
Promise of Proprietary Incentives, (with Charles Elson), 96 Northwestern L. Rev.
579-593 (2002)
Toward a New Theory of the Shareholder Role: Sacred Space and Corporate
Takeovers, (with D. Gordon Smith) 80 Tex. L. Rev. 261- 326 (2001)
Credibility and Information in Securities Markets After Regulation FD, (with
Ronald King), 79 Wash U. L.Q. 615-637 (2001)
Teaching Business Associations: Norms, Economics and Cognitive Learning, 34
Ga. L. Rev. 997-1009 (2000)
Preemption and Federalism in Corporate Governance: Protecting Shareholder
Rights to Vote, Sell and Sue, 62 L & Contemp. Prob. 215-242 (1999)
Insider Trading, Investor Harm, and Executive Compensation, 50 Case West. R.
L. Rev. 291-304 (1999)
Shareholders as Grown-ups: Voting, Selling and Limits on the Board’s Power to
Just ‘Say No,’ 67 U. Cin. L. Rev., 999-1020 (1999)
Piercing the Veil Within Corporate Groups: Corporate Shareholders as Mere
Investors, 13 Conn. J. Int’l. L. 379-396 (1999)
The Basic Business Associations Course: An Empirical Study of Methods and
Content, 48 Journal of Legal Education 438-448 (1998)
Securities Regulation in an Electronic Age: The Impact of Cognitive Psychology,
75 Wash. U. L.Q. 779-789 (1997)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 6
The Limits of Liability in the New Limited Liability Entities, 32 Wake Forest L.
Rev. 1-29 (1997)
“Simplicity and Certainty” in the Measure of Recovery Under Rule 10b-5, 51
Business Lawyer 1177-1201 (1996)
Exit, Liquidity and Majority Rule: Appraisal’s Role in Corporate Law, 84
Georgetown L.J. 1-60 (1995)
The Taming of Limited Liability Companies, 66 U. Colo. L. Rev. 921-946 (1995)
Value Creation by Lawyers Within Relational Contracts and in Noisy
Environments, 74 Oregon L. Rev. 315-325 (1995)
Unpacking Limited Liability: Direct and Vicarious Liability of Corporate
Participants for Torts of the Enterprise, 47 Vand. L. Rev. 1-41 (1994)
The Shareholder’s Cause of Action for Oppression, 48 Business Lawyer 699-745
(1993)
Foreword--Evolving Business Associations: Understanding the Role of Law, 70
Wash. U. L.Q. 265-75 (1992) (Foreword to the F. Hodge O’Neal Conference on
Corporate Law & Finance)
“Piercing the Corporate Veil: An Empirical Study,” 76 Cornell L. Rev. 1036-1074
(1991)
“The Law’s Limits on Contracts in a Corporation,” 15 J. Corp. L. 377-415 (1990).
Reprinted in 33 Corporate Practice Commentator 1 (1991)
“Corporate Dissolution and Shareholders’ Reasonable Expectations,” 66 Wash.
U. L.Q. 193-238 (1988)
“Defining the Federal and State Realms of Tender Offer Regulation,” 64 Wash.
U. L.Q. 1059-1102 (1987)
“Squeeze-Out Mergers and the ‘New’ Appraisal Remedy,” 62 Wash. U. L.Q. 415434 (1984). Reprinted in 27 Corporate Practice Commentator 193 (1985)
“The Measure of Recovery Under Rule 10b-5: A Restitution Alternative to Tort
Damages,” 37 Vand. L. Rev. 349-398 (1984). Reprinted in Securities Law
Review 1985, 213-262. Cited by the majority and dissenting opinions in Randall
v. Loftsgaarden, 478 U.S. 647 (1986)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 7
“United States Jurisdiction Over Foreign Subsidiaries: Corporate and
International Law Aspects,” 15 Law & Pol’y Int’l Bus. 319-400 (1983). Reprinted
in Corporate Counsel’s Annual - 1984, 1005-1081
“The Shrinking Definition of a Security: Why Purchasing All of a Company’s
Stock is not a Federal Security Transaction,” 57 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 225-279 (1982).
Reprinted in Corporate Counsel’s Annual - 1983, 317-373
Videotape
“Resolution of Conflict within Closely Held Corporations,” ALI-ABA, CLE TV
(1994) (panel moderator)
Professional Activities & Honors
Editor, Corporate Practice Commentator - 1991-present
Member, The American Law Institute (from 1986)
Adviser, Restatement of the Law (Third), Agency, American Law Institute
Member, American Law & Economics Association.
