Dynamic Business Law: The Essentials

Linda L. Barkacs received her JD from the University of San Diego in 1993. She also has a BA in political science from San Diego State University and an AA in accounting from Irvine Valley College. Upon graduating from law school and passing the California bar exam, Professor Barkacs became an associate at a downtown San Diego law firm. During her time with that firm, she was involved in a number of high-profile trials, including a sexual harassment case against the City of Oceanside that resulted in a $1.2 million verdict. In 1997, Professor Barkacs and her husband Craig (also a professor at USD) started their own law firm specializing in business and civil litigation (in both federal and state courts), employment law cases, and appeals. They were also involved in numerous mediations and arbitrations. 

Professor Barkacs began teaching at USD in 1997 and was tenured in 2011. As an educator, she has designed and taught numerous courses on law, ethics, and negotiation. She teaches in USD’s undergraduate and graduate programs, including the Master of Science in Executive Leadership (a Ken Blanchard program), the Master of Science in Global Leadership, and the Master of Science in Supply Chain Management. Professor Barkacs often teaches in USD’s study-abroad classes and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. Professor Barkacs has received numerous awards for her teaching at USD, including USD’s 2010 Professor Impact (MSCM Program); the 2008 USD School of Business Outstanding Undergraduate Business Educator of the Year; and the 2007 and 2008 Professor of the Year, USD Senior Class (university-wide). She and her husband are principals in The Barkacs Group (www.TheBarkacsGroup.com), a consulting firm that provides negotiation, ethics, and team training for the private sector. Professor Barkacs has published numerous journal articles in the areas of law, ethics, and negotiation. She and her husband are co-authoring a book on negotiation. She has been the president, vice president, conference chair, and treasurer for the Pacific Southwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (http://www.pswalsb.com/). 

Professor Barkacs currently spends her time teaching, publishing, consulting for The Barkacs Group, and doing volunteer work for various civic causes. She enjoys walking, weight-lifting, and spending her free time with her two cats, Violet and Vanessa.


Daniel J. Herron has taught business legal studies for 40 years. Born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, he earned his bachelor's degree from Miami University and his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is currently retired from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as an emeritus professor of business law. He founded and coached the Miami University Mock Trial program which has won two national championships. He is the executive secretary of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. 

He has been married for over 45 years to Deborah, and they have two children and seven grandchildren. His publication record includes over 22 scholarly articles and over 40 scholarly presentations. He currently lives, happily retired in the Smoky Mountains, in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

M. Neil Browne is senior lecturer and research associate and a distinguished teaching professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University. He received his BA in history and economics at the University of Houston, his PhD in economics at the University of Texas, and his JD from the University of Toledo. He has been a professor at Bowling Green for five decades. 

Professor Browne teaches courses in jurisprudence, ethical reasoning, critical thinking, and economics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has received recognition as the Silver Medalist National Professor of the Year, the Ohio Professor of the Year, and Distinguished Teacher and Master Teacher at Bowling Green State University, as well as numerous research awards from his university and from professional organizations. His consulting activities with corporate, government, and educational institutions focus on improving the quality of critical thinking in those organizations. In addition, he serves as a Rule 26 expert with respect to the quality of the reasoning used by expert witnesses called by the party opponent in legal actions. 

Professor Browne has published 20 books and more than 130 professional journal articles in law journals and economics, sociology, and higher education journals. His current research interests focus on the relationship between orthodox economic thinking and legal policy. In addition, he is in the midst of writing books about the power of questionable assumptions in economics, the usefulness of asking questions as a learning strategy, and the importance of critical thinking in environmental arguments. 

Professor Browne tries to find time for a broad array of outside activities. He and his wife Nancy Kubasek fish for halibut and salmon in Alaska and large-mouth bass in Florida as frequently as possible. In addition, they are regular participants in polka, waltz, zydeco, and Cajun dance festivals in Europe and the United States. For almost 30 years, they have been successful tournament blackjack players as well. Both are avid exercisers―lifting weights, doing yoga, and running almost every day.

Nancy K. Kubasek received her JD from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1981 and her BA from Bowling Green State University in 1978. She joined the BGSU faculty in 1982 and became an associate professor in 1988 and a full professor in 1993. 

During her tenure at Bowling Green State University, she has primarily taught courses in business law, legal environment of business, environmental law, health care law, and moral principles. She has published over 75 articles, primarily in law reviews and business journals. Most of her substantive articles focus on environmental questions, and she writes a quarterly column about environmental issues for the Real Estate Law Journal. She has helped get students involved in legal research, and a number of her articles are co-authored with students. She has also published a number of pedagogical articles in teaching journals, focusing primarily on teaching critical thinking and ethics. 

She wrote the first environmental law text for undergraduate students, Environmental Law, and co-authored The Legal Environment of Business: A Critical Thinking Approach. She has written supplemental materials, such as study guides, test banks, and instructors’ manuals. 

Active in many professional organizations, she has served as president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, the national organization for professors of legal studies in colleges of business. She has also served as president of the Tri-State Academy of Legal Studies in Business, her regional professional association. 

In her leisure time, she and her husband Neil Browne fish for halibut and salmon in Alaska and large-mouth bass in Florida. In addition, they are regular participants in polka, waltz, zydeco, and Cajun dance festivals in Europe and the United States. For almost 30 years, they have been successful tournament blackjack players as well. Both are avid exercisers―lifting weights, doing yoga, and running almost every day.