At New York University School of Law economic analysis of law is taught throughout the standard curriculum. In addition the standard courses and the law and economics colloquia, the law school offers advanced courses in economic analysis. NYU School of Law students can also cross-register to courses at the economics department, the Stern School of Business, the politics department, and the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Specialty Courses

Economic Analysis of Law

This course introduces students to the economic analysis of law. Basic principles of game theory and microeconomics are introduced and then applied to the analysis of legal problems. Topics covered include the Coase theorem, some common law doctrines, the analysis of political and judicial institutions, and some normative issues in welfare economics. The course emphasizes the way in which economists formulate and answer questions rather than particular substantive issues.

Quantitative Methods

This seminar will emphasize the increasingly important role of statistics in the legal process. Students will be given an introduction to basic methods (including sampling, hypothesis testing, the use of surveys, and multiple regression) that play a significant role in the litigation process. Substantive applications will include employment discrimination, voting, affirmative action, antitrust, and damages. Procedural areas of study will include class certification and the admissibility of statistical evidence. This is not a technical course. No background in statistics is required, and minimal use will be made of high-school algebra. Students will be expected to participate actively and to write a short paper.

Corporate Finance

This is an introduction to the basic elements of modern corporate finance theory and practice. Topics covered include cash flow analysis, valuation, capital budgeting techniques, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, the Efficient Market Hypotheses, dividend policy, futures and options. Most of the principles are illustrated through graphic and mathematical models, although no math beyond simple algebra is required. All students are required to obtain a full-function financial calculator. Although the course uses a business school textbook, the approach to the course is from the perspective of an attorney.

Accounting for Lawyers

Accounting for Lawyers is designed to be accessible to students with no prior exposure to accounting. Emphasis is on the standard financial statements-balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. Substantial attention is given to the accounting dialectic (debit and credit) so that students can trace events from underlying transactions to financial statement aggregates and vise versa. The time value of money is also studied. Problems are used extensively.

Foundations of Economic Analysis Seminar

This course will investigate the assumptions about law that are implicit in the practice of economic analysis of law. The course will be organized around four questions: (1) to what extent is the law instrumental? (2) To what extent can economic models capture the normativity of law? (3) How do economic models explain and how should they be used to make policy? and (4) Does economic analysis of law offer a distinct evaluative perpsective about law? Evaluation in the course will be based on class participation and a paper.

Law, Economics and Journalism

The course is a study of how journalists cover stories where business and the law intersect. Case studies will include the Enron bankruptcy as well as product liability litigation against Dow Corning and Big Tobacco. For each case, as background, we will read and discuss related academic literature; we will then read and critique press coverage of the events as they unfolded. Following the discussion of each case, each student will write her or his own journalistic account of an aspect of the case. The course will be co-taught by Paul Barett, who is an editor at Business Week and a former editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal.

Corporate Law: Policy Analysis Seminar

This seminar will investigate a variety of current policy issues in corporate law and governance. Students are required to write comment papers on the readings and may be required to make a presentation. JD students may fulfill their writing requirement in conjunction with the seminar.

Colloquia

New York University School of Law offers numerous colloquia and faculty workshops where cutting edge research in law and economics is presented and discussed.

Law, Economics and Politics Colloquium

Law, Economics and Politics Colloquium investigates a wide variety of topics ranging from the foundations of rational choice theory (an inquiry important to the evaluation of the use of the theory in understanding law) to applications to questions of immediate interest. Economists and political scientists have used the theory to investigate a number of topics of central interest to the law such as (a) how the organization of Congress affects the nature and content of legislation enacted; (b) the relation between courts and Congress; (c) Congressional and judicial control of administrative agencies; (d) federalism; and (e) the structure of adjudication.

Colloquium on the Law, Economics, and Politics of Urban Affairs

 

Taught jointly by faculty of the School of Law and the Wagner SchoollColloquium on the Law, Economics, and Politics of Urban Affairs allows students to explore the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of current debates in urban policy. We will discuss works in progress with nationally prominent scholars in law, economics, urban planning, and public administration. We anticipate that topics for discussion will include whether and how to contain suburban sprawl, means of funding necessary infrastructure and service improvements in an age of financial austerity, city-suburb relationships, the consequences of state and federal educational and immigration policies for urban areas, and the implications of taxation for urban economic growth. In alternate weeks, students will learn the background necessary to discuss the work in progress with its author. Students will submit short papers critiquing the work in progress. In colloquium weeks, students will attend the colloquium and discuss the paper.

Innovation Policy Colloquium

The Innovation Policy Colloquium focuses each year on topics dealing with promoting innovation. Topics for discussion have included the law and economics of creative production, incentive structures, innovation in developing economies, and international issues in innovation policy. In 2006, we will look at the intersection between competition (antitrust) law and intellectual property law, including issues on access to research materials and generic drugs, technological and contractual access restrictions, as well as private institutional arrangements, such as standard setting organizations and patent pools. The Colloquium has two components. One is a scholarly papers component, with outside speakers who are invited in to discuss papers on the Colloquium topic. The other is a seminar component, where among other things, we read background materials relevant to each speaker's presentation. The Colloquium also provides each student with the opportunity to write and present an independent research paper.

Tax Policy Colloquium

The Tax Policy Colloquium offers students the opportunity to pursue tax policy and theory, along with related issues of public economics, at an advanced level. The primary focus of the colloquium will be papers and works in progress by scholars from around the country, including NYU faculty. Students attend the afternoon colloquium and participate in its discussions. In addition, each week the morning seminar component examines the paper scheduled for presentation at the colloquium, including background issues that may help in understanding it. (The first two weeks, however, are devoted instead to providing a background in key tax policy concepts.) Students must prepare a short paper most weeks focusing on the upcoming paper, and make a short in-class presentation on one of the papers.