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Richard McAdams

Academic Faculty

Full Time Teaching Faculty

Richard H. McAdams

Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law

Biography

Richard H. McAdams is the Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law. He writes on criminal law and procedure, the expressive function of law, statutory interpretation, and law and literature. Professor McAdams is the author of The Expressive Powers of Law: Theories and Limits (Harvard University Press 2015), and co-editor of Fatal Fictions: Crime and Investigation in Law and Literature (Oxford U. Press 2016) and Fairness in Law and Economics (Edward Elgar 2013). He has served as a member of the National Science Foundation Advisory Panel for Law & Social Sciences, the editorial board of the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and the Board of Directors of the American Law and Economics Association.

Before joining the Law School in 2007, Professor McAdams taught on the law faculties at the University of Illinois, Boston University, and IIT Chicago-Kent. He was a visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and Yale Law School, and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University Research School of Social Sciences. Professor McAdams teaches primarily in the area of criminal law and has recently taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Elements of the Law, and Law & Literature.

Education and Experience

Education

The University of Virginia School of Law

JD, 1985

  • Order of the Coif
  • Notes editor, Virginia Law Review, 1984-85

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

BA in economics awarded with honors, 1982

  • Phi Beta Kappa

Academic Positions

The University of Chicago Law School

Bernard D. Meltzer Professor of Law, 2007-present
Deputy Dean, July 2018 - June 2020
Aaron Director Research Scholar, 2013-2015
Visiting Professor, fall 2005

The University of Illinois College of Law

Co-director, Illinois Program in Criminal Law & Procedure, 2005-2007
Guy Raymond Jones Professor, 2003-2007
Professor, 1999-2003

Yale Law School

Visiting Professor, 2003-2004

Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University

Visiting Fellow, Social and Political Theory Group, June-August 1999

Boston University School of Law

Professor, 1997-1999
Visiting Associate Professor, spring 1997

The University of Virginia School of Law

Visiting Assistant Professor, fall 1994

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law

Assistant and Associate Professor, 1990-1997

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Associate, Philadelphia, PA, 1986-1990

Hon. Harrison L. Winter, Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Judicial Clerk, 1985-1986

Publications

Books (Author)

  • The Expressive Powers of Law: Theories and Limits (paperback ed.) (Harvard University Press, 2017).cu
  • The Expressive Powers of Law: Theories and Limits (Harvard University Press, 2015).cu www

Books (Editor)

  • Fatal Fictions: Crime and Investigation in Law and Literature. (Oxford University Press, 2016) (edited with Alison L. LaCroix & Martha C. Nussbaum ). cu
  • Fairness in Law and Economics. (Edward Elgar, 2013) (edited with Lee Fennell). cu

