Stephen Sepinuck

Stephen L. Sepinuck Professor of Law 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, and Transactional Skills.

Professor Sepinuck has authored articles on a variety of subjects, written eight 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 he chaired its Task Force on Deposit Accounts. From 2006-2009 he served as chair of the ABA's UCC Committee. More recently, he was the ABA Advisor to the Joint Review Committee for Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code that proposed amendments to Article 9, and served as reporter for the Uniform Certificate of Title for Vessels Act. Professor Sepinuck is a member of the editorial board of The Business Lawyer, and for more then ten years edited the survey of commercial law that appears in The Business Lawyer.

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

Teaching Areas

• Secured Transactions
• Bankruptcy
• Sales
• Transactional Practice

Publications

Books

• Payment Systems: Problems, Materials and Cases (4th ed. Thomson/West 2011) (co-authored)
• Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions (2d ed. Thomson/West 2010) (co-authored)
• 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)

Major Articles

• Secured Transactions and Bankruptcy Developments,
      65 Quarterly Report 96 (2011)
• Perfecting Article 9: A Partial Prescription for the Next Revision (pdf),
      46 Gonz. L. Rev. 555 (2011)
• The Big Deal About the Fine Print: Negotiating and Drafting Contractual Boilerplate,
       62 Quarterly Report 848 (2008) (co-authored)
• Rethinking Unfair Discrimination in Chapter 13 (pdf),
       74 Am. Bankr. L.J. 330 (2000)
• "High Crimes & Misdemeanors: Defining the Constitutional Limits on Presidential Impeachment" (pdf),
       72S. Cal. L. Rev. 1517 (1999) (co-authored)
• 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)
• 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)

Brief Articles, Reports & Columns

• Analyzing Restrictions on Assigning Ownership Rights in a Business Entity (pdf),
       2 The Transactional Lawyer 2 (Feb. 2012)
• Limiting the Preference Exposure of Originators & Servicers (pdf),
       1 The Transactional Lawyer 1 (Dec. 2011)
• Collateralizing the Economic Value of Broadcast Licenses (pdf),
       1 The Transactional Lawyer 1 (Oct. 2011)
• Spotlight,
       regular column in the joint newsletter of the ABA UCC and Commercial Finance Committees (December 2006-present) (co-authored)
• PMSI Notification: What to Say & How to Say It (pdf),
      1 The Transactional Lawyer 1 (Aug. 2011)
• Binding Guarantors to Terms in the Note (pdf),
       1 The Transactional Lawyer 1 (June 2011)
• Factors Beware: Court Rules that Account Debtor Can’t Be Estopped from Denying Receipt of Goods (pdf),
       27 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 7 (May 2011)
• Exercising Voting Rights After Default (pdf),
        1 The Transactional Lawyer 3 (Apr. 2011)
• Caveat Emptor: Buying in Ordinary Course of Business Does Not Necessarily Mean You Get Unencumbered Goods (pdf),
       27 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 6 (Feb. 2011)
• Drafting for a Commercially Reasonable Disposition of Collateral (pdf),
       1 The Transactional Lawyer 1 (Feb. 2011)
• Maine Supreme Judicial Court Rules That Control Is a Condition of Foreclosing on a Deposit Account (pdf),
        27 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 4 (Jan. 2011)
• Isn't That Special? New York Court Rejects Secured Party's Right to Exercise Setoff Against $500 Million Deposit (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 3 (Nov. 2010)
• Assignments of Financing Statements & Floating Secured Parties (pdf),
        26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 4 (Oct. 2010)
• Ninth Circuit Impairs Secured Creditor’s Right to Collect from Account Debtor (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 1 (Sept. 2010)
• Searchers Beware: Court Validates Notice of Tax Lien Filed Against Debtor’s Former Name (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 2(August 2010)
• Debtor’s Negotiation of Foreclosure Sale Might Ease Secured Creditor’s Burden in Complying with Article 9 (pdf),
        26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 7 (June 2010)
• Perfecting Statutory Liens in Interstate Transactions (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 5 (May 2010)
• Vague Terms in Collateral Description Bring Partial, Pyrrhic Victory to Secured Party (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 6 (March 2010)
• Seventh Circuit Strikes Down Indiana Law Aimed at Car Title Pawns (pdf),
        26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 7 (Feb. 2010)
• Reg. Z Requires Extra Effort to Enforce Security Interest in Consumer Deposit Account (pdf),
       26 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 5 (Jan. 2010)
• Show Me the Money (pdf),
        25 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 7 (Dec. 2009)
• Misguided California Court Changes “Consignment” Standard (pdf),
        25 Clarks' Secured Transactions Monthly 1 (Sep. 2009)
• Vanishing Collateral,
        18 Bus. L. Today 29 (Sept./Oct. 2008)
• Teaching Statutory Construction Through Reverse Problems and "Why" Problems (pdf),
       The Law Teacher 4 (Fall 2005)
• 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)
• 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)
• Report of the Subcommittee on Deposit Accounts,
        Article 9 Study Project (June 5, 1992)

Presentations

2011

• Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 15, 2011
• Hot Topics in Commercial Law (State Bar of California webinar), May 18, 2011
• Understanding the Uniform Certificate of Title Act for Vessels & Its Branding Provisions (NMMA webinar), May 10, 2011

2010

• Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 16, 2010
• Commercial Law Developments, Gonzaga University School of Law (Spokane), December 3, 2010
• Article 9 Update, Eastern District Bankruptcy Conference (Sun Mountain), June 18, 2010

2009

• Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (Seattle), December 9, 2009
• Commercial Law Developments, Gonzaga University School of Law (Spokane), December 4, 2009
• 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

• 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

2007

• 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

2006

• 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

2005

• 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

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