Bridging Global Business and Law: How Professor Brian McCall Brings a World of Experience to Online IBL Students
by Tami Althoff
Table of Contents
In today’s interconnected global economy, understanding the intersection of international law and business isn’t just advantageous — it’s essential. At the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Professor Brian McCall has dedicated his career to demystifying this complex field for students, including through the online International Business Law program, which brings world-class legal education directly to professionals and students wherever they are.
From Wall Street to Norman: A Practitioner's Perspective
McCall’s journey to academia reads like a master class in international business law itself. After earning his law degree with highest honors from the University of Pennsylvania, he dove headfirst into the global legal arena at the prestigious international law firm Dechert LLP. For seven years, including a pivotal period from 1999 to 2006 in the firm’s London office, McCall navigated the intricate world of cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.
This wasn’t theoretical work — McCall was advising major players like Citigroup, JPMorgan, The London Stock Exchange and Comcast Corp. on groundbreaking deals. He helped structure one of Germany’s first public-to-private transactions and facilitated the first U.S. company to conduct a Regulation S offering on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market. When he was elected partner in 2004, it marked recognition of his expertise in the most complex international business transactions.
Translating Real-World Experience into Online Education
When McCall joined the OU College of Law in 2006, he brought this wealth of practical experience into the classroom — and eventually, into the digital realm. His online teaching in the IBL program represents something unique in legal education: a practitioner who has structured the deals he teaches about, now making that knowledge accessible to students who can’t physically be in Norman.
The online IBL program benefits immensely from McCall’s dual perspective as both scholar and practitioner. His courses in International Finance: Capital Markets and Comparative Corporate Law aren’t abstract academic exercises — they’re grounded in the real challenges he faced while advising multinational corporations on complex cross-border transactions.
Making Complex Concepts Accessible
One of the greatest challenges in international business law education is helping students understand how different legal systems interact when businesses operate across borders. McCall’s approach leverages his years of practical experience to break down these complexities. Having worked extensively in both U.S. and European markets, he can illustrate how a corporate governance principle that works in Delaware might need significant modification when applied to a transaction involving a London-listed company or a German corporation.
His teaching philosophy, refined through years of mentoring foreign lawyers pursuing their LLM degrees and serving as a teaching assistant for interdisciplinary courses, emphasizes clarity and practical application. Online students benefit from this approach through carefully structured modules that build from fundamental concepts to complex international transactions.
The Advantage of Scholarly Depth
Since receiving tenure at the OU College of Law in 2012 and being selected for the prestigious Orpha and Maurice Merrill Endowed Chair of Law in 2013, McCall has continued to contribute to the field through extensive scholarship. His books and articles on corporate governance law, commercial law and legal philosophy provide the theoretical foundation that supports his practical teaching approach.
This scholarly work directly benefits online IBL students. When McCall discusses emerging trends in international securities regulation or comparative corporate governance, he’s drawing from his own published research and ongoing academic dialogue with scholars worldwide. Students receive not just practical insights from his partnership-level experience, but cutting-edge academic perspectives on where international business law is heading.
Global Perspective, Personalized Attention
The online format might seem to create distance between professor and student, but McCall’s extensive speaking experience at conferences on consumer finance, corporate governance and international securities offerings has honed his ability to communicate complex ideas effectively across different mediums. His invitation as a visiting professor at Notre Dame Law School in 2014, where he taught both traditional courses and innovative seminars exploring the intersection of law, business, society and ethics, demonstrates his versatility as an educator.
Online IBL students benefit from this adaptability. McCall understands that his students often are working professionals who need to understand international business law in practical, immediately applicable ways. His course design reflects this understanding, providing frameworks that students can use whether they’re advising clients on international joint ventures, navigating regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions or structuring cross-border financing arrangements.
Preparing Leaders for a Global Economy
The OU College of Law’s online IBL program, anchored by professors like McCall, represents a new model for education — one that recognizes that the most important legal challenges of the 21st century don’t respect geographical boundaries, and neither should legal education. McCall’s unique combination of elite practice experience, scholarly achievement and teaching excellence creates an online learning environment where students gain both theoretical understanding and practical skills.
For students considering the online IBL program, McCall’s courses offer something increasingly rare in legal education: instruction from someone who has not only studied international business law but has practiced it at the highest levels. His transition from partnership at a major international firm to endowed professorship at a leading law school represents a commitment to sharing that expertise with the next generation.
In an era where global commerce continues to evolve rapidly, having educators who understand both the traditional foundations and emerging frontiers of international business law isn’t just beneficial — it’s essential. McCall’s work in the online IBL program ensures that students receive exactly that kind of comprehensive, practical and forward-looking legal education, regardless of where in the world they’re pursuing their studies.
Interested in an online International Business Law degree from the OU College of Law? Visit the OU Online website to learn more about the online LLM in International Business Law and MLS in International Business Law.
