Biography
- Biography
Columbia Law School
Professor of Law, 2007 – present
Milton Handler Fellow, 2005 – 2007
Associate Professor of Law, 2003 – 2007
John M. Olin, Jr. Fellow, Center for Law and Economics Studies, 2002–03
University of Chicago Law School
Visiting Professor, Spring 2008
Hon. Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court
Judicial Clerk, 2001-02
Hon. Richard A. Posner, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Judicial Clerk, 2000-01
Other: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY, Summer Associate, 1999; Jackson & Kelly, Washington, DC, Summer Associate, 1995; Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Salt Lake City, UT, Research Associate, 1993-94
Education
University of Chicago Law School
J.D., with High Honors, 2000
Activities: Articles Editor, University of Chicago Law Review, 1998-99; Staff Member, 1997-98
Honors: John M. Olin Prize, to the outstanding graduate in Law and Economics, 2000; Olin Student Fellowship in Law and Economics, 1995-96, 1997-00; Bradley Foundation Economics Fellowship, 1997-00; Joseph Henry Beale Prize, for outstanding work in the first-year legal research and writing program, 1995
University of Chicago, Department of Economics
Ph.D., 2003; M.A., 1997
Thesis: Bankruptcy Decision-Making: An Empirical Study of Small-Business Bankruptcies
Teaching: Teaching Assistant to Profs. Gary S. Becker, James J. Heckman and José S. Scheinkman
Honors: State Farm Foundation Dissertation Award, 2000-01; Bradley Foundation Scholarship, 1997-99; Honorary Scholar, Univ. Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Economics, 2000–2001
University of Utah
B.S., summa cum laude, in Economics and Accounting, with Honors Program Degree, 1994
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship, 1994; Honors Baccalaureate Scholarship, 1994; First Prize, Beta Alpha Psi undergraduate manuscript contest, 1993; Outstanding Scholar Scholarship, School of Business, 1993-94; Honors Foreign Study Scholarship in Greece, 1992; full-tuition scholarship, 1989-93
Teaching
Bankruptcy Law: Fall 2003, Spring 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2007, Spring 2008 (at Univ. Chicago), Fall 2008
Contracts: Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2006, Fall 2008
Law and Economics Seminar: Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008
Empirical Law and Economics Seminar: Spring 2008 (at Univ. Chicago)
Current Issues in Corporate Reorganization: Spring 2004, Spring 2006, Spring 2009
Law & Economics Workshop: 2004-05, 2005-06
Publications
Articles: Bankruptcy Decisionmaking: An Empirical Study of Continuation Bias in Small Business Bankruptcies, 50 J. L. Econ. (2007)
Serial Entrepreneurs and Small Business Bankruptcies, 105 Colum. L. Rev. 2310 (2005) (with Douglas G. Baird)
Financial Contracts and the New Bankruptcy Code: Insulating Markets from Bankrupt Debtors and Bankruptcy Judges, 13 Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 641 (2005) (with Joerg Riegel)
Adversary Proceedings in Bankruptcy: A Sideshow, 79 Am. Bankr. L. J. 951 (2005) (with Douglas G. Baird)
Derivatives and the Bankruptcy Code: Why the Special Treatment?, 22 Yale J. Reg. 91 (2005) (with Franklin R. Edwards)
Bankruptcy Decisionmaking, 17 J. Law, Econ. & Org. 356 (2001) (with Douglas G. Baird)
Chapters: Timbers of Inwood Forest, the Economics of Rent, and the Irrelevance of Supreme Court Precedent, in Bankruptcy Stories (Foundation Press: Robert K. Rasmussen, ed.) (forthcoming 2007)
Derivatives and Systemic Risk: What Role Can the Bankruptcy Code Play?, in Systemic Financial Crises (World Scientific Press: Douglas D. Evanoff and George G. Kaufman, eds.) (2005) (with Franklin R. Edwards)
In Progress: Bargaining around Bankruptcy: Small Business Distress and State Law
Creditor Control and Conflict in Chapter 11 (with Kenneth Ayotte)
Health Shocks and Bankruptcy (with Larry Cook, Heather Keenan, and Lenora Olson)
Credit Cards, Mortgages, and Debt Substitution (with Christopher Mayer)
Lien Stripping in Bankruptcy and the Availability of Home Mortgages (with Richard Hynes and Christopher Mayer)
The Bankruptcy Lag (with Richard Hynes)
Economics of Bankruptcy (Edward Elgar: Edward R. Morrison, ed.)
