New Center to Host April 7 Conference on Morality, Markets, and Contract Law

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The Center for the Study of Law and Markets at William & Mary Law School will hold its inaugural symposium on Friday, April 7. The event will bring together leading contract law theorists to examine the relationship between markets and the moral foundations of contract law.

Discussions will take as their starting point themes from the recently published book The Dignity of Commerce: Markets and the Moral Foundations of Contract Law (University of Chicago Press 2017) by Professor Nathan B. Oman, the Rollins Professor of Law at William & Mary. Admission to the conference is free and all are welcome to attend. For more information, contact Kelsey Rothera at klrothera@wm.edu or call (757) 221-1518.

In his book, Professor Oman argues that markets are morally desirable for a variety of reasons other than their ability to efficiently allocate resources, and that contract law exists primarily to support such markets. Participants will present papers related to themes such as the moral status of markets, the normative justification of contract law, and the relationship between well-functioning markets and legal institutions.  

Participants include

Aditi Bagchi
Professor of Law
Fordham University Law School

Brian Bix
Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy
University of Minnesota Law School

Michelle Boardman
Associate Professor of Law
Antonin Scalia Law School
George Mason University

Curtis Bridgeman
Dean and Professor of Law
Willamette University College of Law

Miriam A. Cherry
Professor of Law and
Director, William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law
St. Louis University School of Law

G. Marcus Cole
William F. Baxter-Visa International Professor of Law
Stanford Law School

Andrew Gold
Professor of Law
DePaul University College of Law

Robert A. Hillman
Edwin H. Woodruff Professor of Law
Cornell Law School

Kimberly D. Krawiec
Kathrine Robinson Everett Professor of Law
Duke Law School

Wenhao Liu, Ph.D.
Strategic Decisions Group (SDG)
Stanford University School of Medicine

Mark L. Movsesian
Frederick A. Whitney Professor of Contract Law and
Director, Center for Law and Religion
St. John's University School of Law

The Center for the Study of Law and Markets at William & Mary Law School seeks to advance the understanding of the role of legal institutions in promoting well-functioning markets in a free society. Learn more.

About William & Mary Law School

Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.