Oren Bar-Gill LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’05 , a leading expert on the law and economics of contracts and contracting, will join the faculty of Harvard Law School on July 1, 2014 as a Professor of Law. His areas of research include behavioral law and economics, consumer contracts, contract law and economic analysis of law.
Bar-Gill currently serves as the Evelyn and Harold Meltzer Professor of Law and Economics at New York University School of Law. He joined the NYU law faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor, was named a professor of law in 2008 and was appointed co-director of NYU’s Center for Law, Economics and Organization in 2009.
At Harvard Law School, Bar-Gill was an Olin Fellow from 2000 to 2004. In 2003, he received the Olin Prize for Best Paper in Law and Economics. He earned two degrees from Harvard Law School: an LL.M. in 2001 and an S.J.D. in 2005.
Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow said: “Oren is an exceptionally creative scholar whose work draws upon the disciplines of law, economics and psychology. A pioneer bringing psychological realism into the economic analysis of law, he addresses consumer and credit card debt and other important and timely issues. His work marvelously bridges theory and practice, with influence in public policy. We could not be more delighted that he will join the Harvard Law School faculty.”
“I am delighted to join the HLS faculty. Harvard is an extraordinary place, and I look forward to being a part of it,” said Bar-Gill.
He is the author of “Seduction by Contract: Law, Economics and Psychology in Consumer Markets,” published by Oxford University Press in 2012. His more than 30 articles have been published in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, including “Consent and Exchange,” with HLS Professor Lucian Bebchuk, which was published in the Journal of Legal Studies (2010), “The Law, Economics, and Psychology of Subprime Mortgage Contracts,” in the Cornell Law Review (2009), “Making Credit Safer,” co-written with Elizabeth Warren, which appeared in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2008); and “Bundling and Consumer Misperception,” published in the University of Chicago Law Review (2006).
In addition to his Harvard Law School degrees, Bar-Gill holds several degrees from Tel-Aviv University: two degrees in economics, an M.A. in 1996 and a Ph.D. in 2002.
In 2011, his work on consumer contracts was recognized by the American Law Institute, which awarded him its inaugural Young Scholar Medal. In 2009, he received the Best Paper Award from the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.
Bar-Gill is a co-reporter for the American Law Institute’s project on the Law of Consumer Contracts. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Law and Economics Association, and he advises both government agencies and private sector parties on issues pertaining to consumer contracts and consumer protection.
He served in the Israeli JAG from 1997 to 1999 and participated in criminal, administrative and constitutional proceedings before various courts, including the Israeli Supreme Court and the IDF Court of Appeals.