Stephen Sepinuck

Stephen L. Sepinuck Professor ssepinuck@lawschool.gonzaga.edu (509) 313-6379 A.B., Brown University, 1981 J.D. cum laude, Boston University, 1984 LL.M. in Taxation, New York University, 1987

Biographical Information

Professor Sepinuck has an A.B. in history from Brown University, a J.D. cum laude from Boston University, and an LL.M in Taxation from New York University.

In the 1980s, he specialized in creditors' rights and related commercial issues while practicing law in Florida, and in the federal tax aspects of public and private financings while practicing in California. In 1989, he began teaching at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Two years later, he joined the faculty of Gonzaga University School of Law, where he teaches courses on Secured Transactions, Bankruptcy, Sales, Contracts, and Appellate Advocacy.

Prof. Sepinuck has authored articles on a variety of subjects, written six books, and won awards for both his teaching and his scholarship. In the 1990s, he served as an advisor to the Drafting Committee that revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and chaired its Task Force on Deposit Accounts. From 2006-2009 he served as chair of the ABA's UCC Committee. More recently, he was appointed as ABA Advisor to the new Joint Review Committee for Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and a member of the editorial board of The Business Lawyer. He also annually edits the survey of commercial law that appears in The Business Lawyer.

He is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI), the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers (ACCFL), and the California State Bar UCC Committee. He is a former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a current member of the Florida, Massachusetts and California bars, and Scholar in Residence at the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

Teaching Areas

• Secured Transactions
• Bankruptcy
• Sales
• Contracts

Publications

Books

• Sales and Leases: A Problem Solving Approach (Thomson/West 2009) (co-authored)
• Secured Transactions (Thomson/West ExamPro Series 2008)
• Practice Under Article 9 of the UCC (2008 ABA) (editor and contributor)
• Problems and Materials on Bankruptcy (Thomson/West 2007) (co-authored)
• Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions (Thomson/West 2006) (co-authored)
• The Conscience of the Court: Selected Opinions of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. on Freedom and Equality (Southern Ill. Univ. Press 1999) (co-authored)

• Misguided California Court Changes “Consignment” Standard, 25 Clark’s Secured Transactions Monthly 1 (Sep. 2009)
• The Big Deal About the Fine Print: Negotiating and Drafting Contractual Boilerplate, 62 Quarterly Report 848 (2008) (co-authored)
• Vanishing Collateral, 18 Bus. L. Today 29 (Sept./Oct. 2008)
• Spotlight, a column appearing regularly in the joint newsletter of the ABA UCC Committee and the ABA Commercial Finance Committee (December 2006 - present) (co-authored)
• Teaching Statutory Construction Through Reverse Problems and "Why" Problems (pdf), The Law Teacher 4 (Fall 2005)
• Rethinking "Unfair Discrimination" in Chapter 13, 74 Am. Bankr. L.J. 330 (2000)
• Enforcement: How Do You Enforce a Security Interest Under New Article 9?, The New Revised Uniform Commercial Code Article 9, 8A-1 (Wash. St. Bar Assn’ 2000)
• "High Crimes & Misdemeanors: Defining the Constitutional Limits on Presidential Impeachment" (pdf), 72 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1517 (1999) (co-authored)
• Report of the Deposit Accounts Task Force to the Article 9 Drafting Committee (pdf), (September 4, 1997), reprinted in 54 Quarterly Report 203 (2000)
• For Some, Pictures Worth More than Words (pdf), The Law Teacher 3 (Fall, 1995)
• A Defense of Extending Article 9 to Cover Security Interests in Deposit Accounts as Original Collateral (pdf), 1995 Com. L. Ann. 477 (awarded the 1995 Grant Gilmore Award by the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers)
• Report of the Subcommittee on Deposit Accounts, Article 9 Study Project (June 5, 1992)
• Classifying Credit Card Receivables under the U.C.C.: Playing with Instruments? (pdf), 32 Ariz. L. Rev. 789 (1990)
• The Problems with Setoff: A Proposed Legislative Solution, 30 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 51 (1988)
• Hospital Residents and Interns: Inconsistent Treatment Under Federal Law (pdf), 29 St. Louis U.L.J. 665 (1985)

Presentations

• Issues in Secured Financing Arising in Recent Cases, Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (Las Vegas), Nov. 4, 2009
• UCC Issues in Bankruptcy, Washington Bankruptcy Judges Conference (Cle Elum, Washington), September 10, 2009
• What Every Commercial Lawyer Needs to Know About the Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (Vancouver, BC), April 18, 2009
• Issues in Secured Financing, Financial Lawyers Conference (San Diego), March 13, 2009
• 2008 Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 12, 2008
• 2008 Commercial Law Developments, Gonzaga University School of Law (Spokane), December 5, 2008
• Commercial Law Developments, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Los Angeles), October 17, 2008
• Principles of Good Contract Drafting, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Los Angeles), July 24, 2008
• Article 9 Update, Eastern District Bankruptcy Conference (Sun Mountain), June 14, 2008
• Ninth Circuit Update, Eastern Bankruptcy Conference (Sun Mountain), June 14, 2008
• Commercial Law Developments, Stoel Rives (Seattle), December 7, 2007
• Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 6, 2007
• Commercial Law Developments, Gonzaga University School of Law (Spokane), November 30, 2007
• Commercial Law Developments, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Los Angeles), October 6, 2007
• The Basics of Credit Agreements, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Los Angeles), October 5, 2007
• Commercial Law Developments, Business Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association (Seattle) June, 2007
• Negotiating and Drafting Contractual Boilerplate, Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (Washington, D.C.) March, 2007
• The Basics of Secured Transactions, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Los Angeles), December 8, 2006
• Acquisition Finance:  Current Issues Facing Commercial and Bankruptcy Lawyers Representing Lenders and Purchasers, Financial Lawyers Conference (Los Angeles), December 7, 2006
• Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 5, 2006
• Commercial Law Developments, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Atlanta), October 7, 2006
• Generating Excitement in a Large Classroom, Institute of Law School Teaching Summer Conference (Chicago-Kent College of Law), June 2006
• Tapping Student Creativity to Aid in Visual Learning, Institute of Law School Teaching Summer Conference (Chicago-Kent College of Law), June 2006
• Avoiding the Pitfalls of UCC Practice, Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (Tampa), April 6, 2006
• Commercial Law Developments, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Greenwich, CT), October 15, 2005
• The Basics of Secured Transactions, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Greenwich, CT), October 14, 2005

Memberships

• Elected as regent of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers
• Appointed as an ABA Advisor to the Joint Review Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code Article 9

Top of Page