Biography

A scholar of the law of bankruptcy, corporate reorganization, and venture capital, Marcus Cole takes an empirical law and economics approach to research questions such as why corporate bankruptcies increasingly are adjudicated in Delaware and what drives the financial structure of companies backed by venture capital. He has been a national fellow at the Hoover Institution and has scholarly interests that range from classical liberal political theory to natural law and the history of commercial law. He serves on the board of directors for the Central Pacific Region of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and on the editorial board of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1997, Professor Cole was an associate in commercial litigation with the Chicago law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt, and he clerked for Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Key Works

• G Marcus Cole, Shopping for Law in a Coasean Market, 1 New York University Journal of Law and Liberty 111 (2005).
• G. Marcus Cole, The Federalist Cost of Bankruptcy Exemption Reform, in Foundations of Bankruptcy Law, Barry Adler, ed., New York: Foundation Press, 2005.
• G. Marcus Cole, Delaware is Not a State: Are We Witnessing Jurisdictional Competition in Bankruptcy?, 55 Vanderbilt Law Review 1845-1916 (November 2002).
• G. Marcus Cole, Limiting Liability Through Bankruptcy, 70 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1245-1295 (Summer 2002).
• Joseph Bankman and G. Marcus Cole, The Venture Capital Investment Bust: Did Agency Costs Play a Role? Was it Something Lawyers Helped Structure? [Symposium: Theory Informs Business Practice], 77 Chicago-Kent Law Review 211-234 (2001)

In the News

• It's Official: GM Files For Bankruptcy Protection
  USA Today, June 01, 2009

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Bankruptcy
• Contracts
• Intellectual Property: Commercial Law

Programs

• John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics, Wm. Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• G. Marcus Cole and Todd J. Zywicki, The New Forum Shopping Problem in Bankruptcy, Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper, No. 376 (June 2009) / George Mason Law and Economics Research Paper, No. 09-29 (June 2009).
• G. Marcus Cole, What is the Government's Role in Promoting Morals?...Seriously? 31 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 77 (Winter 2008).
• G. Marcus Cole, Protecting Consumers from Consumer Protection, in 2006-2007 Cato Supreme Court Review, Mark K. Moller, ed., Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, September 2007.
• G. Marcus Cole, Robert K. Rasmussen and Edward R. Morrison, Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Appellant: Lucent Technologies v. Shubert, No. 07-2569 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (September 11, 2007).
• G. Marcus Cole, Law and Order Without Coercion, 22 Journal of Private Enterprise 37 (Spring 2007).
• G. Marcus Cole and David C. Thompson, The Story of Johns Manville Corporation: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and Mass Torts, in Bankruptcy Law Stories, Robert K. Rasmussen, ed., New York: Foundation Press, 2007.
• Marcus Cole, et. al., Amici Curiae Brief of Economists and Scholars Marcus Cole, Christopher Demuth, Richard Epstein, Robert Litan, Michael Staten, Peter Wallison and Todd Zywicki in Support of Respondents: Watters v. Wachovia Bank, No. 05-1342 in the Supreme Court of the United States (November 2, 2006).
• G. Marcus Cole, Consumer Bankruptcy is Insurance for Which the Insured Need Not to Pay or Save, September/October Boston Review 14 (2005).
• G Marcus Cole, Shopping for Law in a Coasean Market, 1 New York University Journal of Law and Liberty 111 (2005).
• G. Marcus Cole, The Federalist Cost of Bankruptcy Exemption Reform, in Foundations of Bankruptcy Law, Barry Adler, ed., New York: Foundation Press, 2005.

Affiliations & Honors

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, Outstanding Professor of the Year, 1st Year Course, Northwestern Law School, 2001-02