Paul G. Mahoney

  • David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law

Paul G. Mahoney is a David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor and served as dean of the Law School from 2008-16. Mahoney's teaching and research areas are securities regulation, law and economic development, corporate finance, financial derivatives and contracts. He has published widely in law reviews and peer-reviewed finance and law and economics journals. His book, “Wasting a Crisis: Why Securities Regulation Fails,” was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2015.

Mahoney joined the Law School faculty in 1990 after practicing law with the New York firm of Sullivan & Cromwell and clerking for Judge Ralph K. Winter, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. He served as academic associate dean at the Law School from 1999 to 2004 and has held the Albert C. BeVier Research Chair and the Brokaw Chair in Corporate Law. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School, the University of Southern California Law School and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He has also worked on legal reform projects in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Nepal.

Mahoney is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 2018 to 2022 he served on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee. He served as an associate editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives from 2004 to 2007 and as a director of the American Law and Economics Association from 2002 to 2004. He is a past recipient of the All-University Outstanding Teacher Award and the Law School's Traynor Award for excellence in faculty scholarship.

Scholarship Profile: Looking for Proof of Law’s Purpose and Effect (Virginia Journal 2005)

Education

  • J.D.
    Yale Law School
    1984
  • B.S.
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    1981

Books

Wasting a Crisis: Why Securities Regulation Fails, University of Chicago Press (2015).

Book Chapters

The Regulation of Trading Markets: A Survey and Evaluation (with Gabriel V. Rauterberg), in Securities Market Issues for the 21st Century, Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets at Columbia Law School, 221–278 (2018).
Contract Remedies: General, in Encyclopedia of Contract Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, 155–177 (2 ed. 2011).
Hall v. Geiger-Jones Co., 242 U.S. 539 (1917), in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States, Macmillan Reference USA, 382–383 (2008).
Public and Private Rule Making in Securities Markets, in After Enron: Lessons for Public Policy, Rowman and Littlefield, 105–124 (2005).
Contract Remedies: General, in Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, 117–140 (2000).
Trust and Opportunism in Close Corporations, in Concentrated Corporate Ownership, National Bureau of Economic Research, 177–196 (2000).
Options Pricing and Contract Remedies, in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law, Macmillan, 715–718 (1998).