Journal Articles

  • "Succession’s Chappaquiddick Moment," 73 DePaul Law Review 887 (2024). www
  • "Criminogenic Risks of Interrogation," 98 Indiana Law Journal 1031 (2023) (with Margareth Etienne). ssrn
  • "Collective Bargaining Rights and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida," 38 Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 1 (2022) (with Dhammika Dharmapala & John Rappaport). ssrn www
  • "Epstein on Private Discrimination: Searching for Common Ground," 50 Journal of Legal Studies S293 (2021). www
  • "Police Deception in Interrogation as a Problem of Procedural Legitimacy," 54 Texas Tech Law Review 21 (2021) (with Margareth Etienne).
  • "Inversion Aversion," 86 University of Chicago Law Review 797 (2019) (with Lee Fennell). ssrn
  • "The Expressive Power of Rabbinic Law," 64 Villanova Law Review 725 (2019). www
  • "Police Violence in The Wire," 2018 University of Chicago Legal Forum 139 (2018) (with Jonathan S. Masur). cu www
  • "The Cross-Examination of Mayella Ewell," 69 Alabama Law Review 579 (2018). ssrn cu
  • "The Need for a General Theory of Discrimination: A Comment on Katharine T. Bartlett & Mitu Gulati, Discrimination by Customers," 102 Iowa Law Review Online 335 (2017). cu
  • Response, "Reply to Commentators", 42 Law and Social Inquiry 76 (2017). cu
  • "Litigating the Blue Wall of Silence: How to Challenge the Police Privilege to Delay Investigation," 2016 University of Chicago Legal Forum 213 (2016) (with Aziz Z. Huq). ssrn cu
  • "The Distributive Deficit in Law and Economics," 100 Minnesota Law Review 1051 (2016) (with Lee Fennell). ssrn cu
  • "Close Enough for Government Work? Heien's Less-than-Reasonable Mistake of the Rule of Law," 2015 Supreme Court Review 147 (2016). cu
  • "Punitive Police? Agency Costs, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Procedure," 45 Journal of Legal Studies 105 (2016) (with Dhammika Dharmapala & Nuno Garoupa ). cu www
  • "Riley’s Less Obvious Tradeoffs: Forgoing Scope-Limited Searches," 48 Texas Tech Law Review 97 (2015). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Miranda Wilson, Poison's Dark Works in Renaissance England (Lewisburg, Pa: Bucknell Univ. Press, 2014))," 113 Modern Philology E23 (2015). cu www
  • "The Law of Police," 82 University of Chicago Law Review 135 (2015) (with Dhammika Dharmapala & Nuno Garoupa). ssrn cu
  • "Libertarian Paternalism, Path Dependence, and Temporary Law," 81 University of Chicago Law Review 291 (2014) (with Tom Ginsburg & Jonathan S. Masur ). ssrn cu
  • "Present Bias and Criminal Law," 2011 University of Illinois Law Review 1607 (2011). cu
  • "Economic Costs of Inequality," 2010 University of Chicago Legal Forum 23 (2010). cu
  • "Beyond the Prisoners' Dilemma: Coordination, Game Theory, and Law," 82 Southern California Law Review 209 (2009). ssrn cu
  • "Private Enforcers of International Law and Norms," 165 Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 58 (2009). cu
  • "Richard Epstein and Discrimination Law," 44 Tulsa Law Review 839 (2009). cu
  • "Coordinating in the Shadow of the Law: Two Contextualized Tests of the Focal Point Theory of Legal Compliance," 42 Law and Society Review 865 (2008) (with Janice Nadler). ssrn cu
  • "Reforming Entrapment Doctrine in United States v. Hollingsworth," 74 University of Chicago Law Review 1795 (2007). ssrn cu
  • Comment, "Guilt and Crime: Commentary on Ana Zablah, In America as in Omelas," 2 Carceral Notebooks 153 (2006). cu
  • "Conformity to Inegalitarian Conventions and Norms: The Contribution of Coordination and Esteem," 88 Monist 238 (2005). ssrn cu
  • "Testing the Focal Point Theory of Legal Compliance: The Effect of Third-Party Expression in an Experimental Hawk/Dove Game," 2 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 87 (2005) (with Janice Nadler). ssrn cu
  • "Roundtable Discussion: Must We Choose Between Rationality and Irrationality?," 80 Chicago-Kent Law Review 1257 (2005). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Cass R. Sunstein, Why Societies Need Dissent (2003))," 43 Journal of Economic Literature 173 (2005). cu
  • "The Political Economy of Entrapment," 96 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 107 (2005). ssrn cu
  • "The Expressive Power of Adjudication," 2005 University of Illinois Law Review 1043 (2005). cu
  • "Words That Kill - An Economic Model of the Influence of Speech on Behavior (with Particular Reference to Hate Speech)," 34 Journal of Legal Studies 93 (2005) (with Dhammika Dharmapala). ssrn cu
  • "Cultural Contingency and Economic Function: Bridge-Building from the Law & Economics Side," 38 Law and Society Review 221 (2004). cu
  • "Adjudicating in Anarchy: An Expressive Theory of International Dispute Resolution," 45 William and Mary Law Review 1229 (2004) (with Tom Ginsburg). cu
  • "The Condorcet Jury Theorem and the Expressive Function of Law: A Theory of Informative Law," 5 American Law and Economics Review 1 (2003) (with Dhammika Dharmapala). ssrn cu
  • "Introduction to Symposium: Empirical and Experimental Methods in Law," 2002 University of Illinois Law Review 791 (2002) (with Thomas S. Ulen). ssrn cu
  • "Tribute to Gary T. Schwartz," 2002 University of Illinois Law Review 789 (2002) (with Thomas S. Ulen). cu
  • "Signaling Discount Rates: Law, Norms, and Economic Methodology (reviewing Eric A. Posner, Law and Social Norms (2000))," 110 Yale Law Journal 625 (2001). ssrn cu
  • "Focal Point Theory of Expressive Law," 86 Virginia Law Review 1649 (2000). ssrn cu
  • "An Attitudinal Theory of Expressive Law," 79 Oregon Law Review 339 (2000). ssrn cu
  • "Symposium on Race and Criminal Law: Introduction," 73 Chicago-Kent Law Review 467 (1998). cu
  • "Race and Selective Prosecution: Discovering the Pitfalls of Armstrong," 73 Chicago-Kent Law Review 605 (1998). ssrn cu
  • "Modeling Morality: What Are the Limits to Self-Directed Preference Change?," 78 Boston University Law Review 947 (1998). cu
  • "The Origin, Development, and Regulation of Norms," 96 Michigan Law Review 338 (1997). cu
  • "The Surprisingly Complex Case Against Theft," 17 International Review of Law and Economics 367 (1997) (with R. Hasen). ssrn cu
  • "Comment: Accounting for Norms," 1997 Wisconsin Law Review 625 (1997). cu
  • "Group Norms, Gossip, and Blackmail," 144 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 2237 (1996). cu
  • "Cooperation and Conflict: The Economics of Group Status Production and Race Discrimination," 108 Harvard Law Review 1003 (1995). cu
  • "Epstein on His Own Grounds," 31 San Diego Law Review 241 (1994). cu
  • "A View from the Box: The Law Professor as Juror," 68 Chicago-Kent Law Review 393 (1992). cu
  • "Relative Preferences," 102 Yale Law Journal 1 (1992). cu
  • "Tying Privacy in Knotts: Beeper Monitoring and Collective Fourth Amendment Rights," 71 Virginia Law Review 297 (1985). cu

