Rusch, Linda J.

Linda J. Rusch Frederick N. & Barbara T. Curley Professor of Commercial Law lrusch@lawschool.gonzaga.edu (509) 313-3769 B.A., Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, 1980 J.D., University of Iowa School of Law, 1983

Biographical Information

Linda J. Rusch is the inaugural holder of the Frederick N. and Barbara T. Curley Professor in Commercial Law at Gonzaga University School of Law. Prior to joining Gonzaga, she was a professor of law teaching in the area of commercial law at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prof. Rusch graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law with highest distinction and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining the Hamline faculty in 1992, she practiced commercial law and bankruptcy as an associate with the Minneapolis firm of Faegre & Benson, and clerked for the Honorable Milton I. Shadur, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois.

Over the course of several years, Prof. Rusch has been involved in the revision of the Uniform Commercial Code. From 1996-99, she served as the Associate Reporter for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the American Law Institute Drafting Committee to Revise Article 2 of the UCC. From 2000 to 2003, she served as a co-reporter for and member of the NCCUSL-ALI Drafting Committee to revise UCC Article 7. She currently serves as a member of the Permanent Editorial Board of the UCC, and is on the Executive Committee for the PEB.

Prof. Rusch is actively involved in many national and local bar groups. She has filled many leadership roles in the American Bar Association Business Law Section, including as the past chair of the Committee on the UCC. She is currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the section and the Editor-in-Chief of The Business Lawyer, the academic peer-edited journal published by the ABA Business Law Section.

She has just finished a three-year appointment on the ABA Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight and liaison to the ABA Standing Committee on CLE. In addition, Prof. Rusch is the President of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and the American College of Bankruptcy. As a member of the American Law Institute, she participates in the Members Consultative Groups on the development of the Restatement of Restitution, the Principles of Software Contracting, and the Restatement of Torts (Third): Economic Losses.

Prof. Rusch has published numerous articles and books on the Uniform Commercial Code and bankruptcy, and is a frequent lecturer on those topics. 

Teaching Areas

• Creditor's Rights (Secured Transactions)
• Payment Systems
• Sales
• Contracts

Publications (2000 - Present)

For full resume click here.

Books and Book Chapters

• Sales and Leases: A Problem-solving Approach (with Prof. Stephen L. Sepinuck) (Thomson/West 2009) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• PROBLEMS AND MATERIALS ON BANKRUPTCY LAW AND PRACTICE  (with Prof. Stephen L. Sepinuck) (Thomson/West 2007) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• Payment Systems: Problems, Materials and Cases (Thomson/West 3d ed. 2007) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• Hawkland’s Uniform Commercial Code Series, UCC Article 2 Volume (Annual Supplements for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
• Hawkland’s Uniform Commercial Code Series, UCC Article 7 Volume (Annual Supplements for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
• Hawkland’s Uniform Commercial Code Series, Revised UCC Article 7 (Annual Supplements for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions with Teacher’s Manual (with Professor Stephen L. Sepinuck) (Thomson/West 2006)
• Black Letter Series: Secured Transactions (Thomson/West 2006)
• Commercial Transactions: Sales, Leases and Licenses (2d edition) (with Prof. Richard E. Speidel) (Thomson/West 2004) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• ABCs of the UCC: Article 7 (Revised) Documents of Title (ABA Business Law Section,  2004)
• The ABCs of the UCC Article 2 (Revised): Sales (with Prof. Henry D. Gabriel) (ABA Business Law Section, 2004)
• Payment Systems: Problems, Materials and Cases (West Group, 2d ed. 2003) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• Commercial Transactions: Sales, Leases and Licenses (with Prof. Richard E. Speidel) (West Group 2001) (with Teacher’s Manual)
• Payment Systems: Problems, Materials and Cases (West Group 2000) (with Teacher’s Manual)

Articles

• Reimagining Payment Systems:  Allocation of Risk for Unauthorized Payment Inception, 83 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 561 (2008)
• Products Liability Trapped in History: Our Choice of Rules Rules Our Choices, 76 Temple L. Rev. 739 (2003)
• Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 and Article 7: Intersection with Bankruptcy, 28 Oklahoma City Univ. L. Rev. 543 (2003)
• Is the Saga of the Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 Revisions Over?  A Brief Look at What NCCUSL Finally Approved, 6 Del. L. Rev. 41 (2003).
• Property Concepts in the Revised U.C.C. Articles 2 and 9 are Alive and Well, 54 SMU L. Rev. 947 (2001)

Works in Progress

• Second edition of Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions
• Fourth edition of Payment Systems: Problems, Materials and Cases

Presentations (2004 - Present)

For full resume click here.

