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University of Wyoming

Robert Sprague
Assistant Professor
Department of Management and Marketing


Education

J.D., University of Denver
M.B.A., University of Southern California
B.S.B.A., Economics, University of Denver

Background

Recipient, 2007-2010 Governor Geringer Award for Promising Young Scholars.

Recipient, 2007-2008 College of Business Outstanding Junior Research Award.

Professor Sprague’s research interests focus on the convergence of law, business, and technology. Professor Sprague has over two dozen publications and papers covering topics including privacy, corporate governance, and cyberlaw. Professor Sprague has recently published journal articles and book chapters concerning:

  • the impact of business blogs on commercial speech rights;
  • the legal consequences of employees being fired as a result of content in their personal blogs;
  • employee privacy issues in virtual workplaces;
  • the legal issues associated with the growing phenomenon of prospective employers using Web-based social networks to preview job applicants;
  • the legal implications of employers expanding employee monitoring beyond the workplace;
  • the legal issues associated with protecting personal identifying information to preserve individual privacy and reduce the threats of identity theft;
  • the impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act on entrepreneurs, with Karen L. Page; and
  • an examination of global perspectives on electronic surveillance in the workplace, with Roland Kidwell.

Professor Sprague's current research interests/projects include:

  • an exploration of the ethical issues of firing employees who blog, with Sean Valentine (University of North Dakota), Gary Fleischman, and Lynn Godkin (Lamar University);
  • the legal implications of the use of social network sites for word-of-mouth (buzz) marketing; and
  • the impact of corporate governance standards on innovation and sustainable prosperity.

Prior to becoming a professor on a full-time basis, Professor Sprague held senior management positions with Internet-related companies in Silicon Valley. Professor Sprague has several years of experience consulting in the area of legal automation, as well as practicing law, primarily representing small businesses and clients in the computer industry.


Courses Taught

  • MGT 1040 Legal Environment of Business
  • MGT 4340 Law for Managers
  • MGT 4350 Commercial Law
  • MGT 4910 Special Topic: Business Law for Entrepreneurs

Recent Scholarly Activities


Peer Reviewed/Law Review Articles


Roland E. Kidwell and Robert Sprague. (2009). Electronic Surveillance in the Global Workplace: Laws, Ethics, Research and Practice. New Technology, Work and Employment, 24(2). Forthcoming.

Robert Sprague and Corey Ciocchetti. (2009). Preserving Identities: Protecting Personal Identifying Information Through Enhanced Privacy Policies and Laws. 19 Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology 91.

Robert Sprague. (2008). Orwell Was An Optimist: The Evolution of Privacy in the United States and Its De-evolution for American Employees. 42 John Marshall Law Review 83.

Robert Sprague. (2008). Rethinking Information Privacy in an Age of Online Transparency. 25 Hofstra Business & Employment Law Journal 395. By invitation.

Robert Sprague and Karen L. Page. (2008). The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and the Entrepreneur: Protecting Naïve Issuers from Sophisticated Investors, 8 Wyoming Law Review 167.

Robert Sprague. (2007). Business Blogs and Commercial Speech: A New Analytical Framework for the 21st Century, 44 American Business Law Journal 127.

Robert Sprague. (2007). Fired for Blogging: Are There Legal Protections for Employees Who Blog?, 9 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business & Employment Law 355.

Robert Sprague. (2007). Googling Job Applicants: Incorporating Personal Information into Hiring Decisions, 23 Labor Lawyer 19. Selected for "The Best Articles Published by the ABA" issue of GPSolo Magazine, published by the American Bar Association (ABA) General Practice, Solo, and Small Firm Division, Vol. 25, p. 40 (March 2008).

Robert Sprague. (2007). From Taylorism to the Omnipticon: Expanding Employee Surveillance Beyond the Workplace, 25 John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law 1.

Karen L. Page and Robert Sprague. (2006). Entrepreneur-Investor Negotiations: Investigating the Power Gap, 2 Journal of Business and Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching 46.


Peer Reviewed Book/Encyclopedia Chapters


Robert Sprague. (2009). Legal Issues Associated with Emerging Social Interaction Technologies, Handbook of Research on Social Interaction Technologies and Collaboration Software: Concepts and Trends (IGI Global, T. Dumova & R. Fiordo, eds.). In print.

Robert Sprague. (2008). Legal and Regulatory Frameworks for Data Mining and Privacy, Handbook of Research on Social Implications of Data Mining and Information Privacy: Interdisciplinary Frameworks and Solutions, p. 183 (IGI Global, Ephrem Eyob, ed.).

Robert Sprague. (2008). Employee Privacy in Virtual Workplaces, Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices, Chap. XIV, p. 181 (Idea Group Publishing, Pavel Zemliansky & Kirk St. Amant, eds.).

Robert Sprague. (2003). Liability for System and Data Quality, Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Information Systems (Linda Brennan & Victoria Johnson, eds.).

Robert Sprague and Sean R. Valentine. (2007). Due Diligence, Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, p. 623. (Sage Publishing, Robert Kolb, ed.).

Robert Sprague. (2005). Liability for System and Data Quality, Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, p. 1834 (Idea Group Publishing, Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, ed.).


Refereed Proceedings


Robert Sprague, Achieving Sustainable Prosperity Through Expanded Corporate Governance Standards. Presented at the Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA) International/Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 18-20, 2009. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings.

Robert Sprague, Some Days You Get the Bear: Using the Blogosphere to Create Real-Time Lesson Plans. Finalist, Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher Competition, Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Long Beach, California, August 13 – 16, 2008.

