Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL ABSTRACT OF SHERMAN ROGERS, PROFESSOR OF LAW

W. Sherman Rogers
W. Sherman Rogers

 W. Sherman Rogers is an attorney and a tenured Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law. He is also a registered stockbroker, general securities principal, and has life and health insurance licenses. During his career, Professor Rogers has taught at six law schools: Miles College Law School, Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, Howard University School of Law, Brigham Young University School of Law, the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, and the University of Baltimore School of Law. 

 Professor Rogers has taught a number of courses during his career in legal education. They include: Corporations; Securities Regulation; Agency, Partnerships and Other Unincorporated Business Organizations; Property; Federal Courts; Conflict of Laws; Entrepreneurship, Law and Policy; Remedies; Title VII Litigation; Civil Procedure; and Law, Economics and Capitalism. 

Prior to becoming a law professor, Professor Rogers practiced law in both the private and government sectors. During this time, Professor Rogers, among other things, argued appellate cases for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission between 1979 and 1983 in the various United States Circuit Courts of Appeal. Some of the cases that Professor Rogers argued during that time include the following: 

  • EEOC v. Liggett and Meyers, Inc., 690 F.2d 1072 (4th Cir. 1982);
  • EEOC v. County of Allegheny, 705 F.2d 697 (3d Cir. 1983);
  • Brown v. A.J.Gerrard Manufacturing Co., 643 F.2d 273 (5th Cir. 1981);
  • Carlile v. South Routt School District, 652 F.2d 981 (10th Cir. 1981);
  • EEOC v. Zippo Manufacturing Co., 713 F.2d 32 (5th 1983);
  • Branch v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 638 F.2d 873 (5th Cir. 1981);
  • EEOC v. Consolidated Management, 747 F2d 1105 (7th Cir. 1984). 

Professor Rogers has also written several Petitions for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of various law firms. The subject matter of those Petitions include the following: 

  •  The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [Doe v. A Corporation, A Pension Plan, and An Insurance Company, No. 86-256, October 1986 Term)
  • Federal Securities Fraud Under the 1933 Securities Act and the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act [Topalian, et al. v. Ehrman, et al., October 1991 Term] 
  • The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) [Dulan v. Huntsville Hospital Association, Inc. and Dr. Andershock, October 2006 Term] 
  • Requirements for Re-Vesting State Courts With Jurisdiction After a Federal Court Remand of a Removal Petition Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447 (c) [Miguel Angel Gonzalez Guilbot, et al., v. Maria Del Carmen Guilbot Serros De Gonzalezet et al., October 2010 Term] 
  • Considerations That Permit the United States Supreme Court to Review a Case Decided by a State Supreme Court on a Purportedly Independent and Adequate State Ground [Miguel Angel Gonzalez Guilbot v. In the Estate of Miguel Angel Luis Gonzalez, et al., October 2013 Term] 
  • Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Requirements in Attorney Disciplinary Proceedings to Determine Whether an Attorney Should be Disbarred [Ucheomumu v. Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland, October 2019 Term] 

Professor Rogers has published important scholarly articles which have been heavily cited. Noteworthy examples of his scholarship include an article titled The Black Quest for Economic Liberty: Legal, Historical and Related Considerations, 48 How. L.J. 1 (2004); and another titled The Constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and State Bans on Same- Sex Marriage: Why They Won’t Survive, 54 How. L.J. 125 (2010). 

In May 2017, the Pepperdine Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law chose Professor Rogers’ article titled Occupational Licensing: Quality Control or Enterprise Killer? Problems That Arise When People Must Get the Government’s Permission to Work, 10 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. 145 (2017), as the lead article for that issue. 

In the summer of 2020, The Hastings Race and Poverty Journal published Professor Rogers’ article titled: Building Social and Human Capital in the Black Community by Increasing Strategic Relationships, Cooperative Economics, and the Level of Educational Attainment and Targeted Occupational Training, 17 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 211 (2020), as the lead article for that issue.   

Professor Rogers has also been the recipient of numerous teaching awards. He is the author of a best-selling book titled The African American Entrepreneur: Then and Now (ABC-CLIO/Praeger/ Greenwood/2009). The Howard University Faculty Senate awarded Professor Rogers its prestigious award for scholarship and creativity in 2010 in recognition of his work in writing this book. Professor Rogers has also given numerous lectures and speeches. 

On June 28, 2016, Professor Rogers published a book titled Winners and Losers in the American Capitalistic Economy: A Primer (Colmar Publishing). Professor Rogers uses the book in conjunction with a course he teaches called Law, Economics and Capitalism. 

