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Meet the Faculty

Photo of Janet E. Kerr, L.L.M.

Janet E. Kerr, L.L.M.
Executive Director, The Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law and Professor of Law

Office: School of Law (SOL)
E-mail: janet.kerr@pepperdine.edu

  • L.L.M., New York University Law School, 1979
  • J.D., Pepperdine University, 1978
  • B.A., Pepperdine University, 1975, summa cum laude

SSRN Author Page

A member of the state bar in both California and New York, Professor Kerr is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She has been a staff attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at both the Los Angeles and New York regional offices, and served a stint in the private sector as an associate at the Los Angeles firm Hahn & Cazier.

Professor Kerr is a nationally recognized entrepreneur, technology adviser and corporate governance expert. She has founded several technology companies. One of her companies, X- Labs, was co-owned with HRL (Hughes Research Laboratories) and was one of the first companies to commercialize technologies from a research institution. Additionally, Professor Kerr is a board member of Larta Intstitute, a national non-profit organization, which enables the creation, development and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies in the areas of digital media, life sciences, and alternative energy as well as in other fields.

Professor Kerr has authored numerous articles in the areas of Corporate Governance, Securities Regulation, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability. Currently, she is Chair of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee of a publicly-held corporation and has compensation and audit committee experience as well.

Professor Kerr has consulted with numerous countries such as China, France and Thailand on various issues dealing with the development of entrepreneurial start-ups and the establishment of business alliances with the United States. Additionally she has been selected as a consultant with the U.S. Department of Commerce to facilitate business objectives between foreign countries and U.S. companies.

Professor Kerr teaches Corporations, Entrepreneurship, Securities Regulations, and Advanced Securities Regulations.

Selected Works:
  • Climate Change Implications on Corporate Governance and Enterprise Risk Management, WAKE FOREST L. REV. (forthcoming 2009).
  • The Integrative Market Hypothesis for Stock Market Fluctuations, 1 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. (forthcoming).
  • The Creative Capitalism Spectrum: Evaluating Corporate Social Responsibility Through a Legal Lens, 81 TEMPLE L. REV. (forthcoming 2009).
  • Sustainability Meets Profitability: The Convenient Truth of How the Business Judgment Rule Protects a Board's Decision to Engage in Social Entrepreneurship, 29 CARDOZO L. REV. 623 (2007).
  • Developments in Corporate Governance: The Duty of Good Faith and its Impact on Director Conduct, 13 GEO. MASON L. REV. 1037 (2006).
  • DEVELOPMENTS IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: THE DUTY OF GOOD FAITH AND ITS IMPACT ON DIRECTOR CONDUCT (Peking Univ. Press 2008-- reprint).
  • Janet E. Kerr, Scott Woodman & Deborah Sweeney, WEST'S CALIFORNIA CODE FORMS WITH PRACTICE COMMENTARIES: CORPORATIONS (West 2002 Pocket Part).