Eric Talley portrait

Eric Talley

  • Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law
Education

J.D., Stanford University
Ph.D. (Economics), Stanford University
B.A. (Economics & Political Science), University of California, San Diego

Areas of Specialty

Conducts Research (“R”); Teaches Semester-Long Course (“TS”); and Teaches Immersive Course (“TI”):
Corporate Law (R, TS, TI)
Mergers and Acquisitions (R, TS, TI)
Corporate Finance (R, TS, TI)
Corporate Governance (R, TI)
Contract and Commercial Law (R, TS)
Machine Learning and Law (R, TI)
Economic Analysis of Law (R, TS)

 

Eric Talley is an expert on the intersection of corporate law, governance, and finance. He additionally teaches and conducts research in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, quantitative methods, machine learning, contract and commercial law, alternative investments, game theory, and economic analysis of law. 

As a co-director of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, Talley directs research and programs focused on the future of corporate governance and performance. Talley is a frequent commentator in the national media and speaks regularly to corporate boards, judges, and regulators on issues pertaining to fiduciary duties, governance, and finance. He also hosts the Columbia-based podcast, Beyond “Unprecedented”: The Post Pandemic Economy. Talley is a two-time recipient of the Law School’s Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2017 and 2022).

Before joining Columbia in 2015, Talley held tenured faculty appointments at the University of California, Berkeley (2006-15) and the University of Southern California (1995-2006). He has also held visiting appointments at Caltech, Pardee-RAND Graduate School, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Georgetown University, and Stanford University.

Talley is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute and serves on the Executive Committee of the Columbia University Data Science Institute. He has served several terms as a director on the boards of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies and the American Law and Economics Association.

Publications

Activities and Affiliations

  • Faculty Co-Director, Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership
  • Research Member, European Corporate Governance Institute
  • Host, Beyond “Unprecedented”: The Post-Pandemic Economy (podcast)
  • Executive Committee Member, Columbia Data Sciences Institute
  • Immediate Past Board Chair, Society for Empirical Legal Studies, 2019–22 (Chair, 2017–2019)
  • Board Member, American Law and Economics Association (Chair of Recruitment Committee and Chair of Recruitment Committee) 2005-08; 2017–19
  • Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor in Law, Business, and the Economy, University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law, 2009–2015
  • Faculty Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Law, Business, and the Economy, 2006–2015
  • University of California, Berkeley, Campus Budget Committee, 2011–2014 (Chair, 2013–2014)
  • Senior Economist, RAND Corporation, 2004–2013
  • Ivadelle and Theodore Johnson Professorship in Law and Business, University of Southern California, 2004–2006

On Why We Teach

“Students are often told to be on the lookout for inspiring teachers. The opposite is true as well: We’re always on the lookout for inspiring students.”

Acceptance speech on receiving the Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching from the Class of 2017

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