At Boston University School of Law, professors turn fast‑shifting legal battlegrounds into rigorous, real‑time education. They’re a big part of why BU Law remains one of the nation’s top law schools and why the praises for “exceptional teaching” are constant.
But what’s it like to learn from the very same people shaping legislation, court opinions and policy debates in the US and beyond? We spoke to the three professors to find out:
At Boston University School of Law, professors turn fast‑shifting legal battlegrounds into rigorous, real‑time education. They’re a big part of why BU Law remains one of the nation’s top law schools and why the praises for “exceptional teaching” are constant.
But what’s it like to learn from the very same people shaping legislation, court opinions and policy debates in the US and beyond? We spoke to the three professors to find out:
Where tech, trademarks and students collide — joyfully
Fun, a lot of it. Not the typical response you’d expect from an Honourable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, but that’s how Professor Stacey Dogan describes her classes with excited, eager to engage students.
Professor Stacey Dogan, Source: Boston University, School of Law
It’s just the type of reply you’d get from someone who’s enthusiastic about many things. Prof. Dogan is an amateur athlete who loves the outdoors and is active in local issues just as much as she loves being a scholar and teacher of intellectual property and technology law at BU Law.
So, when asked what’s her favourite course here, Prof. Dogan’s answer is in plural form too. “Honestly, I love each of my courses in different ways,” she says.
Though the subject is something she knows inside out, “Trademark Law” still teaches her something new every class. Her seminar — sometimes called “Law & Regulation of Online Platforms” — unearths hard questions regarding how we should govern new technologies. “In all of my classes, students really come alive when they think about novel legal questions, like whether we can hold online platforms responsible for harms such as addiction and our youth mental health crisis,” she says.
With technology fast evolving, Prof. Dogan picks “Regulation of Online Platforms” as her most topical course. “It doesn’t get more cutting-edge than that. My co-teacher and I have to revise it every year in response to legal and technological change,” she says.
“All sorts” of legal and policy debates get airtime in Prof. Dogan’s classes. “One involves how best to protect kids from the harms of social media. Another involves whether the government could (if it wanted to) regulate disinformation and misinformation online,” she says. “In trademark law, we talk about whether trademark law should apply to creative works like movie titles.”
The risk whisperer in the financial technology industry
There’s a certain kind of insight that only the Global Chief Compliance Officer of a multinational cryptocurrency firm can give. Professor Thomas Hook is that subject matter expert. Dubbed the “Risk Whisperer” by his colleagues, he’s worked over a decade in traditional financial services, fintech, payments, and now cryptocurrency.
Professor Thomas Hook, source: Boston University, School of Law
Prof. Hook brings all he knows to the two courses he teaches at BU Law to help develop the careers of young professionals. He describes the “Crypto Regulation/Taxation” course as very close to what he does daily, while the “Payment System” is “very practically important,” allowing students to understand an industry that they use every day and cryptocurrency is trying to disrupt. “It wouldn’t be fair to pick a favourite (can’t do that with kids or courses) but both complement each other really well,” he says.
With the payments industry still the most valuable part of financial services, generating US$2.5 trillion in revenue according to a 2025 McKinsey report, the “Payment Systems” is the most impactful course. “We all use payment systems every day, to pay for groceries, to receive a paycheck, to send funds to our friends, etc,” he says.
In fact, Prof. Hook starts every class with the latest news in payments or crypto. “Four years ago, I had no idea we’d be talking about the potential for AI agents to do your shopping for you by using cryptocurrency!” he says.
The tax scholar who wants you to understand tax – and the world
Professor Steven Dean makes it a point to shine a light on perspectives that are often ignored. In a testimony to Congress, he took the opportunity to include galling examples of whitewashing of the anti-Black racism that has shaped US tax law. When teaching tax law at BU Law, Prof. Dean takes the same approach. His students get a great deal of highly technical materials but they also get more context and history.
Professor Steven Dean, Source: Boston University, School of Law
Prof. Dean is the author of the book “Racial Capitalism and International Tax Law: The Story of Global Jim Crow.” It tells the story of the impact of decolonisation on the global tax system in part through his family’s experiences surrounding the independence of the Bahamas (where he grew up).
His seminar at BU Law, based on this, is special for two reasons. First, the inaugural version ran as he was writing the book. “It was incredible to discuss the questions it raises with a classroom full of bright, engaged students,” he says. “The book is much better for the contributions my students made!”
The second reason was Prof. Dean seeing several students adopt the book’s style when writing their term paper. But the impact is more profound beyond writing styles alone. “The course identifies the great — but flawed — individuals that helped make the global tax system the imperfect regime it is, allowing multinationals to avoid paying tax everywhere,” he says.
Alongside his other classes — “Introduction to Federal Income Taxation” and “US Taxation of International Business Transactions” — Prof. Dean wants to, again, illuminate the quick evolution of tax law at every level, local, national, and global. “Unfortunately, most people do not understand how or why,” he says. “The more people I can reach through my classes, the more smart, thoughtful people will be able to influence those changes in a positive way.”
Prof. Dean keeps a close watch on these shifts. And now that the United Nations is re‑emerging as a meaningful player in international taxation — after decades on the sidelines — he’s at the table there too. “I was honoured to speak at the UN about the importance of that reemergence,” he says.
His students appreciate this window into how policy plays out in the real world. They also get to learn from a rotating cast of practitioners, including a recent guest from Kenya who works with Tax Justice Network Africa for the course’s Just Taxation Workshop. The class was captivated.
