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William H. J. Hubbard

Academic Faculty

Full Time Teaching Faculty

William H. J. Hubbard

Deputy Dean, Harry N. Wyatt Professor of Law

Biography

William H. J. Hubbard received his JD with high honors from the Law School in 2000, where he was executive editor of the Law Review. He clerked for the Hon. Patrick E. Higginbotham of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. From 2001 to 2006, he practiced law as a litigation associate at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago where he specialized in commercial litigation, electronic discovery, and appellate practice. From 2006 to 2011, he completed the PhD program in Economics at the University of Chicago. Before joining the faculty in 2011, he was a Kauffman Legal Research Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the Law School.

His current research primarily involves economic analysis of litigation, courts, and civil procedure. He is the author of the casebook Civil Procedure: An Integrated Approach (2021) and is co-author of Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India (2023). He is a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation and has been Editor of the Journal of Legal Studies since 2013.

Education and Experience

Education

The University of Chicago

PhD in Economics, 2011

The University of Chicago Law School

JD, high honors, 2000

University of Southern California

BA and MA in Economics, summa cum laude, 1997

Experience

The University of Chicago Law School

Deputy Dean, 2023-present
Harry N. Wyatt Professor of Law, 2023-present
Professor of Law, 2016-2023
Ronald H. Coase Teaching Scholar, 2015-2016
Assistant Professor of Law, 2011-2016
Kauffman Legal Research Fellow, 2010-2011

American Bar Foundation

Research Professor, 2022-present

Harvard Law School

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Fall 2015

Mayer Brown LLP

Associate, Chicago, IL, 2001-2006

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Law Clerk to the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham, Dallas, Texas, 2000-2001

Publications

Books (Author)

  • Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India (India Viking, 2023) (with Aparna Chandra & Sital Kalantry ).
  • Civil Procedure: An Integrated Approach (Foundation Press, 2021).

Journal Articles

  • "Foreword to JELS special issue," 21 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 714 (2024) (with Adam Chilton & Dhammika Dharmapala ). www
  • "Civil Procedure as the Regulation of Externalities: Toward a New Theory of Civil Litigation," 89 University of Chicago Law Review 1 (2022) (with Ronen Avraham). www
  • "New Empirical Tests for Classic Litigation Selection Models: Evidence from a Low Settlement Environment," 23 American Law and Economics Review 348 (2021) (with Yun-chien Chang). www
  • "The Spectrum of Procedural Flexibility," 87 University of Chicago Law Review 883 (2020) (with Ronen Avraham). www
  • "Swanson v Citibank and the 1L Canon," 87 University of Chicago Law Review 2377 (2020). cu www
  • "What's in a Name? A Taxonomy of Replication," 60 International Review of Law and Economics __ (2019) (with David A. Hyman). www
  • "A Replication Study Worth Replicating: A Comment on Salmanowitz and Spamann," 58 International Review of Law and Economics 1 (2019). cu www
  • "From Executive Appointment to the Collegium System: The Impact on Diversity in the Indian Supreme Court," 51 Verfassung und Recht in Übersee 273 (2018) (with Aparna Chandra & Sital Kalantry). cu
  • "Quantum Economics, Newtonian Economics, and Law," 2017 Michigan State Law Review 425 (2018). cu
  • "The Supreme Court of India: A People's Court?," 1 Indian Law Review 145 (2017) (with Aparna Chandra & Sital Kalantry). cu www
  • "The Effects of Twombly and Iqbal," 14 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 474 (2017). cu
  • "Tribute to Omri Ben-Shahar," 46 Journal of Legal Studies 50 (2017) (with Edward Morrison). cu
  • "Sinking Costs to Force or Deter Settlement," 32 Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 545 (2016). cu www
  • "A Fresh Look at Plausibility Pleading," 83 University of Chicago Law Review 693 (2016). ssrn cu
  • "Yong Shik Lee, "Call for a New Analytical Model for Law and Development": A Comment," 8 Law & Development Review 271 (2015). cu
  • "The Discovery Sombrero and Other Metaphors for Litigation," 64 Catholic University Law Review 867 (2015). cu
  • "Judicial Noncompliance with Mandatory Procedural Rules under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act," 44 Journal of Legal Studies S87 (2015) (with M. Todd Henderson). cu www
  • "Another Look at the Eurobarometer Surveys," 50 Common Market Law Review 187 (2013). cu
  • "An Empirical Study of the Effect of Shady Grove v. Allstate on Forum Shopping in the New York Courts," 10 Journal of Law, Economics and Policy 15 (2013). cu
  • "Testing for Change in Procedural Standards, with Application to Bell Atlantic v. Twombly," 42 Journal of Legal Studies 35 (2013). cu
  • "Optimal Class Size, Dukes, and the Funny Thing about Shady Grove," 62 DePaul Law Review 693 (2013). cu
  • "The Phantom Gender Difference in the College Wage Premium," 46 Journal of Human Resources 568 (2011). cu
  • "Explaining the Worldwide Boom in Higher Education of Women," 4 Journal of Human Capital 203 (2010) (with Gary S. Becker & Kevin Murphy). cu
  • Comment, "Civil Settlement During Rape Prosecutions," 66 University of Chicago Law Review 1231 (1999). cu

