Rene Reich-Graefe - Professor of Law

Education

LL.M., University of Connecticut School of Law
LL.B. (equivalent), Free University of Berlin School of Law

Background

René Reich-Graefe teaches and writes in the fields of U.S. and international business organizations, corporate governance, commercial transactions, and legal philosophy, broadly conceived.  His latest research discusses modern social ontology research and the supraorganic emergence of sociolegal reality; summarizes the challenges of Anthropocenic disruption for law and legal education; critiques end-of-life medical decisionmaking and informed-consent law through the lens of traditional and behavioral economic theory; and conceptualizes the legal organization and intermediation of triple-helix innovation collaborations among academic, industrial and governmental sponsors.  Current works-in-progress focus on a socioeconomic modelling of calculative (Bayesian) trust; a historiographical account of the Moravian Church's General Economy in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, during 1741-62; a socio-ontological model of partnerships and corporations, and a resultant critique of the governance of public and private firms; the legal protection of minority participants in closely-held businesses; and a social history of human Anthropocenic future.

René first came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship, completing his LL.M. degree at the University of Connecticut School of Law.  He served as a law clerk at the Berlin Court of Appeals in Germany, and practiced as a corporate and financial lawyer for seven years at the former international law firm of Coudert Brothers LLP in Berlin and New York City.  He has taught at the University of Connecticut, the University of Maryland, and Northeastern University, has held visiting researcher positions at the University of Bristol in England, the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and Queen's University in Canada, and is admitted to practice in New York and Germany. 

Courses Taught

J.D. Curriculum: Business Organizations; Closely-Held Businesses; Corporate Finance for Closely-Held Businesses; Corporate Governance Seminar; Corporate Social (Ir)Responsibility; International Business Transactions; Sales; UCC Survey
Moot Court: ABA Negotiation Competition; Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
LL.M. Curriculum: International Business Transactions & the Closely-Held Business; Operation, Management & Control of the Closely-Held Business

Publications