Joseph Olson
ProfessorEmail: jolson@gw.hamline.edu
Phone: 651 523-2142
A.B., University of Notre Dame
J.D., (Distinction) Duke University School of Law
LL.M., University of Florida Law Center
"A business attorney is continually dealing with the future continually calculating and exercising foresight to counsel a client. The legal aspects of business demand effort, compel earnestness, require knowledge, and grease the wheels of industry."
Professor Olson is a leading authority on tax and business law. His treatise, Federal Taxation of Intellectual Property Transfers, was first published in 1986 and is updated bi-annually. He is a legal counselor's counselor, being called upon by colleagues for information on areas of business law.
He drafted the close corporation amendments to the Minnesota Business Corporation act and writes articles on corporate planning. He is a frequent lecturer and arbitrator in contractual disputes involving securities dealer-client and manufacturer-distributor issues. Professor Olson has served as administrative law judge for the state of Minnesota and has consulted with judges, state legislators, and municipal officials.
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Olson was with Dorsey & Whitney. While in law school he was elected to the academic honor society Order of the Coif. He was an officer in the Air Force. Currently, Professor Olson is president of Academics for the Second Amendment, and serves on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association. He is past-president of The Corporate Counsel Association and has been on the Board of Minnesota Continuing Legal Education.
Professor Olson teaches Business Associations, Business Planning, Contracts, Corporate Finance, and taxation courses.
DISCLAIMER: There is a series of e-mails floating around the internet dealing with the 2008 Obama/McCain election and the 2000 Bush/Gore election, remarks of a Scottish philosopher named Alexander Tyler, suicide rates, or ANYTHING ELSE. Part of it is attributed to me. It is entirely BOGUS as to my authorship. I've been trying to kill it since December 2000. For details see: http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp.
Publications
- Gun Control: Political Fears Trump Crime Control, 61 MAINE L. REV. 58 (2009)(with Clayton E. Cramer).
- Amicus Brief on Behalf of Academics for the Second Amendment in Support of Respondent. D.C. v. Heller (07-279), before the United States Supreme Court (March 2008). PDF
- What Did “Bear Arms” Mean in the Second Amendment?,
6 GEORGETOWN J. L. & PUB. POL’Y 511 (2008)(with Clayton E. Cramer).
Lexis PDF - Pistols, Crime, and Public Safety in Early America,
44 WILLAMETTE L. REV. 699 (2008)(with Clayton E. Cramer).
Lexis Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - The Minnesota Citizen's Personal Protection Act of 2003: History and Commentary,
25 HAMLINE J. PUB. L. & POL’Y 21 (2003).
Lexis Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - All the Way Down the Slippery Slope: Gun Prohibition in England and Some Lessons for Civil Liberties in America,
22 HAMLINE L. REV. 399 (1999) (with David B. Kopel).
Lexis Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - In re 101 California Street: A Legal and Economic Analysis of Strict Liability for the Manufacture and Sale of ‘Assault Weapons’,
8 STAN. L. & POL’Y REV. 41 (1997) (with Bruce H. Kobayashi).
Lexis Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Preventing a Reign of Terror: Civil Liberties Implications for Terrorism Legislation,
21 OKLA. CITY U. L. REV. 247 (1996) (with David B. Kopel).
Lexis Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - FEDERAL TAXATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TRANSFERS (2008)(first published 1986).
- Representing Minority Shareholders in Close Corporations under Modern Business Corporations Acts,
64 WASH. U. L. Q. 507 (1986).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - A Statutory Elixir for the Oppression Malady,
36 MERCER L. REV. 627 (1985); reprinted in 27 CORP. PRAC. COMMENTATOR 343 (1985).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Federal Income Taxation of Patent and Know-How Transfers,
28 ST. LOUIS U. L.J. 537 (1984).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF