Janis Penton
USC Gould School of Law

Janis Penton recently retired after 40 years representing financial institutions as a partner in private law firms and in-house, most recently as associate general counsel at MUFG Union Bank. Penton is an expert on bank trust and securities activities, a highly regarded public finance professional and recognized for her knowledge of letters of credit.

Penton chairs the American Bar Association’s Law School Teaching Subcommittee and is the programming director of the Committee on Trust Indentures and Indenture Trustees. She was the secretary of the Article 5 Task Force, sponsored by the American Bar Association and the International Financial Services Association, that provided the basis for revision of letter of credit law; was a drafter of the California legislative analysis for UCC Article 5 adoption; and was a member of the drafting committee for the International Standby Practices (ISP 98).

Penton is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Trust & Investment Services Subcommittee; Letters of Credit Subcommittee; and Working Group on International Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees. She is a fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and a member of the editorial advisory board of Documentary Credit World. She serves on the advisory council of the Center for Transnational Law and Business at the USC Gould School of Law.

Penton received her BA from UCLA and her MBA and JD degrees from USC, where she was a member of the Southern California Law Review and Order of the Coif. Following law school, she clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

USA Today
November 28, 2022
Re: Elyn Saks

Elyn Saks was interviewed about what schizophrenia really is. "A common misconception is that we're unable to care for ourselves and that's not true," she said. "For some people it is, but not for all of us. We can have relationships –romantic and friendships. But we often don't see that (in the media) because of the emphasis on sensationalism and 'othering' us."

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Mugambi Jouet
October, 2022

“Guns, Mass Incarceration, and Bipartisan Reform: Beyond Vicious Circle and Social Polarization,” Arizona State Law Journal (Forthcoming 2023).

Hannah R. Garry
October, 2022

"From Policy back to Principles? Refugee Protection under International Law & State (Non)-Compliance," introductory remarks and chair of roundtable discussion, ABILA International Law Weekend, Fordham Law School, Oct. 21, 2022.

D. Daniel Sokol
October, 2022

“Cookie Intermediaries: Does Competition Lead to More Privacy? Evidence from the Dark Web,” University of Toronto Law and Economics Workshop, Toronto, Canada, October 2022.