Benjamin Edwards

What have you been working on lately?

Anthony Rickey and I co-authored a paper about conflicts of interest in securities class action settlements. It’s a fascinating world. In most instances, plaintiffs’ counsel urge a judge to find that a settlement is reasonable, and defendants either stay silent or join in supporting the deal. At this stage, plaintiff and defense interests often align. The defendant wants to get out of the case at the negotiated price. Plaintiffs (and their counsel) want to get paid. But what if the deal isn’t right for the class as a whole? It’ll be in print in The Business Lawyer this fall.

What else do you write to get ideas out there?

Just publishing a law review article or posting a draft online may not get the ideas out as effectively as possible. To reach more people, I also write for the Business Law Professor Blog. A short post can help people find an article and summarize some of its key points. It’s also a great format for featuring other professors’ work. For example, we featured UNLV Law’s Professor Lori Johnson in one post. 

Of course, not every idea needs a law review article. Sometimes a quick newspaper op-ed or other online publication will be best. Something concise can help you reach broad audiences. With one recent op-ed, we went to The Hill to give legislators context before an oversight hearing for the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. On Nevada-specific issues, op-eds in local media outlets like the Nevada Independent and Las Vegas Sun can help get information and ideas out.

How do you reach people who don’t have time read?

I’ve also joined the Ipse Dixit podcast. Our episodes feature different scholars talking about projects in an informal, conversational way. If you want to hear an episode with me, this one is on the market for professional services. I’ve joined the podcast as a co-host and am working to produce more episodes featuring other scholars and their work.