Chair, Section on Business Associations, Association of American Law Schools
1985-86; member of Executive Committee of the Section, 1989-91; 2003-2006
Chair, Section on Securities Regulation. Association of American Law Schools
2003-2004; member of Executive Committee of the Section 2003-2005
Editor, the Red Herring, newsletter of the Section on Business Associations of the
Association of American Law Schools 1981-84
Member, Committee on Corporate Laws, American Bar Association Section on
Business Law, 2011-present
Editorial Board, The Business Lawyer 1995-96
Member, Executive Committee, Order of the Coif (2007-2012)
SEC Historical Society, Museum Committee (2004-2011)
Teacher of the Year, 1994 and 1983 - selected by the Devil’s Advocate and the
Student Bar Association
Robert Blakey Thompson - 8
Co-principal investigator Sloan Foundation Grant 2006-2009
Participant L & EC Economics Institute for Law Professors, Hanover, New
Hampshire, July, 1985, and Advanced Economics Course for Law Professors on
Quantitative Methods, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 1990
Research Associate, Center for the Study of American Business, Washington
University, 1985-89
Research Fellow, Business Law & Economics Center, Washington University
School of Business, 1994-97
Testimony:
U. S. House of Representatives, Joint Hearing of the Subcommittee on
Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the Committee
on Financial Services and the Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services
and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs of the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, “The JOBS Act: Importance of
Prompt Implementation for Entrepreneurs, Capital Formation, and Job
Creation” September 13, 2012
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, Subcommittee
on Finance and Hazardous Materials, Hearings on H.R. 887, Increasing
Disclosure to Benefit Investors, October 29, 1999
North Carolina House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on
Proposed Revision to the North Carolina Corporations Code, April 1989
Special Committee on Governance of the New York Stock Exchange,
August 5, 2003
Invited Presentations-Academic Conferences:
Cornell Law School, Symposium on Law, Innovation, and
Entrepreneurship, New York City, February, 2013 (Public-Private
Boundaries)
9th NYU/Penn Conference on Law & Finance, New York City, February,
2013 (Commentator)
Association of American Law Schools Hot Topics Program on the JOBS
Act, New Orleans, January 2013
Robert Blakey Thompson - 9
University of Delaware Annual Corporate Law Conference, November
2012 (commentator)
Association of American Law Schools, Section on Securities Regulation,
January 2012
Institute of Law & Economics, University of Pennsylvania Law School,
December 2011 (Publicness in Contemporary Securities Regulation)
21St Century Commercial Law Forum, Eleventh International Symposium,
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, November 12-13, 2011 (Corporate
Law after the Financial Crisis)
University of Delaware Annual Corporate Law Conference, November,
2011 (Litigation in Mergers and Acquisitions)
Fiduciary Duties in the Closely Held Firm 35 Years After Wilkes v.
Springside Nursing Home, Western New England College Law &
Business Center, October 2010
The Delaware Fiduciary Duty of Good Faith after Disney: Meaningful or
Mickey Mouse? New York Law School, November 2009
The Past, Present, and Future of the Securities and Exchange Commission,
University of Pittsburgh School of Law, October 2009
Association of American Law Schools Conference on Business
Associations, Long Beach, CA, June 7-10, 2009 (Plenary Session on the
Role of the Basic Course).
Leet Symposium, Case Western Reserve Law School, April 2009
(Financial Reform and the SEC).
Mergers and Acquisitions Conference at Willemstad Curacao (sponsored
by the University of Amsterdam Centre for Corporate Finance and
Vanderbilt Law & Business Program), March 2009.
The Future of Fiduciary Duty in Corporate Law, Notre Dame Law School,
March 2009 (Fiduciary Duty’s Punctilio).
Vanderbilt Law and Business Conference on Financial Reform (March
2009) (Financial Reform and the SEC).
The Vanderbilt Law & Business Annual Conference October 30-31, 2008
(commentator).