Book Sections

  • "One (More) Virtue of Temporary Law," in Research Handbook on Law and Time, Frank Fagan & Saul Levmore eds. (forthcoming) (with Tom Ginsburg & Jonathan S. Masur ).
  • "Crimes of The Americans," in Law, Politics and Family in 'The Americans', Austin Sarat & Rene´e Ann Cramer eds. (Emerald Publishing, 2023).
  • "New Light on the Trial of Billy Budd," in Cannons and Codes: Law, Literature, and America’s Wars, Alison L. LaCroix, Jonathan S. Masur, Martha C. Nussbaum & Laura Weinrib eds. (Oxford University Press, 2021) (with Jacob Corre).
  • "The Grapes of Wrath, Economics, and Luck," in Power, Prose, and Purse: Law, Literature, and Economic Transformations, Alison L. LaCroix, Saul Levmore & Martha C. Nussbaum eds. (Oxford University Press, 2019).
  • "Economic Theories of Discrimination: The Positive and the Normative," in The Empire of Disgust: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Policy in India and the US, Zoya Hasan, Aziz Z. Huq, Martha C. Nussbaum & Vidhu Verma eds. (Oxford University Press, 2018).
  • "Cold-Blooded and High Minded Murder: The 'Case' of Othello," in Fatal Fictions: Crime and Investigation in Law and Literature, Alison L. LaCroix, Richard H. McAdams & Martha C. Nussbaum eds. (Oxford University Press, 2016) (with Richard Strier). cu
  • "Conventions and Norms: Philosophical Aspects," in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Elsevier, 2015). cu
  • "Empathy and Masculinity in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird," in American Guy: Masculinity in American Law and Literature, Martha C. Nussbaum & Saul Levmore eds. (Oxford University Press, 2014). cu
  • "Do Exclusionary Rules Convict the Innocent?," in Research Handbook on Economic Models of Law, Matthew Baker & Thomas Miceli eds. (Edward Elgar, 2014) (with Dhammika Dharmapala & Nuno Garoupa). cu
  • "Introduction," in Fairness in Law and Economics, Lee Fennell & Richard H. McAdams eds. (Edward Elgar, 2013) (with Lee Fennell). ssrn cu
  • "Vengeance, Complicity, and Criminal Law in Othello," in Shakespeare and the Law: A Conversation Among Disciplines and Professions, Bradin Cormack, Martha C. Nussbaum & Richard Strier eds. (University of Chicago Press, 2013). cu
  • "The Focal Point Theory Of Expressive Law," in Encyclopedia Of Law And Economics., Francesco Parisi ed. 2012). cu
  • "Bill Stuntz and the Principal-Agent Problem in Criminal Law," in The Political Heart of Criminal Procedure: Essays on Themes of William J. Stuntz, Michael Klarman, David A. Skeel & Carol Steiker eds. (Oxford University Press, 2012). cu
  • "The Expressive Power of Adjudication in an Evolutionary Context," in Law, Economics, and Evolutionary Theory, Peer Zumbansen & Gralf-Peter Calliess eds. (Edward Elgar, 2011). cu
  • "Resentment, Excuse, and Norms," in The Hart-Fuller Debate in the Twenty-First Century, Peter Cane ed. (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2010). cu
  • "Jury Nullification Checks Prosecutorial Power," in Criminal Law Conversations, Paul H. Robinson, Kimberly Ferzan & Stephen Garvey eds. (Oxford University Press, 2009). cu
  • "For General Deterrence (Comment on Chapter 5, Paul H. Robinson, 'The Difficulties of Deterrence as a Distributive Principle')," in Criminal Law Conversations, Kimberly Ferzan, Stephen Garvey & Paul H. Robinson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2009) (with Jonathan S. Masur & Thomas J. Miles). cu
  • "Behavioral Criminal Law and Economics," in Criminal Law and Economics, Nuno Garoupa ed. (Edward Elgar, 2009) (with Thomas S. Ulen). cu
  • "The Political Economy of Criminal Law and Procedure: The Pessimists' View," in Criminal Law Conversations, Kimberly Ferzan, Stephen Garvey & Paul H. Robinson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2009). cu
  • "Social Control and Crime.," in New Oxford Companion to Law, Peter Cane & Joanne Conaghan eds. (Oxford University Press, 2008). cu
  • "Norms and the Law," in The Handbook of Law and Economics, A. M. Polinsky & Steven M. Shavell eds. (Elsevier Science, 2007) (with Eric B. Rasmusen). cu
  • "Constructing Focal Points through Legal Expression: An Experimental Test," in Experimental Studies in Criminology and Law: A Research Revolution, Christine Horne & Michael J. Lovaglia eds. (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007) (with Janice Nadler). cu
  • "Conventions and Norms: Philosophical Aspects," in 4 International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences., Neil J. Smelser & Paul B. Baltes eds. 2001). cu
  • "Experimental Law and Economics," in 1 Encyclopedia of Law and Economics., Boudewijn Bouckaert & Gerrit De Geest eds. 2000). cu

