• E-mail: jsmart07@louisville.edu
• Phone: 502-852-8859
• Fax:     502-852-0862
• Office:  262

Upon graduation from Vanderbilt Law School, Professor Martin became an Associate with the international practice group of Baker & Botts, L.L.P., practicing in both the Houston and Dallas offices. A member of the Texas and American Bar Associations, Professor Martin was a Principal Attorney for Houston Industries Incorporated (now Reliant Energy), working on power generation transactions domestically and internationally. 

Professor Martin is a co-founder and contributor to the Commercial Law weblog at http://ucclaw.blogspot.com/.  The blog takes up all issues related to commercial law, particularly the Uniform Commercial Code.  The blog is a member of the Jurisdynamics Network.

• Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Sales of Goods, 64  Bus. Law. (forthcoming 2009) (with Robyn L. Meadows)
• Impracticability Under the UCC for Wartime Contracts, 60 Fla. L. Rev.  (forthcoming 2008)
• Uniform Commercial Code Survey: Sales of Goods, 63 Bus. Law. 1285 (2008) (with Robyn L. Meadows)
• New England School of Law Symposium, Modern Warfare: The Role of the Non State Actor, Contracting for Wartime Actors: The Limits of the Contract Paradigm, 14 New Eng. J. Int’l Comp. L. 11 (2007)
• House of Mouse and Beyond: Assessing the SEC’s Efforts To Regulate Executive Compensation, 32 Delaware J. Corp. L. 481 (2007)
• An Emerging Worldwide Standard for Protections of Consumers in the Sale of Goods: Did We Miss an Opportunity with Revised UCC Article 2?, 41 Tex. Int’l L. J. 223 (2006)
• Western New England College School of Law Symposium, State v. Oakley, Coercive Abortions and Criminalizing the Birth of Children: Some Thoughts on the Impact on Women of State v. Oakley, 26 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 67 (2004)
• Co-Author: VEBAs, Welfare Plans, and Sec. 419A(f)(6): Is the IRS Trying to Regulate or Spread Propaganda?, 32 Southwestern L. Rev. 1 (2003)
• Consistency in Judicial Interpretation? A Look at CERCLA Parent Company and Shareholder Liability After United States v. Bestfoods, 17 Georgia State L. Rev. 410 (2000)
• Initiating and Responding to Subpoenas, Depositions and Other Discovery in Transnational Litigation, 66 Tenn. L. Rev. 765 (1999)

• Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) lessons in contract and commercial law
• Agreements Lacking Consideration: Gift Promises (2007)
• Acceptance (2004)
• Battle of the Forms (UCC 2-207) (2005)
• Bilateral and Unilateral Contracts (2004)
• Consideration: The Basics of Consideration and the Bargain Theory (2004)
• Duration of Offers (2003)
• Express and Implied Contracts (2003)
• Formation of Contracts Under UCC Article 2 (2005)
• Indefiniteness (2004)
• Invitations to Negotiate and other Expressions that are not Offers (2003)
• Letters of Intent and Other Formal Preliminary Agreements (2004)
• Mailbox Rule (2004)
• Mutual Assent (2003)
• Offer (2003)
• Option Contracts and Firm Offers (2004)
• Written Agreement Contemplated v. Written Memorialization (2004)
• Warranties (2002)
• Implied Terms (2002)
• Interpretation (2002)
• Good Faith (2002)

• Speaker, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Faculty Luncheon Series, “Impracticability Under UCC 2-615 for Wartime Contracts” (September 2008)
• Speaker, University of Pittsburgh Spring Faculty Colloquium, “Impracticability Under UCC 2-615 for Wartime Contracts” (May 2008)
• Speaker, AALS International Contracts Conference, “Rethinking Impracticability Under UCC 2-615 for Wartime Contracts” (February 2008)
• Speaker, Oxford Round Table, Global Migration: “The Role of the Board in a Migratory World” (July 2007)
• Speaker, AALS Spring Contracts Conference, “Using Technology in the Teaching of Contracts” (February 2007)
• Speaker, New England School of Law Symposium, Modern Warfare: The Role of the Non State Actor: “Contracting for Wartime Actors” (February 2007)
• Speaker, Junior Faculty Exchange: “The Decline of State Law Primacy Over Corporate Governance” (October 2006)
• Speaker, AALS Spring Contracts Conference: The Diversity of Contract Law: “An Emerging Worldwide Standard for Protections of Consumers in the Sale of Goods: Did We Miss an Opportunity with Revised UCC Article 2?” (February 2006)
• Speaker, WNEC Faculty Forum:  “An Emerging Worldwide Standard for Protections of Consumers in the Sale of Goods: Did We Miss an Opportunity with Revised UCC Article 2?” (September 2005)
• Speaker, WNEC Faculty Forum:  VEBAs, Welfare Plans, and Sec. 419A(f)(6):  Is the IRS Trying to Regulate or Spread Propaganda? (October 2002)
• Speaker, Chase Faculty Forum: Consistency in Judicial Interpretation? A Look at CERCLA Parent Company and Shareholder Liability After United States v. Bestfoods (Fall 2000)
• Speaker, Southeastern Conference of the AALS Annual Meeting: Young Scholars Workshops, Consistency in Judicial Interpretation? A Look at CERCLA Parent Company and Shareholder Liability After United States v. Bestfoods (August 2000)
• Speaker, Southeastern Conference of the AALS Annual Meeting: Young Scholars Workshops, The Need for Legislative Reform in International Adoptions (July 20, 1999)
• Speaker, University of Texas School of Law, Advanced International Law Institute Conference: Advising Clients in Trouble, Initiating and Responding to Discovery in Transnational Litigation: Procedures and Challenges (April 16,1999)

• Professor Martin administers the annual Selma Moidel Student Writing Competition for the National Association of Women Lawyers. 
• Professor Martin has been nominated to the Board of Directors of CALI.

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Traffic in Starbucks (SBUX) stores increased by 3 percent. And the average bill grew by 4 percent. More people are going to Starbucks, and, once there, they're spending more. This marks the first time that traffic has grown in more than three years—since before the recession began. The company's operating margins were the highest in its history, growing to 13.4 percent. Of course, that's thanks largely to massive store closings and layoffs during the recession. But it can't happen without top-line growth.

(1) banks cannot enroll customers in overdraft services for ATM and one time debit card transactions without their consent (an opt-in);
(2) banks do not condition the payment of overdrafts on other items, such as checks and ACH transactions, on the customer opting-in for ATM and debit card services and cannot decline overdrafts on checks and ACH transactions for this reason;
(3) banks provide the same account terms, conditions and features to customers whether or not they opt-in; and
(4) the opt-in approach applies to existing and new accounts beginning July 1, 2010.

Whether a seller’s statements made during negotiations or through advertising constitute an express warranty is a common point of contention between disgruntled buyers and their sellers. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, of New York upheld summary judgment in favor of the defendant seller from Nevada who advertised a 1995 Mercedes Benz automobile on Ebay as “gorgeous” and with just minor blemishes, but sold the car “as is.” Upon arrival of the car to the buyer in New York, the buyer discovered the car had been damaged in an accident and had been painted, the upholstery was stained, the undercoating was worn out and parts were rusted, and that body work would cost $1,741.66. While the court recognized that any description of the goods could create an express warranty, the seller’s generalized expression was merely the seller's opinion of the car and constitutes “no more than ‘puffery,’ which should not have been relied upon as an inducement to purchase the vehicle,” particularly in light of the fact that this was a used car transaction. Moreover, the plaintiff could have discovered any deficiencies in the car by performing a routine inspection, which he did not do.