Gerlinde Berger-Walliser

Education/Professional Certification

• Ph.D. in Law, University of Bielefeld (Germany)
• Licentiate in International Transactions Involving the United States, University of California Davis
• Second Legal State Examination, Heidelberg (Germany)
• First Legal State Examination, University of Bielefeld (Germany)

Areas of Expertise

International business law, private international law, comparative law, civil law systems (especially Germany and France), proactive law, contract visualization, legal design, corporate social responsibility.

Gerlinde Berger-Walliser’s research focuses on comparing current issues in U.S. business law with European civil law systems, including transnational jurisdiction, consumer protection, law and technology, comparative trademark law, and law and accounting. She is particularly interested in the positive role business can play in transnational, intergovernmental, and public-private governance, with particular attention to corporate social responsibility and social change. In addition to her international focus Professor Berger-Walliser conducts research in proactive law, contract visualization and legal design.

Her work has been published in leading European and U.S. journals including the American Business Law Journal, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Northwestern Journal of Int’l Law & Business, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, and Georgetown Journal of Int’l Law. She has received multiple research-related awards including two First Place Distinguished Paper Awards from the Pacific South West Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Dr. Berger-Walliser is member of the Academic Advisory Board of the International Association for Commercial and Contract Management, focus group member of the Proactive Think Tank, and Executive Board Member of “Association Française de Droit et Management”. Prior to joining UConn, Dr. Berger-Walliser held academic positions in France and Germany and was a member of the German Bar. She is fluent in German and French.

At UConn, Professor Berger-Walliser teaches in the School of Business Part-time MBA and undergraduate programs. She is inaugural Co-Director of EUROBIZ, a dual-degree program in Business and German Studies.

Featured Publications

International and Comparative Business Law

• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “Reforming International Human Rights Litigation against Corporate Defendants after Jesner v. Arab Bank”, 21 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law 757 (2019).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “Reconciling Transnational Jurisdiction: A Comparative Approach to Personal Jurisdiction over Foreign Corporate Defendants in U.S. Courts,” 51 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 1243 (2018).
• Schulzke, Kurt S. and Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “Toward a Unified Theory of Materiality in Securities Law,” 56 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 6 (2017).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde and Bird, Robert C., “The Impact of Plain Packaging Regulation on Illicit and Non-Illicit Tobacco Products in the European Union,” 38 North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation 1015 (2013).
• Schulzke, Kurt S., Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde and Marchini, Pier L., “Lexis Nexus Complexus: Comparative Contract Law and International Accounting Collide in the IASB-FASB Revenue Recognition Exposure Draft,” 46 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 515 (2013).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, Stalling Williams, Melanie, Walliser, Björn and Bender, Mark, “Bavarian Blondes Don’t Need a Visa: A Comparative Law Analysis of Ambush Marketing,” 21 Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law 1 (2012).
• Saunders, Kurt M. and Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “The liability of online markets for counterfeit goods: A comparative analysis of secondary trademark infringement in the United States and Europe,” 32 Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business 37 (2011).

Corporate Governance, CSR, and Social Change

• Chambers, Rachel and Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “The Future of International Corporate Human Rights Litigation: A Transatlantic Comparison,” 58 American Business Law Journal (forthcoming).
• Hiller, Janine S., Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde and Brantly, Aaron F., “Critical Protection for the Network of Persons,” 25 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change (forthcoming).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde and Scott, Inara, “Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility in an Era of Globalization and Regulatory Hardening,” 55 American Business Law Journal (2018).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, Shrivastava, Paul and Sulkowski, Adam, “Using Proactive Legal Strategy for Corporate Environmental Sustainability,” 6 Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law 1 (2016).
• Park, Stephen K. / Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, “A Firm-Driven Approach to Global Governance and Sustainability”, 52 American Business Law Journal 255 (2015).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde / Shrivastava, Paul, “Beyond Compliance: Sustainable Development, Business, and Proactive Law”, 46 Georgetown Journal of International Law 417 (2015).
• Proactive Law and Contract Visualisation
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, Thomas D. Barton, and Helena Haapio, “From Visual Law to Legal Design: Images as a Collaborative and Creative Process for Legal Problem-Solving,” 54 American Business Law Journal 347 (2017).
• Barton, Thomas D., Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde and Haapio, Helena, “Visualization: Seeing Contracts for What They Are and What They Could Become,” 19 Journal of Law, Business and Ethics 47 (2013).
• Berger-Walliser, Gerlinde, Bird, Robert C. and Haapio, Helena, “Promoting Business Success through Contract Visualization,” 17 Journal of Law, Business and Ethics 55 (2011).