Private law is law that concerns how individuals and firms can or must interact with one another. Though many subject-areas within the law have important private-law dimensions, including corporate law, employment Law, and family law – at its core are subjects such as agency, contracts, fiduciary law, property, restitution, and torts. These bodies of law define basic legal rights and duties (such as the right to have contractual promises enforced, and the right against another person’s invading one’s house or privacy) and also important legal powers (such as the power to make legally binding arrangements). A world leader in contemporary private law and private law theory, Harvard Law School offers students instruction from dozens of faculty members who research and teach in private law areas.
From Harvard Law Today
Profiles
Professors Smith and Goldberg reinvigorate the study of Private Law at HLS
Faculty
HLS Professors
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Oren Bar-Gill
William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law and Economics
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Maureen Brady
Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law
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Charles Donahue
Paul A. Freund Professor of Law
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John Goldberg
Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence
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Duncan M. Kennedy
Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, Emeritus
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Kenneth W. Mack
Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law
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Ruth L. Okediji
Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law
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Steven M. Shavell
Samuel R. Rosenthal Professor of Law and Economics
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Joseph W. Singer
Bussey Professor of Law
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Robert H. Sitkoff
Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law
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Henry E. Smith
Fessenden Professor of Law
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Roberto Tallarita
Assistant Professor of Law
Visiting Professors & Lecturers
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Aileen Nielsen
Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
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Alain Laurent Verbeke
Visiting Professor of Law
Clinics
Transactional Law Clinics
Research Programs and Centers
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