Articles & Reviews

The Economics of Securities Regulation: A Survey, 13 Foundations and Trends in Finance 1–94 (2021).
The New Separation of Ownership and Control: Institutional Investors and ESG (with Julia D. Mahoney), 2021 Columbia Business Law Review 840–880 (2021).
‘ESG’ Disclosure and Securities Regulation (with Julia D. Mahoney), 44 Regulation 10–12 (2021).
Advisers by Another Name (with Adriana Robertson), 11 Harvard Business Law Review 311 (2021).
Equity Market Structure Regulation: Time to Start Over, 10 Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review 1–44 (2020).
Soft Dollars, Hard Choices: Reconciling U.S. and E.U. Policies on Sell-Side Research, 75 Business Lawyer 2173–2199 (2020).
Canons of Construction for Dysfunctional Statutes: A Comment on Bennett, 75 Washington & Lee Law Review 577–591 (2018).
Deregulation and the Subprime Crisis, 104 Virginia Law Review 235–300 (2018).
Adam Smith, Prophet of Law and Economics, 46 Journal of Legal Studies 207–236 (2017).
Economic Uncertainty and the Role of the Courts, 35 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 187–194 (2012).
Review of Shleifer, The Failure of Judges and the Rise of Regulators (reviewing Andrei Shleifer, The Failure of Judges and the Rise of Regulators) 153 Public Choice 515–517 (2012).
The Public Utility Pyramids, 41 Journal of Legal Studies 37–66 (2012).
Legal Origin or Colonial History? (with Daniel M. Klerman, Holger Spamann & Mark I. Weinstein), 3 Journal of Legal Analysis 379–409 (2011).
The Development of Securities Law in the United States, 47 Journal of Accounting Research 325–347 (2009).
Legal Origin? (with Daniel Klerman), 35 Journal of Comparative Economics 278–293 (2007).
The Common Law and Legal Reform in China, Pacific Studies (2007).
The Common Law and Legal Reform in China, Global Law Review (2007).
General and Specific Legal Rules (with Chris Sanchirico), 161 Journal of Institutional & Theoretical Economics 329–346 (2005).
Market Manipulation: A Comprehensive Study of Stock Pools (with Guolin Jiang & Jianping Mei), 77 Journal of Financial Economy 147–170 (2005).
The Value of Judicial Independence: Evidence from Eighteenth Century England (with Daniel M. Klerman), 7 American Law & Economic Review 1–27 (2005).
Manager-Investor Conflicts in Mutual Funds, 18 Journal of Economic Perspectives 161–182 (2004).
Market Microstructure and Market Efficiency, 28 Journal of Corporate Law 541–549 (2003).
Norms, Repeated Games, and the Role of Law (with Chris William Sanchirico), 91 California Law Review 1281–1329 (2003).
The Origins of the Blue-Sky Laws: A Test of Competing Hypotheses, 46 Journal of Law & Economics 229–251 (2003).
Information Technology and the Organization of Securities Markets, 2002 Brookings-Wharton Papers on Financial Services 345–360 (2002).
Norms and Signals: Some Skeptical Observations, 36 University of Richmond Law Review 387–406 (2002).
Competing Norms and Social Evolution: Is the Fittest Norm Efficient?, 149 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 2027–2062 (2001).
The Common Law and Economic Growth: Hayek Might Be Right, 30 Journal of Legal Studies 503–525 (2001).
The Political Economy of the Securities Act of 1933, 30 Journal of Legal Studies 1–31 (2001).
Adverse Selection and Gains to Controllers in Corporate Freezeouts: Comment National Bureau of Economic Research 259–261 (2000).
Contract or Concession?: An Essay on the History of Corporate Law, 34 Georgia Law Review 873–893 (2000).
The Appraisal Remedy and Merger Premiums (with Mark Weinstein), 1 American Law & Economic Review 239–275 (1999).
The First Thing We Do, Let’s Pay All the Lawyers, 66 University of Chicago Law Review 922–932 (1999).
The Pernicious Art of Securities Regulation, 66 University of Chicago Law Review 1373–1393 (1999).
The Stock Pools and the Securities Exchange Act, 51 Journal of Financial Economy 343–369 (1999).
Technology, Property Rights in Information, and Securities Regulation, 75 Washington University Law Quarterly 815–848 (1997).
The Exchange as Regulator, 83 Virginia Law Review 1453–1500 (1997).
Contract Remedies and Options Pricing, 24 Journal of Legal Studies 139–163 (1995).
Is There a Cure for “Excessive” Trading?, 81 Virginia Law Review 713–749 (1995).
Mandatory Disclosure as a Solution to Agency Problems, 62 University of Chicago Law Review 1047–1112 (1995).
Precaution Costs and the Law of Fraud in Impersonal Markets, 78 Virginia Law Review 623–670 (1992).
Book Review (reviewing Norman S. Poser, International Securities Regulation) 31 Virginia Journal of International Law 761–772 (1991).
Securities Regulation by Enforcement: An International Perspective, 7 Yale Journal on Regulation 305–320 (1990).
A Market Power Test for Noncommercial Boycotts, 93 Yale Law Journal 523–540 (1984).