Other Publications

  • "There Is No Real Evidence That Stop-and-Frisk Helps Reduce Crime," Chicago Tribune, November 28, 2022 (with Aziz Z. Huq). www
  • "Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida," CATO Institute Research Briefs in Economic Policy, July 10, 2019 (with Dhammika Dharmapala & John Rappaport). www
  • "Past Perfect (reviewing Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman (Harper Collins, 2015))," The New Rambler, August 24, 2015. www
  • "Book Review (reviewing Brandon L. Garrett, Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise with Corporations (2014))," The New Rambler, June 24, 2015. www
  • "What Did Atticus Finch Think of the Civil Rights Movement?," Huffington Post, February 10, 2015. www

Presentations
  • Popular Culture Assoc. annual conference, Chicago, Succession’s Chappaquiddick Moment (Mar 2024)
  • Legislation Roundtable, Georgetown, Asking GPT for the Ordinary Meaning of Statutory Terms (Mar 2024)
  • Lecture on 4th Amendment for new investigators at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability (Feb 2024)
  • Conf on Marriage in Amer. Law & Literature, U. Chi, Who’s Afraid of Childless Marriage? (April 2023)
  • Fac Workshop, UNC, Training Police to Blame Victims (April 2023)
  • Fac Workshop, UCI, Unexpected Costs of Moral Minimization as an Interrogation Tactic (Jan 2022)
  • Fac Workshop, FSU, Unexpected Costs of Moral Minimization as an Interrogation Tactic (Nov 2021)
  • Conf on CrimLaw, Tex Tech., Police Deception as a Problem of Procedural Legitimacy (Apr 2021)
  • Lecture on Fourth Amendment for new investigators at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Online (Apr 2021)
  • Lecture on Fourth Amendment for new investigators at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Malcolm X College (Feb 2019 and Oct 2019)
  • Law & Economics Workshop, Notre Dame, The Effect of Collective Bargaining Rights on Law Enforcement: Evidence from Florida (Nov 2018)
  • Festschrift on Richard Epstein, U. Chicago, Epstein on Discrimination (April 2018)
  • Opening Keynote, Texas Tech Conference on Death Penalty (April 2018)
  • Law, Identity & Politics workshop, Duke, Economic Theories of Discrimination: The Positive and the Normative (April 2018)
  • Faculty Workshop, U. Minn, New Light on the Trial of Billy Budd (April 2018)
  • Faculty Workshop, Texas A&M, The Effect of Collective Bargaining Rights on Law Enforcement: Evidence from Florida (March 2018)
  • Lecture on Fourth Amendment for new investigators at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Malcolm X College (Aug 2017 and March 2018)
  • Lecture on Fourth Amendment for new investigators at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Chicago State Univ. (June 2017)
  • Fac workshop, UIUC, Economic Theories of Discrimination: The Positive & the Normative (Apr 2017)
  • Symposium on The Legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird: Advocacy in an Unjust Society, U Alabama, The Cross-Examination of Mayella Ewell (March 2017)
  • Conf on War in Law and Literature, U Chi, New Light on the Trial of Billy Budd (Feb 2018)
  • Prejudice, Stigma, Discrimination: Combatting Exclusions Through Policy and Law, U Chicago Center in Delhi, Economic Theories of Discrimination: The Positive and the Normative (Dec 2016)
  • Int’l Seminar on Institutional Theory, Federal U of Rio de Janeiro, The Focal Point Theory of Law (Nov 2016)
  • LSA meeting, New Orleans, Author-Meets-Reader Panel on Richard H. McAdams, The Expressive Powers of Law: Theories and Limits (Harvard Press 2015) (June 2016)
  • World Bank Symposium, The Role of Law in Governance, DC, “A Focal Point Theory of Law” (Apr 2016)
  • MPSA, Chicago, panel on Rational and Super-Rational Motives: Meaning, Commitment, and Incentives, “A Focal Point Theory of Law” (April 2016)
  • Conf on Money in Law & Literature, UChicago, Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, Economics, Luck (Feb 2016)
  • AALS section on Violence Against Women, panel on Anticipatory Self-Defense, NYC, Kidnapping, Imminence, and Self-Defense (Jan 2016)
  • Legal Forum Conference on Policing the Police, U. Chicago, Litigating the Blue Wall of Silence (Nov 2015)
  • Law & Econ. Workshop, BU, The Distributive Deficit in Law & Economics (Nov 2015)
