- International Business Transactions
- Business & Human Rights
- Corporate Governance
- Contract Law & Theory
- Global Supply Chains
International Business Transactions Series
About the International Business Transactions Seminars & Roundtables
The landscape of international business transactions is changing rapidly. Geopolitical tensions, shifting national security priorities, and new forms of corporate governance are redefining how companies and states interact. To meet these challenges, I created a set of initiatives designed to connect people who are actively shaping this field—scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders.
Virtual Seminar Series
Launched in January 2024, the virtual seminar series has become an ongoing space for global conversation. Each session brings together researchers presenting new scholarship with commentators from practice, government, and industry. The goal is to test ideas against real-world complexities and to build connections across disciplines and borders. With participants logging in from around the world, the series creates a vibrant intellectual community that continues to grow.
Roundtables on Business & National Security
To explore these issues in more depth, I have also convened regional roundtables focused on the intersection of business and national security. The Washington, DC roundtable in 2024 examined how questions of security are increasingly shaping business transactions and investment decisions. In 2025, we continued the conversation in London at Chatham House, where European and UK perspectives broadened the dialogue. Both gatherings underscored the value of exchanging insights across jurisdictions at a time when economic security and international business are deeply intertwined.
The Berle XVII Conference
In March 2025, I co-organized the Berle XVII corporate governance conference at Seattle University School of Law. The theme, International Business Transactions in a Fragmented World: National Security, Geopolitics, and Corporate Governance, captured how fragmentation—whether in trade, regulation, or technology—reshapes corporate governance. The conference assembled leading voices in law, policy, and practice to explore what this means for companies and states alike.
Continuing the Conversation
Together, these seminars, roundtables, and conferences form a broader initiative: to build an international conversation about how law and governance adapt to an era of fragmentation and uncertainty. Whether online or in person, the aim is the same: to bring diverse perspectives together to make sense of the challenges and opportunities of international business today.
Get Involved
The initiatives are ongoing, and participation is open to anyone with an interest in international business law and practice. Upcoming seminars, calls for papers, and announcements about future roundtables will be posted here. I invite you to join the discussion, share your perspectives, and help shape the evolving conversation on international business transactions.
In March 2025, I had the privilege of co-hosting the Berle XVII Corporate Law Symposium at Seattle University School of Law, which I shaped around the theme International Business Transactions in a Fragmented World: National Security, Geopolitics and Corporate Governance. Bringing together 16 distinguished academics alongside industry executives and policy experts, the symposium was a truly global and multi-disciplinary gathering.
Over two days of conversation, we explored topics ranging from critical technologies, compliance, and global supply chains to corporate group structures, human rights litigation, critical minerals, and data privacy. What made the event so rewarding was not only the depth of the scholarship and insight shared but also the spirit of collaboration that emerged. By the end of the symposium, we had identified new directions for research, opportunities for partnership, and, most importantly, built a warm and supportive community committed to carrying this work forward together. I came away deeply inspired and grateful for what we accomplished as a group.
Read more here: Berle XVII – Kish Parella and Chuck OKelley Schedule Flyer (11)
The DC Roundtable on International Business and National Security, held on September 27, 2024, at Steptoe LLP’s Washington office, was co-hosted by Washington and Lee University School of Law’s Frances Lewis Law Center, Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security, and Steptoe LLP. The event was designed to bridge scholarship and practice by convening academics, practitioners, industry leaders, and policymakers for candid discussion of how national security priorities intersect with international business. Structured across four sessions, each panel featured an academic presentation paired with commentary from experts in practice, industry, or government, fostering an engaged and multidisciplinary exchange.
Discussion at the roundtable centered on some of the most pressing challenges at the nexus of commerce and security, including the role of economic sanctions in reshaping global markets, the persistence of piracy as a threat to international trade, the strategic importance of semiconductors in global supply chains, and the regulatory and compliance issues facing international banking. Together, these conversations underscored the ways in which national security concerns are increasingly embedded in the governance of international business.
Read more here: DC Roundtable Flyer – 8-13-24 and DC Roundtable Schedule_FINAL
The Spring 2024 Seminar Series showcased the diverse and complex challenges that define international business transactions today. We explored topics ranging from global compliance, ESG, and supply chain contracting to questions of reputational management, the intersection of national security and big data, and the particular challenges of ESG regulation for private equity. The sessions brought together legal academics and practitioners who offered insights grounded in both theory and practice. By engaging across these perspectives, participants deepened their understanding of how law and business respond to shifting global demands, and contributed to building a collaborative community committed to navigating the evolving landscape of international business.
Read more here: Spring 2024 Seminar Series
The Fall 2024 Seminar Series reflected the breadth and dynamism of international business today. Sessions ranged from debates on corporate law in a cross-border context to discussions of how critical technologies reshape markets and governance, and even to the evolving role of third-party funding in international disputes. Presenters included leading legal scholars, government policymakers, and practicing counsel, each offering a distinct vantage point on these pressing issues. The result was a series that not only bridged theory and practice but also underscored the value of engaging diverse perspectives in navigating the complexities of global business.