Reports & Datasets

Proposal on Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors [File No. S7-10-22] (with Lawrence A. Cunningham et al.), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2022).
StatementThe Dodd-Frank Act and Regulatory Overreach , US Government Print Office 5–7, 30 (2015).
TestimonySystemic Risk: Are Some Institutions Too Big to Fail and If So, What Should We Do about It? , US Government Print Office 14–16, 61 (2009).
Public and Private Rule Making in Securities Markets, Cato Institute (2003).
Preconditions to the Development of Capital Markets in the Former Soviet Union, University of Toledo (1992).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

Letter: Free speech is a fundamental U.Va. value (with Julia D. Mahoney, Jason S. Johnston & et al.), Cavalier Daily (April 5, 2022).
The New Separation of Ownership and Control: Institutional Investors and ESG (with Julia D. Mahoney), CLS Blue Sky Blog (April 20, 2021).
Equity Market Structure Regulation: Time to Start Over, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (July 27, 2020).
Did Deregulation End the “Quiet Period” of Low-Risk Banking?, CLS Blue Sky Blog (September 18, 2018).
A Tribute to Antonin Scalia, 102 Virginia Law Review 285–287 (2016).
A Tribute to David Martin, 102 Virginia Law Review 1163–1165 (2016).
Why Dodd-Frank Is Already Failing Law & Liberty (2015).
A Tribute to Peter Low, 100 Virginia Law Review 1111–1114 (October, 2014).
A Tribute to Jeffrey O’Connell, 98 Virginia Law Review 1435–1438 (2012).
A Tribute to Michael P. Dooley, 98 Virginia Law Review 1427–1430 (2012).
Larry Walker: An Intellectual Pioneer, 97 Virginia Law Review 1263–1266 (2011).
An Ideal Colleague, 96 Virginia Law Review 939–942 (2010).
Opening Remarks at the MAPOC Conference, 18 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 1–2 (2010).
Treasury Resolution Plan Solves Nothing (with Steven D. Walt), American Banker 8 (November 8, 2009).
50th Anniversary Commemorative Letter, 50 Virginia Journal of International Law 1–2 (2009).
Contract Law and Macroeconomics, 6 Virginia Journal 72–83 (2003).
Scott and Goetz: The Collaboration That Transformed Contract Law, 6 Virginia Journal 12–23 (2003).
Simple Rules for Complex Markets: Comment, 158 Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 28–31 (2002).
Regulation of International Securities Issues, Regulation 62–70 (1991).

Current Courses

Securities Regulation (Law & Business)

All Courses

Quantitative Methods
Securities Regulation (Law & Business)