Robert Sprague and Corey Ciocchetti (University of Denver), Preserving Identities: Protecting Personal Identifying Information Through Enhanced Privacy Policies and Laws. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Long Beach, California, August 13 – 16, 2008. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings at 39 Acad. Legal Stud. In Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2008).

Robert Sprague and Mary Ellen Wells (Alvernia College), 21st Century Commercial Speech: A Mix of Buzz Marketing, Immunity, and Deceptive Trade Practices. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Long Beach, California, August 13 – 16, 2008. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings at 39 Acad. Legal Stud. In Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2008).

Robert Sprague and Corey Ciocchetti (University of Denver), Protecting Personally Identifying Information in a High-Tech World. Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA) International/Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 2-4, 2008. Published in the MALSB peer reviewed conference proceedings. Selected Best MALSB Proceedings Paper.

Robert Sprague and Mary Ellen Wells (Alvernia College), The Growth of Online Buzz Marketing In a Time of An Expanding Commercial Speech Doctrine. Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA) International/Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 2-4, 2008. Published in the MALSB peer reviewed conference proceedings.

Robert Sprague, Why Employers Should Not Google Employees: And How Modernized Tort Law Can Prevent Employers from Doing So, Hofstra University Law School Employment & Labor Law Journal Symposium: Emerging Technology and Employee Privacy, Hempstead, New York, March 7, 2008. By invitation.

Teaching Entrepreneurs What They Need to Know About Law. Peer-reviewed panel presentation, with Lynn Forsythe (California State University, Fresno) and Frances E. Zollers (Syracuse University). United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, January 10 – 13, 2008.

Robert Sprague, Get the Maxx: Data Breaches and Corporate Responsibilities. Presented at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado, September 28-29, 2007. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings.

Robert Sprague, Directors Behaving Badly: 21st Century Corporate Governance Standards. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 12 – 14, 2007. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings at 37 Acad. Legal Stud. In Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2007).

Robert Sprague, The Case of the Googled Job Applicant. Finalist, Teaching Technology Law Case Competition, Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 12 – 14, 2007.

Robert Sprague, Director Privacy and Corporate Governance: 21st Century Standards. Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA) International/Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 28-30, 2007. Published in the MALSB peer reviewed conference proceedings. Selected Best MALSB Proceedings Paper.

Karen L. Page and Robert Sprague, Entrepreneur-Investor Negotiations: Exploring the Power Gap, Presented at the refereed proceedings of the Western Academy of Management Annual Conference, Missoula, Montana, March 21-24, 2007.

Karen L. Page and Robert Sprague, Entrepreneur-Investor Negotiations: Investigating the Power Disparity. Presented at the refereed proceeding of the Second Annual Business and Leadership Symposium, Hays, Kansas, September 27-28, 2006.

Robert Sprague and Karen L. Page, Financing New Ventures: Let the Seller Beware. Presented at the refereed proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, August 11-16, 2006.

Karen L. Page and Robert Sprague, Entrepreneur-Investor Negotiations: Closing the Power Gap. Presented at the refereed proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, August 11-16, 2006.

Robert Sprague and Karen L. Page, Securities Regulation in the U.S.: Designed To Protect Naïve Investors from Sophisticated Issuers, But Does it Protect Naïve Issuers from Sophisticated Investors? Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, St. Petersburg, Florida, August 8 – 12, 2006. Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings at 36 Acad. Legal Stud. in Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2006).

Robert Sprague, Business Compliance with Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Presented at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado, September 30 – October 1, 2005; Published in the peer reviewed conference proceedings.

Robert Sprague, Businesses and Blogs: Free Speech and Commercial Speech in the Blogosphere. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, San Francisco, California, August 3 - 6, 2005. Published in 34 Acad. Legal Stud. In Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2005).

Robert Sprague, New Theories of Liability for Defective Software. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 28, 2002. Published in 31 Acad. Legal Stud. In Bus. Nat'l Proc. ___ (2002).


Additional Publications and Presentations


Incorporating Sustainability Into the Legal Studies Curriculum. Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA) International/Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (MALSB) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 18-20, 2009. Organized and led panel discussion on topic.

Robert Sprague, Integrating Sustainability Into the Legal Studies Curriculum. Presented at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado, October 3-4, 2008.

Robert Sprague, Employee Privacy in Virtual Workplaces: Will the Changing Work Environment Change Existing Law? Presented at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Vail, Colorado, September 22-23, 2006.

Robert Sprague, Pandora's Inbox: The Legal Issues Associated with Managing Workplace E-Mail. Presented at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, August 15, 2003.

Robert Sprague, Expansion of Anti-SLAPP Statutes to Protect Public Issue Speech, by invitation, Huber Hurst Seminar, Gainesville, Florida, February 6 - 8, 2003.

Robert Sprague, SLAPP-Happy in the Chat Room: Recent Developments in Liability for Online Messages. Presented at the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Asilomar, California, April 20, 2002. Received Best Paper Honorable Mention Award.

Robert Sprague, Teaching Stare Decisis Using Browse Wrap Agreements, The Technology Report, a publication of the Technology Section of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, vol. 2, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2002.


Service Activities


Articles Editor, Academy of Legal Studies in Business Journal of Employment & Labor Law

Articles Reviewer, American Business Law Journal; Midwest Law Journal; Journal of Public Policy & Marketing

Member, Advisory Board, Privacy Foundation, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Faculty Advisor, Beta Nu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity

Professional Memberships:

Academy of Legal Studies in Business

Secretary, Employment Law Section

Member, Technology Law Section

Rocky Mountain Academy of Legal Studies in Business

Vice President and 2009 Annual Conference Program Chair

Midwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business

President, 2010

Vice President and 2009 Annual Conference Program Chair

Academy of Management

Member, Entrepreneurship Section

United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

International Technology Law Association