In October 2019, Professor Rogers published his latest book—The African American Entrepreneur (Second Edition): Challenges and Opportunities in the Trump Era (ABC-CLIO/Praeger/2019). 

On October 20, 2023, Professor Rogers published a book titled The Ironies of Freedom: When People Use Freedom as a Defense to Harm Others and Even Themselves (Colmar Publishing).This book explores how people and entities have used liberty-based arguments to suppress or even destroy the rights of others throughout the history of the United States.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: 

Books 

  • The Ironies of Freedom: When People Use Freedom as a Defense to Harm Others and Even Themselves (Colmar Publishing, October 2023)
  • The African American Entrepreneur (Second Edition): Challenges and Opportunities in the Trump Era (ABC-CLIO/Praeger/ Greenwood/October 2019)
  • Winners and Losers in the American Capitalistic Economy: A Primer (Colmar Publishing, 2016)   
  • The African American Entrepreneur Then and Now (ABC-CLIO/Praeger/ Greenwood/ 2009)  

Book in Progress

  • Book Chapter In Book Titled: My Story… From Humble Beginnings to Professional Success: A Young Professional’s Guide Edited By James M. Durant III, Jeffrey M. Allen, Copyright 2025
    ISBN 9781032639420 420 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations August 28, 2024 by Routledge
  • Winners and Losers in the American Capitalistic Economy: A Primer and Roadmap (Expected Publication: October 2024) 

Articles In Journals of ABA Approved Law Schools  

  • Building Social and Human Capital in the Black Community by Increasing Strategic Relationships, Cooperative Economics, and the Level of Educational Attainment and Targeted Occupational Training, 17 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 211 (2020). 
  • Occupational Licensing: Quality Control or Enterprise Killer? Problems That Arise When People Must Get the Government’s Permission to Work, 10 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. 145 (2017) 
  • The Constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and State Bans on Same-Sex Marriage: Why They Won’t Survive, 54 How. L.J.125 (2010) 
  • The Black Quest for Economic Liberty: Legal, Historical and Related Considerations, 48 How. L.J. 1 (2004) 
  • The ADA, Title VII, and the Bar Examination: The Nature and Extent of the ADA’s Coverage of Bar Examinations and an Analysis of the Applicability of Title VII to Such Tests, 36 How. L. J. 1 (1993) 
  • Title VII Preemption of State Bar Examination: Applicability of Title VII to State Occupational Licensing Tests, 32 How. L.J.563 (1989) 
  • Constitutional Aspects of Extending Section 701(j) of Title VII and Section 19 of the NLRA to Religious Objections to Union Dues, T. Marshall L. Rev.1 (1985) 
  • The Importance and Pervasiveness of Federal Securities Laws in Corporate and Business Operations, 35 How. L.J. 303 (1992) (Foreword to the Symposium Issue) 
  • Securities Law – Standard of Proof Necessary in SEC Injunctive Actions Brought under the Antifraud Provisions of the 1933 and 1934 Acts – Securities and Exchange Commission v. Coffey, 18 How L.J. 854 (1975).

Articles Published in Other Periodicals   

  • Title VII Litigation: An Overview for the Non-Title VII Practitioner (Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Regustus, Spring 1985)  

Articles in Progress

  • Greed, Corruption, and Dishonesty: The Efficiency of Remedies Intended to Combat Bad Behavior by Agents, Trustees, Politicians, and People Generally 
  • Should More Black Solo Practitioners Form Partnerships? Comparing the Efficiency of Doing Business as a Partnership Versus Doing Business as a Sole Proprietorship



Eight Major Unpublished Instructional Works Authored By Professor Rogers That He Uses In Conjunction With Classes He Teaches And Which Could Be The Basis For Future Casebooks, Treatises, And Student Related Texts 

  • Workbook/Syllabus for the Course Entrepreneurship, Law and Policy by W. Sherman Rogers
  • Supplemental Study Materials for Corporations and Business Organizations by W. Sherman Rogers
  • Supplemental Materials on the Law of Agency, Partnerships, LLCs and Other Unincorporated Businesses by W. Sherman Rogers 
  • Getting a Grip on the Structure of Property Law: Supplemental Study Materials and Overview of the Course by W. Sherman Rogers 
  • Property Terms and Concepts, by W. Sherman Rogers 
  • Supplemental Study Materials for Conflict of Laws, by W. Sherman Rogers 
  • Supplemental Study Materials for Federal Courts, by W. Sherman Rogers 
  • The Four Major Categories of Remedies by W. Sherman Rogers 
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