IN THE NEWS

12/12/2022
Brokers Braced for Big Overhaul of US Stock Trading Rules (Financial Times)
11/11/2022
Showcase Panel II: The Mission of Law Schools (The Federalist Society)
06/23/2022
Proposal on Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)
04/20/2022
Why Do Critics Claim That the SEC Has Over-Reached With Climate Risk Disclosures? (Forbes)
04/05/2022
LETTER: Free Speech Is a Fundamental U.Va. Value (The Cavalier Daily)
10/14/2021
The Economics of Securities Regulation (The FinReg Blog)
10/13/2021
How BlackRock Became the World’s Largest Asset Manager (CNBC)
04/20/2021
The New Separation of Ownership and Control: Institutional Investors and ESG (The CLS Blue Sky Blog)
02/16/2021
Call for SEC To Regulate Index Providers as Investment Advisers (Financial Times)
07/27/2020
Equity Market Structure Regulation: Time to Start Over (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)
06/12/2020
Regulation or “Don’t Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste” (The Federalist Society)
04/17/2020
Goodyear Blames Pandemic for Millions of Dollars in Losses (Danville Register & Bee)
03/17/2020
Paul Mahoney on Soft Dollars (Business Scholarship Podcast)
11/07/2019
SEC Lacks Data To Expand Private Offerings, Committee Told (Law360)
09/18/2018
Did Deregulation End the “Quiet Period” of Low-Risk Banking? (CLS Blue Sky Blog)
04/09/2018
Caveat Cryptor: Investors and Regulators Wary of Cryptocurrency (The Daily Progress)
12/14/2017
UVA Law Professor Weighs in on FCC Net Neutrality Repeal (NBC29)
12/06/2017
Net neutrality: Local Industry Professionals Debate Pros and Cons of an Open Market (C-VILLE Weekly)
05/05/2017
The Regulation of Trading Markets: A Survey and Evaluation (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)
02/15/2016
Mentee of Justice Scalia Remembers Him as Admirable Man (NBC29)
02/13/2016
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dead at 79 (The Daily Progress)
11/23/2015
UVA Names Its First Woman Law Dean (National Law Journal)
09/17/2015
Why Dodd-Frank Is Already Failing (Library of Law and Liberty)
07/22/2015
Five Years After Dodd-Frank, Worry of 'Too Big to Fail' Still Persists (The Daily Signal)
05/20/2015
Wasting a Crisis: Why Securities Regulation Fails (Cato Institute)
05/14/2015
Fincher Questions Dean of UVA Law School on the Harmful Regulations Caused Since Dodd-Frank (U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher)
05/13/2015
GOP Lawmakers Discuss What Dodd-Frank Got Wrong (Law 360)
05/13/2015
Testimony at Hearing Entitled 'The Dodd-Frank Act and Regulatory Overreach' (House Committee on Financial Services)
03/31/2015
David Marcus and Paul Mahoney Discuss Dodd-Frank and Its History (The Deal)
02/01/2015
Paul Mahoney, Dean of UVA School of Law, Elected to Section Council (ABA)
05/19/2014
Edward Kennedy's diploma delivered 55 years later (The Associated Press)
04/30/2014
UVA Law funds the first jobs of many of its grads-should it matter? (C-Ville)
04/24/2014
When grads are jobless, schools come to the rescue (Fortune)
03/11/2014
2014 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medals Will Go to Toyo Ito, Kenneth Feinberg, Jim Webb (UVA Today)
09/19/2013
Faculty Hiring Among Challenges UVa Faces, Board Members Hear (The Daily Progress)
06/27/2013
UVA Law School Dean Reappointed (WINA)
07/18/2012
UVA Law School Completes Capital Campaign, Surpasses $150 Million Goal (NBC29)
06/21/2011
The Bankers Who Cried Wolf: Wall Street's History Of Hyperbole About Regulation (Huffington Post)
06/25/2010
Law Jobs Will Be Harder to Come By (U.S. News & World Report)
04/19/2010
Goldman's Top Lawyer Lays Low but Packs Punch (Reuters)
04/16/2010
Does Supreme Court's Harvard-Yale Dominance Bother Obama? (McClatchy Newspapers)
01/13/2010
Making Bankers Pay: It's Happened Before (SmartMoney)
11/20/2009
Treasury Resolution Plan Solves Nothing (American Banker (subscription required))
11/16/2009
Regulation of Financial Institutions (Above the Law)
11/14/2009
Chance for Real Financial Reform Has Passed, Former SEC Commissioner Says (Blog for the Legal Times)
08/27/2009
Kennedy's UVa Law Roots Remembered (The Daily Progress)
01/27/2009
Darkness at Davos May Hide Secrets From Transparency Spotlight (Bloomberg.com)
01/14/2009
Barker Grant Aids U.Va. Animal Law Program (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
09/11/2008
Law Schools Hiring Faculty Couples (Lawjobs.com)
09/11/2008
More Law Schools Hiring Professor Power Couples (ABA Journal)
06/26/2008
CSX Vote Delay--Desperate Gamble or Shrewd Move?
03/26/2008
Getting Business School Skills While in Law School (U.S. News & World Report)
02/28/2008
Shame Fills a Vacuum in China's Financial Law Enforcement (The Economist)
02/26/2008
Mahoney is Named 11th Dean at U.Va.'s School of Law (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
02/25/2008
UVA Names New Law School Dean (WSLS-10 Roanoke, VA)
02/25/2008
Law School Has New Dean (The Daily Progress)
02/25/2008
Paul G. Mahoney - Scholar, Teacher and Corporate Law Expert - Named Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law (UVa Today)
09/06/2007
Borrowers Enjoy Upper Hand (Daily Deal)
10/04/2006
Law Professors Receive Distinction: BOV Appoints Three Professors as David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professors of Law (Cavalier Daily)

