::Sepinuck, Stephen

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, Appellate Advocacy, and Constitutional Law.

Professor Sepinuck has authored articles on a variety of subjects, written two books, and has won awards for both his teaching and his scholarship. He served as an advisor to the Drafting Committee that revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, chaired its Task Force on Deposit Accounts, annually edits the survey of commercial law that appears in The Business Lawyer, and serves as Chair of the ABA's UCC Committee.

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

Teaching Areas

• Secured Transactions
• Bankruptcy
• Sales
• Contracts
• Constitutional Law

Publications

• Published Chair's Column and a Spotlight column (co-authored) in the joint newsletter of the ABA UCCC Committee and the ABA Commercial Finance Committee. (March, 2008)
• Edited the book Practice Under Article 9 of the UCC, published by the Business Law Section of the ABA. Also authored 9 of the 16 charts and articles, March 2008.
• Edited the Sales portion of the Annual Survey of Commercial Law, The Business Lawyer, August 2008.
• Spotlight column appeared in the joint newsletter of the UCC and Commercial Finance Committees of the ABA. (December, 2007)
• Problems and Materials on Bankruptcy (Thomson/West 2007) (co-authored)
• Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions (West 2006) (co-authored)
  Book Web page
• The Conscience of the Court: Selected Opinions of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. on Freedom and Equality (Southern Ill. Univ. Press 1999) (co-authored)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 61 Bus. Law. (2006) (co-authored)
• Teaching Statutory Construction Through Reverse Problems and "Why" Problems, The Law Teacher 4 (Fall 2005)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 60 Bus. Law. 1635  (2005) (co-authored)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 59 Bus. Law. 1553 (2004) (co-authored)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 58 Bus. Law. 1541 (2003) (co-authored)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 57 Bus. Law. 1667 (2002) (co-authored)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 56 Bus. Law. 1743 (2001) (co-authored)
• Rethinking "Unfair Discrimination" in Chapter 13, 74 Am. Bankr. L.J. 330 (2000)
• The Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Introduction, 55 Bus. Law. 1947 (2000) (co-authored)
• 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, 72 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1517 (1999) (co-authored)
• Report of the Deposit Accounts Task Force to the Article 9 Drafting Committee (September 4, 1997), reprinted in 54 Quarterly Report 203 (2000)
• For Some, Pictures Worth More than Words, The Law Teacher 3 (Fall, 1995)
• A Defense of Extending Article 9 to Cover Security Interests in Deposit Accounts as Original Collateral, 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?, 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, 29 St. Louis U.L.J. 665 (1985)

Presentations

• Chaired a committee to review recent scholarship in the area of commercial finance and make a recommendation for the Grant Gilmore Award of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. 2008
• Conducted a 90-minute program on Commercial Law Developments for the firm of Stoel Rives with Professor Linda Rusch. The program took place in Seattle, but was also broadcast to attorneys in the firm's offices in Minneapolis, Portland, and Salt Lake City. (December 7, 2007)
• Conducted a 5-hour CLE Program for the Seattle office of Lane Powell law firm with Professor Linda Rusch. (December 6, 2007)
• Conducted a 3-hour program on Commercial Law Developments with Professor Linda Rusch at Gonzaga University School of Law. (November 30, 2007) 
• Workshops on Credit Agreements and recent Commercial Law Developments, for attorneys in the firm of Paul Hastings Janofsky and Walker, October 5-6, 2007
• Participated in an all-day meeting of the Members Consultative Group for the Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, September 29, 2007
• Commercial Law Developments, co-presented a program with Professor Linda Rusch at mid-year meeting of the Business Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association, June 2007
• Negotiating and Drafting Contractual Boilerplate, co-presented a two hour program at the spring meeting of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, 2007
• The Basics of Secured Transactions, CLE program for the junior associates in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky, & Walker, December 8, 2006
• One of three presenters on a program entitled Acquisition Finance:  Current Issues Facing Commercial and Bankruptcy Lawyers Representing Lenders and Purchasers to the Financial Lawyers Conference in Los Angeles. December 7, 2006
• Conducted an all-day CLE program with Professor Linda Rusch entitled 2006 Commercial Law Developments at the Seattle office of the law firm Lane Powell, December 5, 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, spring meeting of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, 2006
• The Basics of Secured Transactions and Recent Developments in Commercial Law, CLP programs in Greenwich, CT, December 2005

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