Greene Espel PLLP

Education

• Columbia University Law School, New York, New York, LL.M., James Kent Scholar (Highest Honors)
• Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, JD, Summa Cum Laude (Highest Honors)
• University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, MA in English
• University of North Dakota, BFA in Theatre Arts, Magna Cum Laude

Experience

• Associate Professor, Hamline University School of Law  (2009 - present)
• Associate Professor, Hamline Grad. School of Management  (2007, 2009-present)
• Assistant Professor, Hamline University School of Law (2006 - 2009)
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Hamline University School of Law (2005 – 2006)
• Associate, Greene Espel, P.L.L.P. (2003 – 2006)
• Judicial Clerk, Hon. Paul A. Magnuson, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota (2001 – 2003)

Allen Blair serves as a full-time Associate Professor at Hamline University School of Law, where he teaches and writes about contracts, contract theory, and both domestic and international commercial transactions, including sales and leases, commercial paper, and secured transactions. In addition to regularly giving academic lectures and presentations on these subjects around the country, Allen uses his expertise to assist clients in complex commercial disputes. He has successfully assisted national corporations, accounting firms, closely-held businesses and individuals in all phases of such disputes, from pre-litigation to trial. Allen also frequently works on a pro bono basis with the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, representing individuals seeking political asylum in the United States

BAR ADMISSIONS

State of Minnesota
United States District Court, District of Minnesota
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
State of North Dakota (pending)

PUBLICATIONS

Hard Cases Under the Convention on the International Sale of Goods: A Proposed Taxonomy of Interpretive Challenges 21 Duke J. Comp. & Int'l L. 269 (2011)

Where’s Emily Litella When you Need Her: The Unsuccessful Effort to Craft a General Theory of Obligation of Promise for Benefit Received, 27 QUINNIPIAC L. REV. 385 (2010) (with Edwin Butterfoss)

A Matter of Trust: Should No-Reliance Clauses Bar Claims for Fraudulent Inducement?, 93 MARQUETTE L. REV. 423 (2009).

“You Don’t Have to Be Ludwig Wittgenstein”: How Llewellyn’s Concept of Agreement Should Change the Law of Open-Quantity Contracts, 37 SEATON HALL L. REV. 67 (2006).

Dueling State Antisuit Injunctions and the Casualties of Quick-Draw Litigation, accepted at several reviews; expedited reviews pending.

Reconceptualizing Welfare Rights in Light of Experimentalist Consent Decrees, accepted at several reviews; expedited reviews pending. (with Ethan Franchette)

Boundaries of the Sun: Medellin v. Texas and the Challenges of Supranational Adjudication, accepted at several reviews; expedited reviews pending.

What Law Governs the Rail Leg of an International Multimodal Bill of Lading?, 37 ABA PREVIEW, March 22, 2010, at 271.

How Ashcroft v. Iqbal will Change Your Life (Well, at Least Your Professional One), 3 BAR TALK, Oct. 21, 2009, at 5.

The Potential for a Paperless Future, 57 Bench & Bar Nov. 2000, at 38.

TEACHING AND LECTURING

Consenting to a Lie: Justifications for the Enforcement of No-Reliance Clauses, paper presentation, Spring Contracts Conference, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2010)

Consenting to a Lie: Justifications for the Enforcement of No-Reliance Clauses, presentation and paper overview, William Mitchell College of Law Faculty Workshop (2010)

Seller Liability for Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Warranty, Pfizer Animal Health (2010)

Hard Cases Under the Convention on the International Sale of Goods, paper presentation, Central States Law School Association Annual Conference and Meeting, Capital University Law School (2009)

Boundaries of the Sun: Medellin v. Texas and the Challenges of Supranational Adjudication, paper presentation, Columbia Law School Internal Faculty Workshop (2009)

Boundaries of the Sun: Medellin v. Texas and the Challenges of Supranational Adjudication, paper presentation, Central States Law School Association Annual Conference and Meeting, Southern Illinois University School of Law (2008)

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Named “Professor of the Year” for the 2009-10 Academic Year, Hamline University School of Law
• Named “Professor of the Year” for the 2008-09 Academic Year, Hamline University School of Law
• Columbia Law School Commercial Law Fellow, 2007-08
• Race, Gender and Beyond Grant in 2006-07, “Beyond ‘Perspectivelessness’: Race, Gender, Class and Culture in the Core Law School Curriculum” (Collaboration With Four Other Faculty Members)
• Named a Rising Star in the Twin Cities Legal Community for 2005 and 2006 by the Minnesota Journal of Law and Politics

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Board Member, Frank Theater (2009 – present)
Volunteer Lawyers Network, Bankruptcy and Consumer Affairs Volunteer Attorney (2008- present)
American Association of Law Schools, Member (2005 - present) 
   Planning Committee Member for 2006 Annual Conference Presentation on
   Cyberbullying (2006)
Volunteer Attorney for the Public Health Advocacy Institute, the Public Health Law Program and the Oregon Primary Care Association, analyzing Pouring Rights Contracts on Behalf of Public School Districts in California, Washington, and Oregon. (2006)
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Volunteer Attorney for Asylum Project (2003 – present)
Minnesota Bar Association Unemployment Compensation Appeals Project, Volunteer Attorney (2003 – 2006)
Coach for Admiralty Law Moot Court Team, Hamline University School of Law (2002 – present)