My former colleague and dear friend Larry Ribstein passed away this morning. Ribstein had a powerful intellect and iron will. His contributions to legal scholarship are many. In recent years, he has been best know for his work on the "uncorporation"--the move away from the corporate form of business organization, and for his work on jurisdictional competition and choice of law. Here is an excerpt from his University of Illinois College of Law webpage:
Professor Ribstein is the author of leading treatises on limited liability companies (Ribstein & Keatinge on Limited Liability Companies) and partnership law (Bromberg & Ribstein on Partnerships), as well as two business associations casebooks (Ribstein & Lipshaw, Unincorporated Business Entities, 4th edition 2009) and Ribstein & Letsou, Business Associations, 4th edition, 2003). His books also include The Sarbanes-Oxley Debacle and The Constitution and the Corporation (both with Henry Butler), The Law Market (with Erin O'Hara), The Rise of the Uncorporation and The Economics of Federalism (with Kobayashi). From 1998-2001 he was co-editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review. Ribstein has also written or co-authored more than 170 articles on a wide variety of subjects. He is a leading contributor to the Truth on the Market, a blog that provides policy analysis of current business-related issues.
I have fond memories of many long discussions with Ribstein. He defended his vision of law with a tenacity and rigor that is rare, even among law professors. Just a few days ago, Larry and I had planned to get together at the AALS meeting in Washington. I will miss him!