  • Ohio Judicial Conference, Columbus, Vengeance, Complicity, and Criminal Law in Othello (Sept 2015)
  • ALEA meeting, Columbia U., The Distributive Deficit in Law & Economics (May 2015)
  • Conf on The Fourth Amendment in the 21st Century, Texas Tech., Riley’s Less Obvious Tradeoffs (Apr 2015)
  • Franke Institute for the Humanities, UChicago, Cold-Blooded and High-Minded Murder: The “Case” of Othello (Feb 2015)
  • Faculty Workshop, UC-Irvine, The Distributive Deficit in Law & Economics (Nov 2014)
  • Midwest Law & Econ. Ass’n, IU – Indianapolis, The Distributive Deficit in Law and Economics (Oct 2014)
  • Faculty Workshop, Cornell U., Welfarist Distributive Goals & Political Action Costs (Sept 2014)
  • Conference on the Law and Social Order, Emory, The Expressive Powers of Law (Sept 2014)
  • Symp on Criminal Procedure in the Spotlight: Theoretical, Constitutional, and Administrative Developments, The Law of Police (May 2014)
  • Coase Lecture, UChicago Law, The Expressive Powers of Law (Apr 2014)
  • Conf on Crime in Law & Literature, UChicago, Cold-Blooded and High-Minded Murder: The “Case” of Othello (Feb 2014)
  • Midwest Law & Econ. Ass’n, UIUC, Libertarian Paternalism, Multiple Equilibria, & Temporary Law (Oct2013)
  • Faculty Workshop, Iowa Law, Libertarian Paternalism, Multiple Equilibria, and Temporary Law (Oct 2013)
  • Hoffinger Criminal Justice Colloq., NYU, Expressive Theories of Criminal Law (Apr 2013)
  • Law & Lit Seminar (Robin West), Georgetown, Empathy & Manhood in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Feb 2013)
  • Southern Econ. Ass’n, New Orleans, Multiple Equilibria & Temporary Law (Nov 2012)
  • Faculty Workshop, Tulane, Empathy and Manhood in “To Kill a Mockingbird” (March 2012)
  • Conf on Manhood in American Law & Literature, UChicago, Empathy and Manhood in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Feb 2012).
  • Faculty Workshop, Ariz. St. U., The Focal Point Theory of Legal Compliance (Feb 2012)
  • Faculty Workshop, Duke Law, Custom and the Focal Point Theory (Jan 2012)
  • LSA meeting, San Francisco, Vengeance, Complicity & Criminal Law in Othello (June 2011)
  • ALEA, Columbia U., Punitive Police? Agency Costs, Law Enforcement & Criminal Procedure (May 2011)
  • Crim Justice Roundtable, Yale, Punitive Police? Agency Costs, Law Enforcement & Criminal Procedure (Apr 2011)
  • Fac Workshop, Emory, Vengeance, Complicity, & Criminal Law in Othello (Apr 2011)
  • Law & Politics Colloquium, Wash U., The Expressive Power of Law (April 2011)
  • Law & Econ. Seminar, Stanford, Punitive Police? Agency Costs, Law Enforcement, & Criminal Procedure (Feb. 2011)
  • Seminar, Lectures on the Expressive Function of Law, ETH Zurich (July 2010)
  • First Annual Meeting, Spanish Assoc. of Law & Econ., Madrid, Keynote: The Economics of Law’s Expression (June 2010)
  • LSA Meeting, Chicago, Stuntz & the Principal-Agent Problem in Criminal Law (May 2010)
  • Conference on Bill Stuntz, Harv. Law School, Bill Stuntz & the Principal-Agent Problem in Criminal Law (Mar. 2010)
  • Faculty workshop, Brooklyn, Vengeance, Complicity, and Criminal Law in Othello (Oct 2009)
  • Conference on Shakespeare and the Law, U. Chicago Law School, Criminal Responsibility in Shakespeare: Did Iago Murder Desdemona? (May 2009)
  • Conference on Richard A. Epstein, Tulsa Law School, The Legal Regulation of Discrimination (March 2009)
  • Conf. on Evolution, Complexity, & Law, Santa Fe Institute, Co-Evolution of Law & Custom (March 2009)
  • Joint Faculty workshop, UNC & Duke Law, The Expressive Powers of Law (March 2009)
  • Faculty workshop, Wash U. Law, The Expressive Power of Law (March 2009)
  • Conference on The Hart-Fuller Debate 50 Years On, Australian Nat’l Univ. College of Law, Comment on Philip Pettit’s Norms, Commitment, and Censure (Dec 2008)
  • Conference on Coordination in the Absence of Sovereignty, MPI & U. Bonn, Lübbenau, GDR
  • Comment on Aaken, Effectuating Int’l Law Through Market Mechanisms? (June 2008)
  • ALEA meeting., Columbia U., Exclusionary Rules Convict the Innocent (w/Dharmapala & Garoupa)
  • (May 2008)
  • Law & Econ. Workshop, ETH, U. Zurich & U. St. Gallen, Vicious Circles of Discrimination, the Just World Belief, and Hate Crime Statutes (Apr 2008)
