Craig School of Business

Lynn Forsythe

Faculty Early Retirement Program

Finance and Business Law | 559.278.4956 | Office: PB220

Education

J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law

B.A., Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University

Passed bar exams in California and Pennsylvania

Courses Taught

BA 18. Business and the Legal Environment
BA 101. Business Ethics
BA 105W. Business Communication
BA 152E. Law for Entrepreneurs
BA 154. Real Estate Law

Dr. Forsythe is a Johanson Faculty Fellow in Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno. She is interested in how nascent entrepreneurs identify opportunities and assess the risks involved with those opportunities. She continues to develop teaching materials to help student entrepreneurs manage their risks, especially legal risks.

Dr. Forsythe is the author or co-author of numerous articles on business law and business law pedagogy. She served as a part of the author team on four textbooks. Dr. Forsythe has received grants for research and course development from the Craig School of Business, the Gazarian Real Estate Center, California State University, Fresno, and the California State University System.

Dr. Forsythe has held the positions of editor-in-chief, staff editor, and reviewer for The Journal of Legal Studies Education. She is active in the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, where she served on the Executive Committee, the House of Delegates, and as the chair and vice-chair of the Business Ethics Section of the academy. She has served in the officer ranks of the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business first from 1983-1987 and again from 2006-2009.

Dr. Forsythe serves on the advisory committee of the Fresno State Ethics Center. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and a Life Member of Alpha Kappa Psi.

Legal environment topics including business ethics, business organizations, corporate social responsibility, intellectual property, property law, water rights, and law for entrepreneurs. Also teaching cases and pedagogy.

Recent Textbooks and Ancillaries

Davidson, D., Forsythe, L. and Holland, N. (2023). Business Law: Principles and Cases in the Legal Environment, 4e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote and revised Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 39, and 40. She was the coordinating author for the textbook.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. and Holland, N. (2023). Companion website for Business Law: Principles and Cases in the Legal Environment, 4e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote and revised Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 39, and 40.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2021). Business in the Contemporary Legal Environment, 3e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20. Recipient of Outstanding Faculty Publication for the Finance and Business Law Department, Library, California State University, Fresno, CA, Spring, 2022.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2021). Companion website for Business in the Contemporary Legal Environment, 3e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2020). Business Law: Principles and Cases in the Legal Environment, 3e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, and 40.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2020). Companion website for Business Law: Principles and Cases in the Legal Environment, 3e, New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 39, and 40.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2017). The Entrepreneur's Legal Companion, 2e, published by West Academic Publishing. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 13.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2017). Business in the Contemporary Legal Environment, 2e, New York, NY: published by Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20.

Davidson, D. and Forsythe, L. (2017). Companion website for Business in the Contemporary Legal Environment, 2e, New York, NY: published by Aspen Publishers, Inc., a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Lynn Forsythe wrote Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 20.

Recent Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Davis, L., Forsythe, L.M., & Mueller, J. (2022). Intellectual Property Ownership in a University Setting. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 0(0), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/25151274211057200.

Dabas, C.S., Davis, L.Y., & Forsythe, L.M. (2018). Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility Actions –The Case of Retail Store Managers. International Journal of Corporate Strategy and Social Responsibility, 1(4), 353-376.

Forsythe, L.M., Davis, L., & Mueller, J. (2018). Guiding Entrepreneurs Through the Quagmire of Business Entities – Three Hypothetical Scenarios for Discussion. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 1(3), 263-276.

Forsythe, L., Jones, I. & Kemp, D. (2018). A Report Card: Progress under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). University of Denver Water Law Review 21(2).

Kemp, D., Forsythe L. & Jones, I. (2017). Consumer Whore: Trademark, Dilution, Parody, and Free Speech. A Teaching Case. The Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies (JIACS). Vol. 22 no 3 pp. 178-180 and The Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies (JIACS). Vol 22. No. 4 pp. 159-177.

Kemp, D., Forsythe, L. & Jones, I. (2015). Parody in Trademark Law: Dumb Starbucks Makes Trademark Law Look Dumb. Published in the John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law (RIPL) 14, 143-198 (2015). Recipient of Honored Department of Finance and Business Law faculty publication, Library, California State University, Fresno, CA, March, 2016. Article selected as one of the outstanding articles for 2015 in entertainment, publishing, and the arts. As such, it was republished with permission in the Entertainment, Publishing and the Arts Handbook of 2015 published by West, A Thomson Reuters business.