Virginia Law Review Conference on the 75th anniversary of the SEC,
September 2008 (Securities Law and the New Deal Justices)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 10
Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Cornell Law School, September
2008 (Discussant)
The Delaware General Corporation Law for the 21st Century, Widener
University School of Law, May 2008 (Defining the Shareholder Role)
Shareholder Rights, Shareholder Voting and Corporate Performance, at
the University of Cagliari, Sardinia March 2008 (cosponsored by the
University of Amsterdam Centre for Corporate Finance and Vanderbilt
Law & Business Program (Corporate Voting)
University of Illinois College of Law, Dedication Program for Center for
Business Law and Policy (October 2007) (Delaware’s Disclosure)
University of Tokyo Symposium on Soft Law (July 2007)
Institute for Law and Economic Policy, 13th Annual Conference (April
2007) (Fiduciary duty- commentator)
Activist Investors, Hedge Funds and Corporate Governance at the
University of Amsterdam (March 2007) and the Vanderbilt Law and
Business Conference (October 2006) (The Limits of Shareholder
Activism)
Law & Contemporary Problems Conference on Odious Debt, Duke
University (January, 2007) (Odious Debt)
Institute for Law and Economic Policy, 12th Annual Conference (May
2006) (Securities Litigation and Its Lawyers)
F. Hodge O’Neal Workshop on “Regulating Business” Washington
University School of Law (April 2006) (Wall Street Scandals)
Vanderbilt Law and Business Conference (Match 2006) (Odious Debt)
Murphy Conference on Corporate Law, Fordham University School of
Law “Responding to Corporate Misconduct: New Ideas” (commentator)
November 4, 2005
Washington University School of Law Center for Interdisciplinary
Studies, The New Corporate Governance, September 28-October 1, 2005
(commentator)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 11
University of Iowa College of Law, Robert Clark’s Corporate Law:
Twenty Years of Change, September 10-11, 2005 (Federal Corporate
Law: Tort and Fiduciary Duty)
Institute for Law and Economic Policy, 10th Annual Conference April 2324 (2004) (Derivative Suits)
American Law and Economics Association Annual Meeting, September
2003 (“Shareholder Suits”) and May 1991 (“Limited Liability”)
Institute of Law & Economics Roundtable, University of Pennsylvania,
April 2003 & April, 1999 (Commentator)
Financial Markets Research Center, Owen Graduate School of
Management, Conference on Corporate Behavior and Financial Markets,
April 2003 (Commentator)
Wake Forest Law Review Symposium: April 2003- The Changing Role of
Directors in Corporate Governance; April 1997-The Revolution of the
Limited Liability Entity
Vanderbilt Law and Business Conference- March 2003 (“Shareholder
Suits”) and October 2003 (“Who Makes Corporate Law”)
University of Cincinnati College of Law Corporate Law Symposium: 16th
Annual Symposium February 2003- Agency Law Inside the Corporation;
12th Annual Symposium March 1999- Developments in the Law of
Business Organizations
The Crisis in Corporate Governance, University of Houston, November 7,
2002, Commentary as part of the Frankel Lecture
Entity Rationalization, first annual symposium of The Business Lawyer,
University of Maryland School of Law, November 1, 2002 (panel
moderator and commentator)
Van Gorkom and the Corporate Board; University of Delaware Center for
Corporate Governance May 18-19, 2001.
Judging Business: The Role of Judicial Decisionmaking in Corporate and
Securities Law, University of Michigan Law School, John M. Olin Center
for Law and Business, April 20-21, 2001
Institute for Law and Economic Policy and Washington University School
of Law Conference on Corporate Accountability, March 9 & 10, 2001
Robert Blakey Thompson - 12
Daniel J. Dykstra Corporate Governance Symposium, University of
California Davis, King Hall School of Law February 9, 2001
(Commentator)
Law & Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Lewis & Clark Law
School, October, 2000
Teaching Corporate Law, University of Georgia Law School, October
1999
The Legacy of Henry Manne, Williamsburg, VA, May 1999
Association of American Law Schools Workshop on Business
Associations, Washington, DC, May 1998
Control in Corporate Groups: A Global View, University of Connecticut
School of Law, April 1998
The Impact of Cybercommunications on the Law, Columbia Institute for
Tele-Information, Columbia Business School, December 1997
The European Private Company, Metro Institute for Transnational Legal
Research, Rijksuniversiteit Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands, April
1995 (Keynote Address)
Auditor and Director & Officer Liability for Misstated Financial
Statements (Keynote Address) John M. Olin School of Business,
Washington University, April 28-29, 1995
LLCs, LLPs and the Evolving Corporate Form, University of Colorado
School of Law, February 1995
Business Lawyering and Value Creation for Clients, University of Oregon
School of Law, November 4-5, 1994
Association of American Law Schools, Section on Business Law, January
1994
Corporate Takeovers, Washington University Center for the Study of
American Business, Law School and Business School, November 1986
Law Schools and Business Schools:
Vanderbilt University Law School, September 2012 (Publicness)
Robert Blakey Thompson - 13
University of Richmond School of Law, September, 2012 (Representative
Suits)
New York University Law School Colloquium, February 2010
Georgetown University Law Center, Faculty Workshop September 2009
Florida State University Law School Faculty Workshop February 26,
2009.
Emory University School of Law, October 2008
University of Illinois College of Law Colloquium, September 2008
University of Iowa College of Law Colloquium September 2008
University of Connecticut School of Law February 2008
NYU School of Law February 2008
Columbia University School of Law Colloquium, January 2008
Fordham University School of Law Colloquium January 2008
University of California, Berkeley Law School, Law & Economics
Workshop October 2006
UCLA School of Law Sloan Colloquium, March 2006
Seton Hall School of Law, March 2006
University of Pennsylvania Law School, November 2005
Monash University Law School, Melbourne Australia February 2004
University of Sydney School of Law, Sydney, Australia, February 2004,
February 2000 and February, 1998 (Parsons Fellow)
Washington University Workshop on Empirical Research in Law (WERL)
February 2, 2004
University of California, Berkeley Law School, Law & Economics
Workshop January 26, 2004
Francis G. Pileggi Distinguished Lecture in Law, Widener University
School of Law, November 14, 2003
Robert Blakey Thompson - 14
NYU/Columbia Joint Colloquium on Theory in Law & Finance, NYU
Law School December 9, 2002.