  • Law & Econ. Lecture, ETH, U. Zurich, & U. St. Gallen, Expressive Power of Law (Apr 2008)
  • Law & Econ. Workshop, BU, Beyond the Prisoners’ Dilemma: Coordination, Equity & Law (Nov 2007)
  • Conference on Law, Moral, and Social Norms, National Univ. Colombia, Bogota, Inegalitarian and Illiberal Conventions and Norms (Oct. 2007)
  • Chair & Discussant, panel on Advances in Behavioral Economics, LSA mtg., Berlin (Jul 2007)
  • Conference on Behavioral Approaches to Compliance, Bar-Ilan & Hebrew Universities, Beyond the Prisoners’ Dilemma: Equity and Coordination Games, Social Frames, and Law (May 2007)
  • Conf. on Public Int’l Law & Econ., Max Planck Institute, Bonn, Germany, comment on G. Norman & J. Trachtman, The Customary International Law Game (Dec 2006)
  • Conference on Institutionalization of International Norms, Center for Int’l & Comparative Studies, Northwestern, An Expressive Theory of Adjudication (Oct 2006)
  • Law & Econ. Workshop, U. Virginia, The Just World Bias and Hate Crime Statutes (Oct 2006)
  • Brownbag, Center for Study of Race & Law, Economics of Racial Profiling (Oct 2006)
  • Technische Universität, Berlin, Conference on Uncertainty, Risk and Regulation: The Behavioral
  • Law & Economics Perspective, Just World Bias and Hate Crime Statutes (June 2006)
  • Georgetown, Conference on Inequality, Economic Costs of Inequality (March 2006)
  • Crime & Punishment workshop, U. Chicago, Just World Bias & Hate Crime Statutes (Dec 2005)
  • Faculty workshop, U. Chicago, The Political Economy of Entrapment (Nov 2005)
  • International Society for New Institutional Economics annual meeting, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, The Expressive Power of Adjudication (Sept 2005)
  • Comparative Law & Economics Forum, Chicago, The Political Economy of Entrapment (Sept 2005)
  • ALEA mtg, NYU, Just World Bias & Hate Crime (with Garoupa & Dharmapala)(May 2005)
  • Legal Theory workshop, Stanford, The Uneasy Case for Regulating Undercover Operations: Institutional and Economic Perspectives on the Entrapment Defense (Apr 2005)
  • Faculty workshop, Loyola-Los Angeles, The Uneasy Case for Regulating Undercover Ops: Institutional and Economic Perspectives on the Entrapment Defense (Apr 2005)
  • Faculty workshop, Boston U., The Expressive Power of Adjudication (March 2005)
  • Faculty workshop, UCLA, The Expressive Power of Adjudication (Feb 2005)
  • Faculty workshop, Case-Western, The Expressive Power of Adjudication (Feb 2005)
  • Law & Econ. workshop, Toronto, The Expressive Power of Adjudication (Nov 2004)
  • LSA meeting, Chicago, Game Theory Accounts of Inequality & Contingency (May 2004)
  • LSA meeting, Chicago, Testing the Focal Point Theory of Legal Compliance: Expressive Influence in an Experimental Hawk/Dove Game (with J. Nadler) (May 2004)
  • ALEA meeting, Northwestern, Testing the Focal Point Theory of Legal Compliance (with J.Nadler) (May 2004)
  • Faculty Workshop, Yale, Expressive Adjudication (Apr 2004)
  • Faculty Workshop, Seton Hall, Expressive Adjudication (Apr 2004)
  • Conf. of Contributors to forthcoming Handbook of Law and Economics, Harvard Law, Norms in Law and Economics (written with E. Rasmusen) (March 2004)
  • Workshop, Ctr Law, Econ. & Org., USC, A Third Model of Legal Compliance: Testing for Expressive Effects in a Hawk/Dove Game, (written with J. Nadler) (March 2004)
  • Faculty Workshop, U. Virginia, A Third Model of Legal Compliance: Testing for Expressive Effects in a Hawk/Dove Game (written with J. Nadler) (Feb 2004)
  • Law & Econ. Workshop, U. Michigan, A Third Model of Legal Compliance: Testing for Expressive Effects in a Hawk/Dove Game, (written with J. Nadler) (Dec 2003)
  • Faculty Workshop, U. Conn., A Third Model of Legal Compliance: Testing for Expressive Effects in a Hawk/Dove Game, (written with J. Nadler) (Nov 2003)
  • ALEA meeting, U. Toronto, Adjudicating in Anarchy: An Expressive Theory of Int’l Dispute Resolution (with T. Ginsburg) (Sept 2003)
  • Workshop, UIUC Pol. Sci. Dept., An Expressive Theory of Int’l Adjudication (with T. Ginsburg) (Apr 2003)
  • Law & Norms conf., Fordham, Conventions, Norms, & the Expressive Effect of Law (Apr 2003)
  • Faculty Workshop, Fla. St., Expressive Law: Testing the Effects of Third-Party Recommendations on Behavior in Coordination Games (written with J. Nadler) (Feb 2003)