Jones, I., Forsythe L. & Kemp, D. (2015). Dumb Starbucks: Parody or Clever Marketing Ploy? A Teaching Case. Teaching case and instructor’s note. The Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies (JIACS). Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 153-158 and The Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies (JIACS). Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 337-352.

Peer-Reviewed Paper Presentations and Proceedings

Curry, J., and Forsythe, L. (2023). Using the Business Law in the News Assignment to Engage Students. Paper presented at the 2023 Academy of Legal Studies in Business, San Diego, CA, July 29, 2023.

Davis, L., Forsythe, L., and Mueller, J. (2021). Teaching Case: Campus Inventors. Presented by Lizhu Y. Davis and Lynn M. Forsythe at the 2021 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Online Conference, March 20, 2021.

Jones, I. & Forsythe, L. (2019). It Depends on What You’re Trying to Accomplish: Managing Technology to Promote Metacognition and Critical Thinking Online and On-ground. Presented at the 2019 CSU Symposium on Teaching, Fresno, CA.

Forsythe, L., Jones, I., and Kemp, D. (2018). Fostering Deep Learning: Using Knowledge Surveys and Reflections to Promote Metacognition. Paper presented at the 2018 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, August 10, 2018.

Forsythe, L. & Jones, I. (2018). If Students Build It, They Will Come: Student-Created Discussion Boards Are High Impact. Paper presented by Ida Jones at the 2018 CSU Symposium on Teaching, Pomona, CA.

Jones, I., Kemp, D., & Forsythe, L. (2018). “I Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know. I Thought I Knew”: Promoting Metacognition through Knowledge Surveys. Paper presented by Ida Jones and Deborah Kemp at the 2018 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA, March 10, 2018. Recipient, 2018 WALSB Best Presentation Award.

Forsythe, L., Jones, I., & Kemp, D. (2017). Managing a Scarce Resource – Implementing California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Paper presented by Lynn Forsythe at the 2017 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Annual Meeting, Savannah, GA.

Kemp, D., Jones, I., & Forsythe, L. (2017). The Significance of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Paper presented by Ida Jones at the 2017 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA.

Kemp, D., Jones, I., & Forsythe, L. (2016). Addressing California’s Water Crisis: SGMA. Paper presented by Deborah Kemp and Ida Jones at the 2016 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA. Recipient, 2016 WALSB Honorable Mention Paper Award.

Forsythe, L., Kemp, D., & Jones, I. (2015). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Call for Civil Disobedience by Ethical Trademark Owners. 2015 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Forsythe, L., Kemp, D. & Jones, I. (2015). Trademark Law Abuse: Using Civil Disobedience as a Form of Corporate Social Responsibility. Paper presented by Deborah Kemp at the 2015 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA. Recipient, 2015 WALSB Best Paper Award.

Kemp, D., Forsythe, L., & Jones, I. (2015). Consumer Whore: Trademark, Dilution, Parody, and Free Speech. A Teaching Case. Paper presented by Ida Jones at the 2015 Allied Academies Fall Meeting, October, 2015, and a case synopsis was published in the Allied Academies International Academy for Case Studies 2015 Refereed Proceedings 22(2), 10.

Jones, I., Forsythe, L., & Kemp, D. (2014). Dumb Starbucks: Parody or Clever Marketing Ploy? A Teaching Case. 2014 Allied Academies Meeting, Internet Division, and a case synopsis was published in the Allied Academies International Internet Conference 2014 Refereed Proceedings 16(1), 63. 3.

Jones, I., Forsythe, L., & Kemp, D. (2014). Not So Dumb Starbucks: A Teaching Case. 2014 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA, March 29, 2014, and published in the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business 2014 Refereed Proceedings.

Kemp, D., Forsythe, L., & Jones, I. (2014). Parody in Trademark Law: Dumb Starbucks Makes Trademark Law Look Dumb. 2014 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Forsythe, L., Jones, I. & Kemp, D. (2013). Collaborative Critical Thinking Exercises for Business Law Students. Paper presented by Lynn Forsythe and Ida Jones at the 2013 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

Forsythe, L., Jones, I. & Kemp, D. (2013). Critical Thinking in Business Law: Let’s Do It Together. 2013 Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business (WALSB) Annual Meeting, Monterey, CA, March 23, 2013, and published in the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business 2013 Refereed Proceedings.