Comment: Judicial Review of Discount Rates Used in Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis, 65 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1333 (1998)
Older work: Off-Balance Sheet Risks: What Are They and Why is Their Disclosure Important?, 11 J. Acct. Educ. 313 (1993)
Impact of the Salt Lake City Airport on the Utah Economy, 53 Utah Econ. & Bus. Rev. 1 (1993) (second author, Boyd L. Fjeldsted)
Government Reports
Small Business Bankruptcy and the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 commissioned by the Small Business Administration (Government Contract No. SBAHQ-06-A-0023), pursuant to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-8 § 443
Invited Presentations
Health Shocks and Bankruptcy
Harvard/Texas Conference on Commercial Law Realities, February 2008
Columbia Law School, October 2007
Creditor Control and Conflict in Chapter 11
University of Virginia Law School, April 2008
University of Southern California Law School, March 2008
Case Western Law School, February 2008
Columbia Law School, November 2007
University of Pennsylvania School of Law, November 2007
Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS), November 2007
Oxford University, October 2007
Triangle Law & Economics Conference, Duke University, April 2007
Harvard/Texas Conference on Commercial Law Realities, April 2007
Westpoint Stevens in Chapter 11: A Class of Titans
Turnaround Management Association (TMA)/The Deal Distressed Investing Conference, January 2008
Financial Contracts and the Bankruptcy Code: Safe Harbors with Broad Scope and Uncertain Justification
Lawrence P. King and Charles Seligson Workshop on Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization, October 2007
Columbia Law School, Deals Roundtable, October 2006
Bankruptcy’s Rarity: An Essay on Small Business Bankruptcy in the United States
European Company and Finance Review (ECFR) Conference, October 2007
Bargaining around Bankruptcy: Small Business Distress and State Law (and previous titles)
Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, May 2007
American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) Annual Meeting, May 2007
Fordham Junior Faculty Forum, March 2007
University of Toronto Faculty of Law, March 2007
Columbia Law School, Faculty Lunch Series, March 2007
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), March 2007
Columbia Law School, Contracts and Economic Organization Workshop, March 2007
University of Chicago Law School, February 2007
AALS Annual Meeting, January 2007
Northwestern University, School of Law, November 2006
Georgetown University Law Center, April 2006
Harvard/Texas Conference on Commercial Law Realities, April 2006
Hedge Fund Failures
American Bankruptcy Institute Insolvency Symposium, February 2007
Serial Entrepreneurs and Small Business Bankruptcy
American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) Annual Meeting, May 2005
Harvard/Texas Conference on Commercial Law Realities, April 2005
University of Virginia School of Law, February 2005
Boalt Hall, November 2004
Columbia Law School, October 2004
Cornell Law School, October 2004
Derivatives and Systemic Risk: What Role Can the Bankruptcy Code Play?
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago International Conference on “Systemic Financial Crises: Resolving Large Bank Insolvencies,” September 2004
Bankruptcy Decisionmaking: An Empirical Study of Continuation Bias in Small Business Bankruptcies (and other titles)
Columbia Business School, April 2004
William & Mary School of Law, April 2004
University of Virginia School of Law, February 2004.
Harvard Law School, February, March 2003
Cornell Law School, January 2003
NYU School of Law, January 2003
University of Pennsylvania Law School, January 2003
Northwestern University School of Law, January 2003
Columbia Law School, January 2003
Yale Law School, December 2002
Georgetown Law Center, December 2002
Vanderbilt Law School, December 2002
Theory and Evidence on the Costs of Damages Rules (and other titles)
American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) Annual Meeting, May 2001
University of Chicago Department of Economics, October 2000
Vanderbilt University Law School, October 2000
Bankruptcy Decisionmaking
University of Chicago Law School, May 2000 (with Douglas Baird)
American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) Annual Meeting, May 2000
University of Virginia School of Law, April 2000 (with Douglas Baird)
Commentary And Other Presentations
Commentator on Adair Morse, Payday Lenders: Heroes or Villains?, Conference on the Law and Economics of Consumer Credit, University of Virginia School of Law, February 2008
Commentator on Lynn M. LoPucki and Joseph W. Doherty, The Determinants of Professional Fees in Large Bankruptcy Reorganization Cases Revisited, Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, November 2007
Commentator on Kenneth S. Reinker and David Rosenberg, Improving Medical Malpractice Liability by Allowing the Insurers to Take Charge, University of Chicago Conference on Current Research on Medical Malpractice Liability, May 2006
Commentator on Katharina Pistor, Who is Tolling the Bells to Firms? Lessons from Transition Economies, Columbia Law School Faculty Lunch Series, September 2005
Commentator on Victor P. Goldberg, Alcoa v. Essex: Bad Contracts Can Make For Bad Law, Columbia Law School Faculty Retreat, November 2004
Moderator, Panel Discussion on Hedge Fund Regulation, Columbia Business Law Review 20th Anniversary Event, April 2006
Moderator, Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights II, American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) Annual Meeting, May 2004
Conference Organization
Roundtable on Hedge Funds, Creditor Control, and Restructuring, Columbia Law School Transactional Studies Program, New York, NY, Oct. 27, 2006
Federal Judicial Center and Columbia Law School Program for Bankruptcy Judges: Law and Business, Columbia Law School, New York, NY, April 26-28, 2005
Service On Committees
Co-Chair, Clerkships & Judicial Relations Committee: 2006-08
Resources and Development: Fall 2006, Fall 2007
Associates Committee: 2004-06
Business Task Force: 2004-07, Fall 2007
Information Technology: 2004-05
Admissions and Financial Aid: 2003-04
Student Services: 2003-04
Other Service to Columbia Law School
Director/Instructor, Leiden-Amsterdam-Columbia Summer Program in American Law, The Netherlands, Director, 2007-present; Co-Director, 2006; Instructor, 2004-05
Member, Board of Directors, Columbia Business Law Review, 2005-present
Advisor to Annual Survey (on bankruptcy law), Columbia Business Law Review, 2004-05
Service to Columbia University
Dissertation Committee Member for Stav Gaon, Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia Business School (Spring 2006)
Dissertation Committee Member for Nan Chen, Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia Business School (Spring 2004)
Professional Service
Conferee, National Bankruptcy Conference, 2007-present
Referee Work for Scholarly Journals
American Bankruptcy Law Journal
American Law and Economics Review
International Review of Law and Economics
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
Journal of Law and Economics
Journal of Legal Studies
Journal of Political Economy
Law and Social Inquiry
AALS Administration
Chair, Law and Economics Section, 2008
Chair-Elect, Law and Economics Section, 2007
Secretary, Law and Economics Section, 2005
Association Membership
American Association of Law Schools
American Bankruptcy Institute
American Economics Association
American Law and Economics Association
History
- Member for
- 3 years 8 weeks
