Virginia Harper Ho
Subjects: Business Organizations, Chinese Law, Corporate Finance
Phone: 785-864-9217
E-mail: vharperho@ku.edu
Office: 412 Green Hall
Profile
Virginia Harper Ho joined the KU Law faculty in June 2010. She received her J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded the 2001 Yong K. Kim Memorial Prize for her research on Chinese labor law reform, was a member of Harvard’s Jessup International Moot Court Competition regional championship team (1999), and served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Asia Quarterly and an associate editor of the Harvard International Law Journal. She earned a B.A. summa cum laude and an M.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington.
Prior to her arrival at KU Law, Harper Ho practiced corporate and securities law for over six years, advising U.S. and foreign multinationals in cross-border transactions and corporate finance matters, with a focus on international trade and investment in China. She also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Robert Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, and in 2003, she was appointed a research fellow at the University of Iowa Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.
From 2008-2010, Harper Ho was a visiting assistant professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she taught courses on Chinese law and corporate social responsibility. Fluent in Mandarin, Harper Ho has given lectures and presentations in Chinese and English at universities across China. She writes on various topics within Chinese law as well as on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Her work has been published by the Journal of Corporation Law, Columbia Journal of Asian Law, and University of California-Berkeley's Institute for East Asian Studies. Her research interests include corporate governance, Chinese law, and corporate social responsibility.
Representative Publications
"Theories of Corporate Groups: Corporate Identity Reconceived," __ Seton Hall L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2012); "'Enlightened Shareholder Value': Corporate Governance Beyond the Shareholder-Stakeholder Divide," 36 Journal of Corporatation Law 59 (2010); "From Contracts to Compliance? An Early Look at Implementation Under China’s New Labor Legislation," 23 Columbia Journal of Asian Law 35 (2009), reprinted in "Obligations and Property Rights in China" (Perry Keller, ed., 2011, Ashgate); "Labor Dispute Resolution in China: Implications for Labor Rights and Legal Reform," University of California, Berkeley: Institute for East Asian Studies, 2003.
Curriculum vitae with complete publications list
SSRN page
Selected Presentations
- “U.S. Financial Reform & Corporate Governance: A Case Study of Intersecting Regulatory Roles,” Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, School of Law, Guangzhou, China, June 8, 2011.
- “Corporate Social Responsibility as Collaborative Governance? The PRC Approach in Comparative Perspective,” Chinese University of Hong Kong, June 2011; Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou, China, June 2011; Fudan University, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, June 2011.
- “The Role of Governments in Corporate Social Responsibility: What’s Law Got to Do with It?” Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou, China, June 2011; Zhejiang University Guanghua School of Law, Hangzhou, China, June 2011.
- “Rethinking Corporate Personhood in an Era of Corporate Groups,” University of Cincinnati School of Law Faculty Workshop, April 15, 2011.
- "Labor Law Reform in China: Is it Working?” Indiana University Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business (RCCPB), symposium on "Chinese Workers Under Threat or Threat to U.S. Workers?" Bloomington, Ind., March 31, 2010.
- “Enlightened Shareholder Value, Risk Management and Corporate Law,” Loyola University of Chicago, annual conference on Risk Management and Corporate Governance, Oct. 1, 2009.
- "The Financial Crisis & Implementation of China's New Labor Laws," Albert Shanker Institute conference on "The Financial Crisis and Worker Rights in China," Washington, D.C., June 7-8, 2009 (invited panelist).
- "Labor Conflict in China: The Limits & Power of Legal Reform,” Indiana University-Bloomington East Asian Studies Center, Feb. 6, 2009.
- “Local and Global Drivers of U.S.-China Trade Relations: Is ‘Harmony’ Possible?” Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Nov. 18, 2008.
- “Competition Law in China: Unpacking China’s New Anti-Monopoly Law,” Kelley School of Business, Kelley Direct Program, Indiana University-Bloomington, Oct. 30, 2008.
- “Privatizing Justice: Transitional Enforcement of Labor Rights in China,” Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, Sept. 15, 2003.
Research Interests
Comparative corporate law, corporate governance, Chinese legal reform, and corporate social responsibility.
Education
J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2001; M.A., Indiana University-Bloomington, 1997; B.A., Russian Language & Literature, Chinese Language & Literature, summa cum laude, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1995.
Admitted
New York 2009, Indiana 2004 (inactive), Iowa 2001 (inactive)
Career History
Visiting Scholar, Zhejiang University School of Law, June 2011; Visiting Lecturer, Zhongshan (Sun Yat Sen) University, 2008, 2011; Visiting Assistant Professor, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 2008-2010; Associate, Baker & Daniels, LLP, Indianapolis, 2004-2008; Associate, Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts PC, Des Moines, 2001-2002, 2003-2004; CAPS Research Fellow, University of Iowa, Center for Asian Pacific Studies, 2003-2004; Clerk, Judge Robert W. Pratt, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, 2002-2003.
Member
American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Section of Business Law; New York State Bar Association; American Society of International Law.
Languages
Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Russian