Brian Blum

Biography

Professor Blum obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1969, his Bachelor of Laws degree (cum laude) from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1971, and his Master of Laws degree from the University of Michigan in 1978. He practiced as an attorney in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 1972 to 1975 and as an advocate (barrister) from 1975 to 1977. He taught commercial law as an adjunct professor at the University of Witwatersrand School of Law while in practice as an advocate.

Professor Blum joined the law school faculty in 1978. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1983, was Associate Dean of Faculty from 2008 to 2012, and in 2016 he was named Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar in recognition of exemplary teaching and scholarship. He relinquished that title and was named Lewis & Clark Distinguished Professor of Law upon moving to half-time teaching in 2024.

During his time at Lewis & Clark, Professor Blum has taught comparative law, sales of goods, secured transactions, bankruptcy/debtor-creditor law, business associations, remedies, evidence, contracts, torts, and regulation and ethics of lawyers. In recent years, he has taught the last three of those subjects. His scholarship and writing have focused on contract law, but he has also written on commercial law and bankruptcy/debtor-creditor law. Professor Blum has served on various faculty committees during his time at Lewis & Clark, but his principal work has been on the Curriculum Committee, which he chaired for many years.

Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions

• Contracts
• Regulation and Ethics of Lawyers
• Torts

Academic Credentials

• BA 1969
• LLB cum laude 1971 University of Witwatersrand
• LLM 1978 University of Michigan Law School

Bibliography

Separately Published Works

• CONTRACTS: CASES, DISCUSSION, AND PROBLEMS. Co-authored with Amy Bushaw: First Edition, 2003; Second Edition, 2008; Third Edition, 2012; Fourth Edition, 2017; Fifth Edition, 2022. Co-authored with Kevin Tu: Sixth Edition, 2026. (Aspen Publishing, formerly Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.)
• CONTRACTS, EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS. First Edition, 1998; Second Edition, 2001; Third Edition, 2004, Fourth Edition, 2007, Fifth Edition, 2011; Sixth Edition, 2013; Seventh Edition, 2017; Eighth Edition, 2021; Ninth Edition, 2025. (Aspen Publishing, formerly Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.)
• BANKRUPTCY AND DEBTOR/CREDITOR: EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS. First Edition, 1993; Second Edition, 1999; Third Edition, 2004; Fourth Edition, 2006; Fifth Edition 2010; Sixth Edition, 2014. Co-Authored with Samir Parikh: Seventh Edition, 2018; Eighth Edition, 2023. (Aspen Publishing, formerly Wolters Kluwer Law & Business and Little, Brown & Co.)
• MECHANICS’ AND CONSTRUCTION LIENS IN ALASKA, OREGON AND WASHINGTON. First Edition, 1987; Second Edition, 1992; Third Edition, 1993. (Butterworth Legal Publishers.)
• OREGON DEBTOR-CREDITOR LAW. First Edition, 1985; Second Edition, 1992. (Butterworth Legal Publishers.)

Works Published as Part of a Collection

• The Protean Concept of Materiality in Contract Law, 2020 MICHIGAN STATE LAW REVIEW 643.
• Equity’s Leaded Feet in a Contest of Scoundrels: The Assertion of the In Pari Delicto Defense Against a Lawbreaking Plaintiff and Innocent Successors, 44 HOFSTRA LAW REVIEW 781 (2016)
• The Goals and Process of Reorganizing Small Businesses in Bankruptcy, 4 JOURNAL OF SMALL & EMERGING BUSINESS LAW 181 (2000).
• Nepawoky (Poem), 22 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 791 (1992).
• Oregon’s New Fraudulent Transfers Act, OREGON DEBTOR-CREDITOR NEWSLETTER, Volume VI, No. 2, Summer, 1986, at 2.
• Assent and Accountability in Contract: An Analysis of Objective Standards in Contemporary Contract Adjudication, 59 ST. JOHNS LAW REVIEW 1 (1984).
• Participation, Assent and Liberty in Contract Formation, ARIZONA STATE LAW JOURNAL 901 (1982) (co-authored with Juliana B. Wellman).
• Notice to Holders in Due Course and Other Bona Fide Purchasers Under the U.C.C., 22 BOSTON COLLEGE LAW REVIEW 203 (1981).
• The Use of Just Tertii Defenses by an Obligor on a Negotiable Instrument, 84 COMMERCIAL LAW JOURNAL 131 (1979).
• Agreements Signed in Blank, 94 SOUTH AFRICAN LAW JOURNAL 395 (1977).