Margaret Finnerty
Business & Entrepreneurship Instructor
Background
Professor Finnerty has a juris doctor (JD) from the University of Oregon School of Law with a concentration in business. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in Political Science, at the University of Massachusetts. After graduating from college, She worked in Boston in the investment banking industry. After law school, she practiced at Stoel Rives, Oregon's largest law firm, in the business group, where she focused on business transactions, especially startup fundraising and mergers and acquisitions.
Since her work at Stoel Rives, Professor Finnerty has been in-house counsel, led non-profits dedicated to supporting small and growing businesses, and led marketing and business development efforts for both for-profit and non-profit entities. She began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, teaching business law classes. She then joined the faculty of Lewis & Clark Law School, where she was a Clinical Law Professor. There, she helped found the Small Business Legal Clinic (SBLC) which provides business legal services to small and emerging companies, focusing on businesses owned by women, people of color, and recent immigrants. In addition to teaching various business law classes, she also taught contract drafting.
Education
Juris Doctorate Law, 1999
Bachelors of Arts, Economics, 1992