  • Faculty Workshop, Northwestern, An Expressive Theory of Int’l Adjudication (with T. Ginsburg) (Nov 2002)
  • Faculty Workshop, Northwestern, Expressive Law: Testing the Effects of Third-Party Recommendations on Behavior in Coordination Games (with J. Nadler) (Nov 2002)
  • Midwest L&E Assoc., UIUC, An Expressive Theory of International Adjudication (with T. Ginsburg) (Oct 2002)
  • Law & Econ. Seminar, Harvard, Words that Kill: An Economic Perspective on Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (with D. Dharmapala) (Oct 2002)
  • ALEA meeting, Harvard, Words that Kill: An Economic Perspective on Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (written with D. Dharmapala) (May 2002)
  • LSA meeting, Vancouver, Game Theory and Gap Studies (May 2002)
  • Yale Legal Theory Workshop, The Uneasy Case for Undercover Operations and the Entrapment Defense (May 2002)
  • Faculty Workshop, U. Tex, The Uneasy Case for Undercover Operations and the Entrapment Defense (Apr 2002)
  • Workshop on Norms, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Legal Regulation of Conventions & Norms (Feb 2002)
  • Faculty Workshop, Vanderbilt, Entrapment: A Political and Economic Analysis (Feb 2002)
  • Brownbag, UI Inst. Gov. & Pub. Aff., Entrapment: A Political & Economic Analysis (Oct 2001)
  • Faculty Workshop, Cornell, An Economic Theory of the Entrapment Defense (Oct 2001)
  • Midwest Law & Econ. Assoc. meeting, Indiana U., Game Theory and Gap Studies (Oct 2001)
  • Canadian Law & Econ. Assoc. meeting, U. Toronto, Game Theory & Gap Studies (Sept 2001)
  • ALEA meeting, Georgetown Law Center, A Focal Point Theory of Expressive Law (May 2001)
  • Conference on Norms & Law, Wash. U., Discussant, Cognition & Complexity (March 2001)
  • AALS Conf. on Criminal Justice, D.C., Economics of Crim Law for Interdisciplinary Plenary (June 2000)
  • Conference on New and Critical Approaches to Law & Economics, U. Oregon, Symbolic Conflict and the Informational Theory of Expressive Law (March 2000)
  • Olin Conference on The Legal Construction of Norms, U. Virginia, What is Expressive Law? (Feb 2000)
  • Leg. Res. Initiative of MacArthur Foundation Network on Preferences, Chicago Esteem Norms (Oct 1999)
  • Conference on Fame, Shame, & Inst’l Design, RSSS, Australian Nat’l U., The Regulation of Norms: Implications of an Esteem Theory (Aug 1999)
  • Econ. workshop, RSSS, Australian Nat’l U., An Economic Analysis of Entrapment (June 1999)
  • ALEA meeting, Yale, An Economic Analysis of Entrapment (May 1999)
  • Faculty workshop, Rutgers-Camden U., An Economic Analysis of Entrapment (Feb 1999)
  • Law & Econ. Seminar, Harvard, Defining Entrapment: An Economic Analysis (Dec 1998)
  • Faculty workshop, Northwestern, Incapacitation and Entrapment (Oct 1998)
  • Conference on Economics of Law Enforcement, Harvard, Incapacitation and Entrapment (Oct 1998)
  • Conference on Norms & Incentives, RSSS, Australian Nat’l U., Esteem Norms & Law (Jul 1998)
  • LSA meeting, Aspen, Regulating Norms with Law (June 1998)
  • Faculty workshop, U. Illinois, Law, Economics, & the Origin of Norms (Nov 1996)
  • LSA meeting, Strathclyde U., Impulsiveness and the Legal Regulation of Advertising (Jul 1996)
  • ALEA. meeting, Northwestern, Theft Can Be Efficient, But Theft Rules Are Efficient (May 1996)
  • Penn. Law Rev. symposium on Law & Norms, Blackmail, Gossip, & Group Norms (Feb 1996)
  • Faculty workshop, U. Florida, Blackmail, Gossip and Group Norms (Nov 1995)
  • Faculty workshop, Northwestern (Oct 1995), Blackmail and Group Norms
  • ALEA meeting, U. Cal-Berkeley, The Economics of Group Status Production and Race Discrimination (May
  • 1995)
  • Law, Econ. & Org. workshop, Yale, The Economics of Group Status Production and Race Discrimination (Apr 1995)
  • Fac workshop, UVA, Economics of Group Status Production & Race Discrimination (Oct 1994)
  • Fac workshop, Indiana U, Race Discrimination as Status Competition (Feb 1994)
  • Amer. Bar Found. workshop, Chicago, Race Discrimination as Status Competition (July 1993)
  • LSA meeting, Chicago, Relative Preferences and Race Discrimination (May 1993)
  • SASE meeting, UCI, Legal Regulation of Status: The Case of Race Discrimination (March 1992)

