The Law Market

Larry E. Ribstein is Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair, and co-Director of the Program on Business Law and Policy, University of Illinois College of Law. Erin A. O'Hara is Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Law and Human Behavior Center, Vanderbilt University Law School.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. Policy Arguments ; 3. Choice-of-Law Principles ; 4. The Creation of a Law Market ; 5. Arbitration and The Law Market ; 6. The corporate Law Market ; 7. Consumer Contracts ; 8. Marriage and Other Social Issues ; 9. Property ; 10. A Federal Choice-of-law Statute ; 11. Summary and Implications ; Notes

"The Law Market promises to add some much-needed clarity and common sense to a 'largely ignored field of law.'"--Harvard Law Review"One of the most important metrics for evaluating the success of an academic work is the degree to which it sparks further questions...Evaluated along this dimension, The Law Market must be deemed a smashing success."--Engage: The Journal of the Federalist Society's Practice Groups"O'Hara and Ribstein's book is a breakthrough in legal scholarship. Recognizing that the unprecedented mobility of today's society gives economic actors substantial choice over the law that will govern their affairs, the authors analyze law as a product that is produced by states and marketed to consumers. The authors thereby identify a fundamental feature of contemporary business law that has until now been overlooked or only imperfectly understood. The bookis chock-full of original insights into the operation of this 'market for law', and offers a valuable analysis of the pros and cons of this development from the standpoint of public policy." --GeoffreyP. Miller, New York University Law School"O'Hara and Ribstein are the first to expose how the ability of private persons to choose the law that shall govern them - in business and in their personal lives - is transforming our legal system. Drawing on public policy and economics in an approachable, commonsense way, they sketch the implications of the law market for our world today, and show how its emergence calls for a careful balance between individual freedom and regulation to advance the publicgood. This book is a must-read, not only for lawyers with real-world clients but also for every corporate general counsel and legislative staff member grappling with our globalized law market."--Richard A. Nagareda, Vanderbilt University Law School"This is a pathbreaking book - theoretically sophisticated and carefully applied. O'Hara and Ribstein's concept of the 'law market' captures an essential truth about the conflicts revolution, and their thesis carries profound implications for wide swaths of the law, ranging from international investment disputes to same-sex marriage." --Peter B. Rutledge, University of Georgia Law School"The Law Marker significantly enriches the discussion about jurisdictional competition and enhances our understanding of the underlying forces."--American Journal of Comparative Law"The Law Market is an important addition to the existing literature on jurisdictional competition and conflict of laws."--Giesela Ruhl