Law and Economics

3 units

This course will focus on the economic analysis of law. We will first explore the common law subjects: torts, contracts, property, and restitution. We will ask descriptive questions, e.g., whether the doctrines are consistent with economic principles, normative questions, e.g., whether the doctrines should be modified to reflect economic principles; and advocacy questions, e.g., how might the economic insights be fruitfully deployed to prevail in litigation. After exploring the common law we will turn to a selection of topics, including settlement, the economics of precedent, and the economics of contract and statutory interpretation. The class will then pivot from economic theory to empirical analysis. We will close with a deep dive into the uses (and abuses) of statistical inference in litigation. Assessment will be done by a timed in-class final exam.