Book Sections

  • "Speedy Adjudication in Hard Cases and Low Settlement Rates in Easy Cases: An Empirical Analysis of Taiwan Courts with Comparison to U.S. Federal Courts," in Selection and Decision in Judicial Process Around the World: Empirical Inquires, Yun-chien Chang ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2020) (with Yun-chien Chang). ssrn
  • "The Supreme Court of India: An Empirical Overview of the Institution," in A Qualified Hope: The Indian Supreme Court and Progressive Social Change, Gerald N. Rosenberg & Sudhir Krishnaswamy eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2019) (with Aparna Chandra & Sital Kalantry). www

Working Papers

  • "Procedural Flexibility in Three Dimensions," Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics, No. 843 (2018) (with Ronen Avraham & Itay E. Lipschits). ssrn cu
  • "Procedural Flexibility in Three Dimensions," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 658 (2018) (with Ronen Avraham & Itay E. Lipschits). ssrn cu
  • "Stalling, Conflict, and Settlement," Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics, No. 839 (2018). ssrn cu
  • "Does the Priest and Klein Model Travel? Testing Litigation Selection Hypotheses with Foreign Court Data," Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics, No. 838 (2018) (with Yun-chien Chang). ssrn cu
  • "Costly Signaling, Pleading, and Settlement," Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics, No. 805 (2017). ssrn cu
  • "Quantum Economics, Newtonian Economics, and Law," Coase-Sandor Working Paper Series in Law and Economics, No. 799 (2017). ssrn cu