• Recent Developments in UCC and Bankruptcy Law, 19th Annual Bankruptcy Conference and Retreat, Bankruptcy Bar Association Eastern District of Washington (June 2009)
• NCCUSL-ALI Study Committee on Payments: Its Charges, Issues, Past and Future Activities, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting (Vancouver, British Columbia April 2009)
• 2009 Financial Lawyer’s Conference Annual Seminar, Avoiding Pitfalls and Missed Opportunities Under Article 9 (San Diego, March 2009)
• Avoiding UCC Mistakes in Business Transactions, Potential UCC Changes, National Business Institute (Seattle, Feb. 2009)
• 2008 Commercial Law Developments (Gonzaga University School of Law, December 2008; Lane Powell, Seattle, December 2008)
• Paul Hastings, Drafting Opinion Letters (Los Angeles, July 2008)
• ALI-ABA, The UCC and Beyond: Current Developments in Commercial Law (New York, June 2008)
• Welcoming Remarks, National Conference for the Minority Lawyer (San Jose, June 2008)
• Surveying Your Membership, Business Bar Leader’s Conference (Chicago, May 2008)
• Global Secured Transactions Conference, Why isn’t Everyone Adopting Revised Article 9? (Thomas Jefferson Law School, San Diego, March 2008)
• Leadership Development Workshop, ABA Business Law Section Leadership Meeting (Dana Point, January 2008)
• 2007 Commercial Law Developments (Gonzaga University School of Law November 2007; Lane Powell, December 2007; Stoel Rives, December 2007; Aiken, Siljeg, and St. Louis, January 2008)
• “The Future of Payments Law” as part of a panel on “Electronic Payments Systems-The Death Knell for UCC Article 4 or a Clarion Call for Modernization?” ABA 2007 Annual Meeting (August 2007)
• Commercial Law Developments, Washington State Bar Business Law Section (June 2007)
• UCC and Bankruptcy Law, 17th Annual Bankruptcy Seminar and Retreat for the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Eastern District of Washington (June 2007)
• Reimagining Payment Systems:  Allocation of Risk for Unauthorized Payment Inception, Symposium on Rethinking Payments Law sponsored by Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Brooklyn Law School, Columbia Law School, Hofstra University School of Law, New York University School of Law and St. John’s University School of Law (April 2007)
• 2006 Commercial Law Developments, Lane Powell (December 2006)
• The Subtle (and not so Subtle) Influence of Principles from the Uniform Commercial Code on Resolution of Bankruptcy Issues, Eastern and Western District of Washington Bankruptcy Judges Retreat (September 2006)
• Recent Developments in UCC and Bankruptcy Law, Sixteenth Annual Bankruptcy Seminar and Retreat, Eastern District of Washington Bankruptcy Bar Association (June 2006)
• Bankruptcy Case Law Update, Sixteenth Annual Bankruptcy Seminar and Retreat, Eastern District of Washington Bankruptcy Bar Association (June 2006)
• Payments Policy, Gonzaga University School of Law Faculty Colloquium (April 2006)
• Practicing Leadership as a Way of Life, Hamline University School of Law and Augustana College (March 2006)
• ALI-ABA, The New Uniform Commercial Code, Article 2 Sales and International Sales (December 2005)
• ABA-CLE, Teleconference CLE, The UCC and Revenue Recognition (November 2005)
• ABA-CLE, Simulcast and Videotape, Article 9 and the M&A Deal: How to Avoid the Traps (June 2005)
• AALS Conference on Commercial Law, Panel Presentation on “The New (and Improved?) UCC” (June 2005)
• 38th Annual Uniform Commercial Code Institute (April 2005), Electronic Contracts: Practical Strategies for Enhancing Enforceability, Controlling Costs, and Managing Client Expectations
• MSBA Business Law Institute (April 2005), UCC Articles 2 and 2A Revision, UCC Articles 1, 7, and 9
• ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting (April 2005)
  • Uniform Commercial Code Committee meeting, Member of panel for program “Stump the Chumps” in which audience members attempted to stump panel of experts on the Uniform Commercial Code
  • Crash Course in Check 21 for Business Lawyers: Answering Your Bank, Consumer, and Corporate Questions, CLE Program and one hour follow up question and answer session with Subcommittee on General Provisions and Relation to Other Law
  • Subcommittee on Payments, Member of panel for presentation and discussion on whether to develop statutory law on deposit accounts
• Hamline University School of Law Faculty Colloquium on Payments Policy (March 2005)
• ALI-ABA Seminar: The New Uniform Commercial Code:  The Frontiers of Article 2, Software Contracts, Rolling Contracts, and Electronic Commerce in Goods; The Intersections of Articles 2, 7 and 9; Developments in Letter of Credit Law (December 2004)
• Check 21, ABA Business Law Section, Committee on the UCC, Subcommittee on General Provisions and Relation to Other Law, ABA Annual Meeting (August 2004)
• UCC Update, Plenary and Break out Session, MCLE 2004 Business Law Institute (May 2004)
• Products Liability Trapped by History, William and Mary Law School Faculty Colloquium (February 2004)

