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UA Law School to Host Conference on Bank Director and Officer Responsibilities

August 18, 2016

Legal scholars and members of the banking community will visit The University of Alabama School of Law Aug. 26 to discuss bank director and officer responsibilities.

The conference on Bank Director & Officer Responsibilities will be held in the Bedsole Moot Courtroom, room 140. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

The 2008 financial crisis raised important questions about the role of bank directors and officers. If they had been more diligent or honest, could we have avoided the crisis? Should they now be held personally responsible for bank losses? What can they do to prevent the next crisis?

These questions are not merely academic. Since the crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has authorized suits against more than 1,200 individuals who served as directors or officers of failed banks. In addition, bank regulators are reportedly scrutinizing the activities of directors and officers at institutions that survived the crisis.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Alabama Law Review, a nationally recognized journal built on a rich tradition of scholarship aimed at exploring issues of national, as well as local significance to scholars, legislators, jurists and practitioners.

At 8:45 a.m., banking professionals will discuss ethics. Benton E. Gup, professor emeritus at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, will moderate the panel.

The banking ethics panel will feature:

Kayce Bell, chief operating officer, Alabama Credit Union

Preston L. Kennedy, president and CEO, Bank of Zachary

Hope Mehlman, senior vice president and assistant general counsel, Regions Bank

Jerry Powell, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, Cadence Bank NA

The conference will feature:

Mehrsa Baradaran, J. Alton Hosch Associate Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law

Claire Hill, James L. Krusemark Chair in Law, University of Minnesota Law School

Julie Andersen Hill, professor of law, University of Alabama School of Law

Robert C. Hockett, Edward Cornell Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

Douglas K. Moll, Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, LLP Law Center Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center

Saule Omarova, professor of law, Cornell Law School

Chad J. Pomeroy, professor of law, St. Mary’s University School of Law

Heidi Mandanis Schooner, professor of law, Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America

More information is available by clicking here: http://www.law.ua.edu/bankdando


The University of Alabama School of Law strives to remain neutral on issues of public policy. The Law School’s communications team may facilitate interviews or share opinions expressed by faculty, staff, students, or other individuals regarding policy matters. However, those opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Law School, the University, or affiliated leadership.