J.D., University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. (Jurisprudence and Social Policy), University of California, Berkeley
B.A. (Political Science), Reed College
Intellectual Property (Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks)
Corporate Law
Empirical Legal Studies
Machine Learning and Law
Law and Social Science
James Hicks is an Academic Fellow at Columbia Law School. Trained as a lawyer and social scientist, his research sits at the intersection of innovation law, business law, and empirical methods. James has published work on the role of copyright in the music industry and is currently working on a project that explores the role of patents in attracting venture funding for software startups. Beyond intellectual property, recent projects include a study of corporate responses to sexual harassment in the wake of #MeToo, and an investigation into the extent of venture capital investments in public benefit corporations.
James has a particular interest in the use of machine learning in legal research, and has an ongoing project that uses natural language processing to explore the predictability of patent litigation outcomes. His work is published or forthcoming in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, the Harvard Business Law Review, and the Indiana Law Journal.
James received his J.D. and Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Reed College, in Portland, Oregon. He previously served as Fellow in Law, Business, and Innovation at Berkeley Law.