Presentations
  • “Court on Trial: Lessons for Court Reform from Empirical Studies of the Supreme Court of India.” The Berger International Speaker Series and South Asia Program, Cornell Law School (March 12, 2024).
  • “This Whirlwind.” University of Chicago Law School Midway Dinner Faculty Address (February 1, 2024).
  • “Book Discussion on Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India.” Virtual Roundtables on Asian Law Series, Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore (Nov. 28, 2023).
  • “Diversity Jurisdiction 2022: What We Know, What We Don't, And Where We Might Go.” Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, at ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon (July 14, 2022).
  • “Courts and Arbitration through the Lens of Supply and Demand.” 25th Annual Meeting of the Latin American and Iberian Law and Economics Association (ALACDE), Pontificia Universidad Católica of Ecuador (held online, October 21, 2021).
  • “The Supreme Court of India: Controversy and Reform.” American Bar Foundation Speaker Series, Northwestern University Law School (Mar. 11, 2020).
  • “Toward a New Theory of Civil Procedure.” Law and Economics Colloquium, Northwestern University Law School (Feb. 6, 2020).
  • “New Directions in the Empirical Study of Courts.” China University of Political Science and Law (June 2, 2018).
  • “Procedural Flexibility in Three Dimensions.” With Ronen Avraham. Notre Dame Law School Faculty Colloquium (February 1, 2018).
  • “War is Not in the Error Term: Costly Litigation and Conflict under Complete Information.” Workshop and Lecture Series in Law & Economics, ETH Zürich (March 13, 2018).
  • “The Supreme Court of India: An Empirical Overview.” First Conference on Empirical Legal Studies – Asia, Academia Sinica, Taiwan (June 15, 2017).
  • “Testing Litigation Selection Hypotheses with Taiwanese Court Data.” With Yun-chien Chang. Symposium: Do Courts Rule Efficiently? Empirical Inquiries, 4th Empirical Studies of Judicial Systems Int’l Conference, Academia Sinica, Taiwan (June 13, 2017).
  • “Quantum Economics, Newtonian Economics, and Law.” University of Texas Law School Law & Economics Seminar (March 6, 2017).
  • “The Unintended Consequences of Case-by-Case Rescue: An Empirical Study of Indian Supreme Court Cases from 2010 to 2014.” Columbia Law School Colloquium on Courts and Legal Process and Legal Theory Seminar (February 27, 2017).
  • “A Different Kind of Supreme Court? Empirical Study of the Supreme Court of India.” Chicago’s Best Ideas, University of Chicago Law School (January 17, 2017).
  • “The Fourfold Credibility Problem in Law and War.” Faculty Workshop, Cornell Law School (August 24, 2016).
  • “Costly Signaling, Pleading, and Settlement.” 2016 Workshop on Law and Economics at the Stony Brook Center for Game Theory (July 14, 2016).
  • “The Empirical Effects of Twombly and Iqbal.” Faculty Workshop, University of Virginia Law School (March 4, 2016).
  • “Roundtable on Empirical Study of the Supreme Court of India: A Consultation with Experts.” With Aparna Chandra and Sital Kalantry. University of Chicago Center in Delhi (January 16, 2016).
  • “Examining the Empirical Effects of Twombly and Iqbal.” Courts and Litigation Panel I, Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Washington University Law School (October 30, 2015).
  • “The Empirical Effects of Twombly and Iqbal.” Faculty Workshop, Harvard Law School (October 29, 2015).
  • “The Discovery Sombrero and Other Metaphors for Litigation.” Law and Economics Seminar, Harvard Law School (September 29, 2015).
  • “The Supreme Court of India: An Institutional Overview.” Conference: The Supreme Court of India and Progressive Social Change, Columbia University Law School (September 25, 2015).
  • “The Fourfold Credibility Problem in Law and War.” Law and Economics Workshop, Hebrew University Faculty of Law (May 27, 2015).
  • “Newtonian Law and Economics, Quantum Law and Economics, and the Search for a Theory of Relativity.” 2015 Coase Lecture, University of Chicago Law School (April 14, 2015).
  • “Measuring the Empirical Effects of Twombly and Iqbal.” Law and Economics Workshop, University of Michigan Law School (April 2, 2015).
  • “Measuring the Empirical Effects of Twombly and Iqbal.” Law and Economics Workshop, Boston University Law School (March 24, 2015).
  • “A General Model of Nuisance Suits.” Law & Economics Workshop, University of Toronto Faculty of Law (February 24, 2015).
  • “Theory and Data on Plausibility Pleading.” Chicago Junior Faculty Workshop, Chicago-Kent College of Law (January 30, 2015).
  • “Nuisance Litigation.” Law & Economics Workshop, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law (May 19, 2014).
  • “Nuisance Litigation.” Law & Economics Workshop, Berkeley Law School (April 14, 2014).
  • “The Paradoxes, Real and Imagined, of Twombly and Iqbal.” Law, Behavior, and Social Science Colloquium. University of Illinois Law School (April 22, 2013).
  • “Two Models of Pleading.” Northwestern University Law and Economics Colloquium (November 29, 2012).
  • “Another Look at the Eurobarometer Contract Law Survey Data.” European Contract Law: A Law-and-Economics Perspective. University of Chicago Law School and the Institute for Law and Economics (April 27, 2012).
  • “Too Big Not to Fail?” The 22nd Annual DePaul Law Review Symposium: Class Action Rollback? Wal-Mart v. Dukes and the Future of Class Action Litigation. DePaul University College of Law (February 24, 2012).
  • “Testimony for the Hearing on the Costs and Burdens of Civil Discovery.” United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution (December 13, 2011).
  • “The Problem of Measuring Legal Change, with Application to Bell Atlantic v. Twombly.” Center on Law, Economics, and Organization Workshop, USC Gould School of Law (October 17, 2011).

Additional Activities

Memberships and Professional Affiliations

  • Member, American Economic Association; American Law and Economics Association; Society for Empirical Legal Studies; American Bar Association; Illinois Bar; Catholic Research Economics Discussion Organization
  • Board Member, Society for Empirical Legal Studies, 2016–present; American Law and Economics Association, 2017-2020, 2021-2022)
  • University of Chicago Law School Diversity Committee: Co-Chair, 2016–2019; Chair, 2019-2020, 2022-2023

Editorial Work

  • Editor, Journal of Legal Studies (2013-present)
  • Editorial Board, Law and Development Review, July 2018–present
  • Referee, Harvard University Press; Journal of Law and Economics; Journal of Legal Studies; Journal of Political Economy; Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; International Journal of the Economics of Business; Industrial Relations; International Review of Law and Economics; Journal of Institutional Economics; Stanford Journal of Complex Litigation; Journal of Legal Analysis; Supreme Court Economic Review; Annual Review of Law and Social Science; Law and Social Inquiry; Northwestern University Law Review; Oxford University Press.

Events

  • Co-President, Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, University of Chicago Law School (Oct. 13-14, 2023)
  • Co-organizer, International Junior Scholars Forum, ETH Zurich/Tsinghua University Law School/University of Chicago Law School (Dec. 1-3, 2020; Oct. 26-28, 2021, June 15-16, 2023)
  • Co-organizer, Earl B. Dickerson Centennial Conference, University of Chicago Law School (Oct. 30, 2020; April 16, 2021)
  • Area Organizer, American Law and Economics Association Conference 2015, 2017, 2018