AT UVA LAW

Professor Examines Index Funds’ Lack of Regulation
It’s Not the 2008 Financial Crisis, But Conditions Give Professor Pause
Paul Mahoney Named to SEC Investor Advisory Committee
5 Deans Discuss Past, Present, Future of UVA Law
Paul Mahoney, Thomas Nachbar Don't Foresee Many Changes With New Net Neutrality Rules
Seminal Works: Paul Mahoney Uncovers Hidden Side of Financial Regulation
Risa Goluboff, Ground-Breaking UVA Law Dean, To Headline Fall Convocation
Minding Your Business: 10 Reasons Students Choose the Law & Business Program at UVA Law
History in the Making: Risa Goluboff, UVA Law's First Female Dean, Takes Office
Head of Career Services Kevin Donovan Recognized for Firming-Up Job Opportunities
Eight Years Stronger
Professor Mila Versteeg Wins UVA Law's McFarland Prize for Scholarship
Graduation Speaker Will Shortz '77 Says UVA Law Students Smart Enough to Fill in Blanks
Dean Paul Mahoney's Message to UVA's Class of 2016
UVA Law Dean Paul Mahoney's Message to UVA's Class of 2016
Eight Years Stronger
UVA Law Dean Paul Mahoney Recaps 2015-16 Academic Year
Monahan Joins American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Symposium to Explore U.S. Market Structure and Securities Trading
UVA Law Students and Dean Join Effort to 'Listen First'
Judge John Gleeson '80 to Receive Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law
Legal History Book Panel on UVA Law Professor Risa Goluboff's "Vagrant Nation"
Clinics Turn Doctrine and Policy Into Practice
UVA Selects Risa L. Goluboff as Dean of the School of Law
UVA Law School Dean's New Book "Wasting a Crisis" Questions Rush to Regulate After Financial Meltdown
Dean Paul Mahoney's New Book "Wasting a Crisis" Questions Rush to Regulate After Financial Meltdown
UVA Law Class of 2017 Orientation Speaker Warren Gorrell ’79
Dean Paul G. Mahoney on the State of UVA Law, May 2014
University of Virginia School of Law 2014 Graduation
University of Virginia Reappoints Dean Paul Mahoney
Class of 2015 Orientation Address, with Rebecca Vallas '09
Alumni Weekend Law School Update with Dean Paul Mahoney
In Wake of Wall Street Protests, Professors Illuminate 'Corporate Personhood'
Mahoney Attends Law School Dean Summit with Chinese Educators
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan Speaks at UVA Law Alumni Weekend, April 30, 2011
"Economic Uncertainty and the Role of the Courts," with Dean Paul Mahoney and Professor Paul Stephan
"Are Bailouts Inevitable?" with Dean Paul Mahoney and Randall Guynn '84
No Financial Institution Is Too Big to Fail, Mahoney Tells Congress
No Financial Institution Is Too Big to Fail, Mahoney Tells Congress
"State of the Law School," with Dean Paul G. Mahoney
Economic Crisis Origins Are Complex, Experts Explain
Economic Crisis Origins Are Complex, Experts Explain
Dean Paul Mahoney Discusses Pro Bono Work
Dean Paul Mahoney Welcomes the Class of 2011
Paul G. Mahoney — Scholar, Teacher, and Corporate Law Expert — Named University of Virginia Law School Dean
Institutional Activism Positive for Shareholders, Panelists Say
Side Agreements Have Important Implications for Contract Law, Theory, Cohen Says
5 Deans Discuss Past, Present, Future of UVA Law

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