Lawyers are “messengers of regulation.” They negotiate regulatory reforms, draft regulations, enforce regulations, assist their clients in complying with regulations, lobby for and against regulations, and often challenge the validity of regulations. The need for the study of regulation in law school cannot be overstated.
“Regulation” is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern legal thinking. This course equips students with critical analytical tools needed in today's legal practice and complex business environment. It explains what regulation is about and why it is so controversial. During the semester we'll examine why and how the state regulates, and learn the meaning of important regulatory concepts such as risk (and systemic risk), uncertainty, bans, paternalism, bounder rationality, police powers, cost-benefit analysis, earmarks, externalities, moral hazard, and public goods. Judges, lawyers, and scholars frequently use these terms, but as we'll see they do not always understand their meaing.
This course is designed for first-year or upper-level students. It serves as a foundation for other courses that focus on particular regulatory areas, including administrative law, antitrust, bankruptcy, corporate law, employment law, environmental law, health law, insurance law, intellectual property, and securities regulation.
For more information about the course and related materials see www.regulationonline.net
Barak Orbach, Regulation: Why and How the State Regulates (Foundation Press, 2012)
|Type of Exam||
|Basis for grading|