Additional Activities

Memberships and Professional Affiliations

National Science Foundation

  • Member, Law & Social Sciences Advisory Panel (Fall 2010; Spring & Fall 2011; Spring 2012)

American Law and Economics Association

  • Board of Directors (2005-2008)
  • Program Committee (2006-2007)
  • Topic Area Organizer and/or Panel Chair: 2001, 2003, 2006 (social norms & behavioral economics); 1998, 2009 (criminal law)

Law and Society Association

  • Chair, Dissertation Prize Committee (2004-2005)
  • Member, Article Prize Committee (2003-2004)

Research Grants

  • NSF Award SES-0351530 ($84,822 for 2004-2008) with J. Nadler, for Expressive Law in Mixed Motive Games, Programs for Law & Soc. Sci.; Econ.; and Decision, Risk & Mngmt. Sci.
  • ABF grant ($209,000 for 2002-2006) with J. Nadler, for Expressive Law: Testing Effects of Third-Party Recommendations on Behavior in Coordination Games.

Awards and Honors

  • Univ. of Chicago Law School, elected graduation hooder by the class of 2014.
  • Chicago-Kent College of Law, elected Teacher of the Year by student body, 1993.

Institutional Service

University Committees, University of Chicago

  • Disciplinary Committee on Disruptive Conduct (2023-25)
  • Council of the Senate (2021-22)
  • Member, Committee on Honorary Degrees (2015-18)
  • Chair, Independent Review Committee (re: citizen complaints against the U. Chicago Police Dept.) (2011-16)
  • Member, Board of Computing Activities & Services (2009-2011)

Law School Committees, University of Chicago

  • Co-Director, Bigelow Fellowship Program, 2020-2024
  • Member, First-Year Curriculum Committee, 2018-2020
  • Member, Appointments Committee, 2007-09, 2018-2020
  • Chair, Legal Writing Committee, 2016-17
  • Chair, Lateral Appointments, 2013-14
  • Chair, Entry Level Appointments, 2012-13
  • Chair, Clinical and Skills Training, 2010-11 (Member, 2014- )
  • Chair, Tenure and Promotion Committee for Jacob Gersen, 2009-2010

Editorial Work

  • Journal Referee, American Journal of Comparative Law; American Law & Economics Review; American Political Science Review; Conflict Management & Peace Science; Economics & Philosophy; Federal Law Review (Australia); Harvard Law Review; International Review of Law & Economics; International Theory; Journal of Conflict Resolution; Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization; Journal of Economics & Philosophy; Journal of Empirical Legal Studies; Journal of Law, Economics & Organization; Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture; Journal of Legal Studies; Journal of Policy Analysis & Management; Journal of Politics; Law & History Review; Law & Philosophy; Law & Social Inquiry; Law & Society Review; New Criminal Law Review; Oxford Journal of Legal Studies; Quarterly Journal of Economics; Regulation & Governance; Review of Law & Economics; Review of Social Economy; Scandinavian Journal of Economics; State and Local Government Review; Supreme Court Economic Review.
  • Referee, American Law & Economics Assoc. conference; Cambridge Univ. Press; Czech Science Foundation; Empirical Legal Studies conference; Encyclopedia of Law & Economics; Harvard Univ. Press; Israeli Science Foundation; National Science Foundation; Oxford University Press; Stanford University Press.
  • Founder and editor, Law, Norms, and Informal Order, 2005-present.
  • Member, Editorial Board, Annual Review of Law & Social Science, 2007-2011.

Events

  • Organizer (with J. Masur, M. Nussbaum, S. Veltfort), Marriage in American Law & Literature, UChicago, April 2023
  • Organizer (with L. Fennell), Midwest Law & Econ. Assoc. Meeting, UChicago, Oct. 2022.
  • Organizer (with S. Fairley and W. Hubbard), Earl B. Dickerson Centennial Celebration, Fall Conference, Oct. 2020
  • Faculty Organizer (with J. Masur), University of Chicago Legal Forum Symposium on Law and Urban Institutions Ten Years After The Wire, Nov. 2017.
  • Organizer (with F. Schauer & C. Schmidt), How Law Works: McAdams’ The Expressive Powers of Law & Schauer’s The Force of Law, Univ. of Chicago, Oct 2015.
  • Organizer (with R. Epstein & A. Siegler), Univ. of Chicago Law Review Symposium on Criminal Procedure in the Spotlight: Theoretical, Constitutional, and Administrative Developments, May 2014.
  • Organizer (with A. LaCroix & M. Nussbaum), Crime in Law and Literature, Univ. of Chicago, Feb. 2014.
  • Organizer (with T. Miles), The Economics of Race, U. of Chicago, May 2010.
  • Organizer, Criminal Law Section panel on Unreviewable Discretion, AALS, annual meeting, Atlanta, Jan. 2004.
  • Organizer (with T. Ginsburg & T. Ulen) of Midwest Law & Econ. Assoc. annual meeting, Univ. of Illinois, October, 2002.
  • Organizer (with T. Ulen), Empirical and Experimental Methods in Law, Univ. of Illinois, Apr. 2001, published 2002 Ill. L. Rev. 789-1176.
  • Organizer and Editor, Race and Criminal Law, 73 Chi-Kent L. Rev. 467-705 (1998).