University of Sydney Law School Takeovers Forum, February 28, 2002
(keynote address).
University of Kentucky College of Law, November, 2000
University of Michigan Business School Seminar Series on Corporate
Governance, February 1997
University of Oregon School of Law, March 1992
Northwestern University School of Law, October 1991
Journal of Corporation Law Annual Dinner, Iowa City, IA, March 1990
University of Missouri School of Law, Faculty Seminar, February 1989
Bar Associations, Courts, and Institutes:
Twelfth Annual WTO Conference, British Institute of International and
Comparative Law, London, May 2012, Financial Regulation
Eleventh Annual WTO Conference, British Institute of International and
Comparative Law, London, May 25-26, 2011, After the Financial Crisis
The Supreme Court of New South Wales Annual Corporate Law
Conference, Sydney, August 24, 2010, Bankruptcies or Bailouts Given
Financial Reform
American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) Teleconference on
Stoneridge March 2008
International Bar Association, Rethinking Policy and Market
Liberalisation, Houston, November 14, 2002 (chairing session on
Corporate Governance)
Minnesota Institute of Legal Education, April, 1999
American Bar Association Section of Business Law, Federal Regulation of
Securities Committee, Luncheon Speaker, Spring Meeting, St. Louis,
April, 1998
9th Tulane Corporate Law Institute, New Orleans, March 1997
Robert Blakey Thompson - 15
Kansas Bar Association, June 1994
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Securities Regulation and Business Organization Committee
(Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: An Update
(November 1997)
Small Business Committee, February 1993 (Limited Liability)
Small Business Committee, March 1989
Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestiture Series March 1983
Corporate Counsel Institute, St. Louis, Missouri
10th Annual Institute, March 1991 (Panel on Legal Ethics)
7th Annual Institute, February 1988
Fourth Annual Corporate and Banking Institute, October 1985, Sea Island,
Georgia
General Organizations:
Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention, Washington DC,
November 2012, Panel on the JOBS Act
Council of Institutional Investors, Spring 2012 Meeting, April 2012, Panel
on Capital Formation
SEC Historical Society 75th Anniversary Celebration June 2009 Panel on
“The Future of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission”
National Trust Closely Held Business Association
30th Annual Workshop September, 2005
20th Annual Workshop October 1995
12th Annual Workshop, October 1987
Chicago Business Valuation Association, October 1991
American Society of Appraisers International Convention (Business
Valuation Conference), June 1989
Robert Blakey Thompson - 16
Conference Organizer:
Vanderbilt Directors College, June 9-10, 2003, September 23-24, 2004
and October 6-7, 2005
Vanderbilt Law and Business Conference
Sloan Conference on Corporate Separateness (November 2009)
Corporate Separateness (March 2006)
Who Makes Corporate Law (October 2003)
Markets and Information Gathering: Securities Regulation in an Electronic
Age, March 1997
The F. Hodge O’Neal Conference on Corporate Law & Finance,
November 1991
Bar Membership
Georgia, admitted 1974 (inactive)
Missouri, admitted 1983
U.S Supreme Court, admitted 2013
Law School and University Activities
At Georgetown University
Curriculum Committee 2010-11
Appointments Committee (entry level) 2012-13
At Vanderbilt University:
Chair, University Faculty Senate 2004-2005; Senator 2002-2005; Executive
Committee 2003-2006
Appointments Committee 2000-2003, 2004-2006, 2007-2008; Chair 2001-2002;
2005-2006 (Lateral Committee)
Curriculum Subcommittee on Law and Business Program 2000-2001
University Alumni Task Force 2002
University Academic Committee on Information Technology 2001-2
At Washington University
Chair, University Senate Council 1986-87 (Chair of the Grievance Committee
and Faculty Representative to the University Board of Trustees)
Law School Representative to the University’s Senate Council
1984-1987
University Judicial Board (alternate) 1983-84
Robert Blakey Thompson - 17
Search Committee for Director of the Center for the Study of American Business,
1999-2000
Personnel Committee - 1980-92, 1994-96, 1997-98; Chair - 1987-89, 1994-96
Dean Search Committee - 1984-87
Provost Search Committee - 1985-86
Readmissions Committee - 1982-84; Chair, 1983
Building Committee - 1989-91, 1992-97
Long-Range Planning Committee - 1988-90, 1992-97
Law School Self-Study Task Force for Faculty Issues - Chair 1997-98
Marketing Committee – 1998-99
Curriculum Committee – Chair – 1998-1999