Read more here: Fall 2024 Seminar Series Brochure
International business transactions touch nearly every dimension of global life—markets, regulation, security, and reputation alike. No single perspective can capture the full picture, which is why this series brings together voices from scholarship, practice, policy, and industry. The Spring 2025 Seminar Series continued this tradition with presentations on corporate governance and geopolitical risk, ESG disclosures, cryptowars, and fiduciary obligations in climate emergencies, featuring contributions from legal academics and practicing counsel. By engaging with one another across these different vantage points, we can sharpen our research, strengthen our practice, and deepen our advocacy. My hope is that you will find these discussions both stimulating and useful, and that together we can foster a lasting community of exchange in this virtual setting. Thank you for being part of it.
Read more here: Spring_2025 Seminar Series Brochure
This year’s international business transactions seminar series explores international contracting through the lens of the theory of the firm. From M&A and supply chain agreements to venture capital, deep sea mining, and third-party contracts, we will consider how diverse contractual forms structure business activity across borders. Grounding our discussion in primary contracts and their design choices, we aim to identify patterns that respond to pressing challenges such as supply chain resilience, sustainability, national security regulation, and geopolitical risks. Our goal is to generate insights of interest not only to business lawyers but also to scholars of international law, management, economics, and global affairs. I look forward to building a lively, cross-disciplinary community of inquiry in this virtual space.
Read more here: Fall 2025 IBT Seminar Series Brochure
The International Contracting and the Theory of the Firm initiative combines an in-person scholarly roundtable with a virtual seminar series to advance research and dialogue on cross-border business transactions. The roundtable, scheduled for May 2026 at Washington and Lee University School of Law, will convene a small group of leading scholars to examine how international contracting responds to contemporary global challenges. Participants will explore diverse subject areas—including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, supply agreements, ESG-related contracts, natural resource development, and insurance—and ground their analyses in primary materials to identify broader patterns in contract design. The goal is to uncover how contracts adapt to issues such as supply chain resilience, national security regulation, and geopolitical risk.
Building on this in-person exchange, the International Business Transactions Virtual Seminar Series provides an ongoing forum to refine and expand these conversations. Each roundtable participant will have the opportunity to present their work in an “incubator” format, engaging with both fellow scholars and a wider community of academics, practitioners, and policymakers who regularly attend the monthly seminars. Together, the roundtable and seminar series create a complementary platform for developing scholarship, fostering collaboration, and bridging the gap between theory and practice in international business transactions.
Read more here: CFP International Contracting
London Roundtable on National Security & International Business
On May 19, 2025, Washington and Lee University School of Law’s Frances Lewis Law Center and the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation will co-host the London Roundtable on National Security & International Business at 10 St. James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LE.
The London Roundtable is the second in a global series designed to foster learning and engagement among academics, practitioners, and policymakers on international business and economic statecraft. Building on the conversations of the DC Roundtable in September 2024, the London event will explore the themes of economic security and human security from a regional and comparative perspective. Each session will follow the established format: an academic lead presentation paired with commentaries from discussants in industry, practice, or government. Participants will engage under the Chatham House Rule to encourage open, candid dialogue.
We invite academic authors to submit abstracts for one or more of the following sessions:
Session on Economic Security
Public–private partnerships in critical industries, including public investment policies
AI and autonomous warfare
Foreign firm participation in critical industries and infrastructure
Trade policy and economic resiliency
Supply chain strategic planning (onshoring, nearshoring, friendshoring)
Corporate governance of geopolitical risks
Mergers & acquisitions and national security review
Session on Human Security
Business and economic development, both domestic and international
Migrant and refugee policies and business responses
Links between migration, human rights, and economic development
Human rights and governance of technology
Sustainable business practices, including human rights and environmental protection
Corporate responses to humanitarian crises
The London Roundtable offers an opportunity to deepen scholarly and practical engagement with the pressing security and governance issues shaping international business today.
Read more here: London Roundtable Call for Papers 10.14.24
DC Roundtable on International Business and National Security
On September 27, 2024, Washington and Lee University School of Law’s Frances Lewis Law Center, Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security, and Steptoe LLP will co-host a roundtable at Steptoe’s Washington, DC office on National Security & International Business.
The roundtable is designed to foster dialogue among academics, legal practitioners, industry leaders, and policymakers on how national security concerns increasingly shape international commerce. The program will consist of four sessions, each featuring an academic presentation with commentary from experts in practice, industry, or government.
We invite contributions from scholars in law, management, economics, political science, national security, supply chain management, industrial organization, and related disciplines. Topics for discussion will include:
Supply chain regulation and compliance (including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act)
Corporate governance and geopolitical risk
Cross-border mergers and acquisitions and national security review (including CFIUS)
Contingency planning and geopolitical risk
Logistics and geopolitical risk
Export controls
Supply chain resiliency
Economic sanctions
Climate change and supply chain management
By bringing together diverse perspectives, the DC Roundtable aims to illuminate how international business is being reshaped by security imperatives, regulatory pressures, and global geopolitical shifts.
Read more here: DC Roundtable FINAL CFP