Community Service

For full resume click here.

Law Revision

• Reporter, NCCUSL Study Committee on Payments (2008 to present)
• Observer on behalf of American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers to drafting sessions of UCC Article 9 Review Committee (2008 to present)
• Co-Reporter to NCCUSL-ALI Drafting Committee to Revise Article 7 of the UCC (October 2001 to 2003)
• ALI representative to NCCUSL-ALI Drafting Committee to Revise Article 7 of the UCC (September 2000 to 2003)
• Associate Reporter for the NCCUSL-ALI Article 2 Drafting Committee (1996-1999)
• Participant and member of Drafting Committee for Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee Mediation Process on Economic Loss Doctrine in Minnesota (1999-2000)

American Law Institute

• Members Consultative Group on Restatement of Restitution (1999-present)
• Members Consultative Group on Principles of Software Licensing (2005-2009)
• Members Consultative Group on Restatement of Torts (Third): Economic Losses (2006- present)
• ALI Member of the Permanent Editorial Board of the Uniform Commercial Code (2000 to present), member of Executive Committee of Board (2005 to present)

American Bar Association

• Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight (August 2006-August 2009)
• Liaison from the ABA Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight to the ABA Standing Committee on CLE (August 2006- August 2009)

Legal Education and Admission to the Bar Section

• Member of site team for inspection of Phoenix Law School (October 2009)
• Member of site team for sabbatical inspection of University of Kentucky Law School (Feb. 2006)
• Member of site team for sabbatical inspection of Quinnipiac University School of Law (Feb. 2005)

Business Law Section

• Vice-Chair of Section (August 2009-present)
• Editor in Chief of The Business Lawyer (August 2009-present)
• Section’s Planning Committee (January 2008-present)
• Section’s Content Committee (August 2009-present)
• Planning Committee for National Conference for the Minority Lawyer (2008-present)
• Secretary of the Section (August 2008-August 2009)
  • Editor of E-Source (Section monthly e-newsletter) (August 2008-August 2009)
  • Co-chair ABA Relations Committee (August 2008-August 2009)
• Glass Cutter Award Committee (2008-2009)
• Advance III Planning Committee (January 2006 - August 2008)
• Council Committee on Member Services, Chair (August 2006- August 2008)
• Appointed Faculty Editor for The Business Lawyer (April 2005 to August 2007)
• Member of Section Council (August 2004 to August 2008)
  • Council Committee on Committee Structure and Support (2004-06)
• Ad Hoc Committee on Content Distribution (2005-07)
• Editorial Board for The Business Lawyer, Volume 60 (August 2004-2005)
• Working Group on the Transferability of Electronic Assets, Co-Chair (2003-2005)
• Revenue Committee, Subcommittee on New Initiatives, Chair (2003-present)
• Working Group on Leadership Structure (2001- 2003)
• Ad Hoc Committee on Annual Meeting (2002-2003)
• UCC Committee
  • Chair ( August 1999 -August 2003)
  • Vice Chair and Chair-Elect (August 1998 - August 1999)

American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers

• Member of the Board of Regents (2002-06)
• Treasurer (2005-07)
• Vice President (April 2007 to April 2008)
• President-Elect (April 2008 to April 2009)
• President (April 2009 to present)

Association of American Law Schools

• Member of the Executive Committee of the Section on Commercial and Related Commercial Law (February 2005 to 2006)

Minnesota State Bar Association

• Life and the Law Student Working Group (2002-04)
• Business Law Section Executive Council (2003-06)
• Ad hoc Committee on Revising Minn. Stat. Chap. 336A (lien notification system for agricultural products) (2002-03)
• Chair, Article 1 Study Group (2001-03)
• Member, Business Law Section, Ad Hoc Article 9 Study Group (1996-2001)
• Task Force on Agricultural Liens (1999-2000)

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