Russell Korobkin

Richard C. Maxwell Distinguished Professor of Law
Vice Dean for Graduate and Professional Education

  • B.A. Stanford, 1989
  • J.D. Stanford, 1994
  • UCLA Faculty Since 2000

Russell Korobkin is the Richard C. Maxwell Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and the Vice Dean for Graduate and Professional Education. He has been a member of the UCLA Law faculty since 2001. He served as Interim Dean from 2022-2023 and Vice Dean for Academic and Institutional Affairs from 2015-2019. He is the author The Five Tool Negotiator: The Complete Guide to Bargaining Success (Liveright, 2021), Stem Cell Century: Law and Policy for a Breakthrough Technology (Yale, 2008), two textbooks -- Negotiation Theory and Strategy (Aspen, 3d ed., 2014) and K: A Common Law Approach to Contracts (Aspen 3d. ed., 2022) -- and more than 50 journal articles on behavioral law and economics, negotiation, contracts, and health care law. A former San Francisco management consultant and Washington D.C. lawyer, Professor Korobkin earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University. In addition to UCLA, he has taught full time at the University of Illinois, University of Texas, and Harvard University Law Schools, and he has taught intensive negotiation courses to undergraduates, MBA students and law students at 10 universities on four continents.

Bibliography

  • Books
    • The Five Tool Negotiator: The Complete Guide to Bargaining Success. Liveright (2021).
    • K: A Common Law Approach to Contracts (with Tracey George). 2nd. ed. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (2016). With Teacher's Manual. Prior editions: 1st, 2012.
    • Negotiation Theory and Strategy. 3rd ed. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (2014). With Teacher's Manual and Simulation Materials. Prior editions: 2nd, 2009; 1st, 2002.
    • Stem Cell Century: Law and Policy for a Breakthrough Technology (with Stephen R. Munzer). Yale University Press (2007).
  • Articles And Chapters
    • We Are All Problem Solvers Now, in Discussions in Dispute Resolution, (2021).
    • Behavioral Ethics, Deception, and Legal Negotiation, 20 Nevada Law Journal 1209 (2020).
    • Bargaining with the CEO: The Case for “Negotiate First, Choose Second” (with Michael Dorff), 34 Negotiation Journal 347 (2018).
    • Property Rights and the Control of Human Biospecimens, in Specimen Science: Ethics and Policy Implications, (edited by Holly Fernandez Lynch, Barbara E. Bierer, I. Glenn Cohen and Suzanne M. Rivera, MIT Press, 2017).
    • Three Paradigms of Choice Architecture Regulation for Health Care, in Nudging Health: Health Law and Behavioral Economics, (edited by I. Glenn Cohen, Holly Fernandez Lynch, and Christopher T. Robertson, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2016).
    • Wrestling with the Endowment Effect, or How to Do Law and Economics Without the Coase Theorem, in The Oxford Handbook of Behavioral Economics and the Law, (edited by Eyal Zamir and Doron Teichman, Oxford University Press, 2014). Full Text
    • Relative Value Health Insurance, 39 (2) Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 417-40 (2014).
    • Comparative Effectiveness Research as Choice Architecture: The Behavioral Law and Economics Solution to the Health Care Cost Crisis, 112 Michigan Law Review 523 (2014). Full Text
    • The "Borat" Problem in Negotiation: Fraud, Assent, and the Behavioral Law And Economics of Standard Form Contracts, 101 California Law Review 51-106 (2013).
    • Daniel Kahneman's Influence on Legal Theory, 44 Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 1349 (2013). Full Text
    • What Comes After Victory for Behavioral Law and Economics, 2011 Univ. of Illinois Law Review 1653 (2011).
    • How to Play Your Hand: Lessons for Negotiators from Poker (with Annie Duke, Howard Lederer and Jack Binion), 2 UNLV Gaming Law Journal 231 (2011).
    • Libertarian Welfarism, 97 California Law Review 1651-85 (2009). Full Text
    • Who Wins in Settlement Negotiations? (with Joseph W. Doherty), 11 American Law and Economics Review 162-208 (2009).
    • Reprogrammed Stem Cells and Federal Funding of Embryo Research, 45 Willamette Law Review 31-39 (2008).
    • Recent Developments in the 'Stem Cell Century': Implications for Embryo Research, Egg Donor Compensation, and Stem Cell Patents, 49 Jurimetrics Journal 51 (2008). Full Text
    • Against Integrative Bargaining, 58 Case Western Reserve Law Review 1323-42 (2008).
    • Stem Cell Research and the Cloning Wars, 18 Stanford Law and Policy Review 161 (2007). Full Text
    • 'No Compensation' or 'Pro Compensation': Moore v. Regents and Default Rules for Human Tissue Donations, Journal of Health Law 1-27 (2007).
    • Buying and Selling Human Tissues for Stem Cell Research, 49 Arizona Law Review 45-67 (2007). Full Text
    • Autonomy and Informed Consent in Nontherapeutic Biomedical Research, 54 UCLA Law Review 605-30 (2007). Full Text
    • Exploring the Link Between Domestic Conflicts and Negotiation Failure in the Middle East, 6 Nevada Law Journal 388-400 (2006).
    • Embryonic Histrionics: A Critical Evaluation of the Bush Stem Cell Funding Policy and the Congressional Alternative, 47 Jurimetrics Journal of Law, Science and Technology 1-29 (2006). Full Text
    • Are Heuristics a Problem or a Solution (with co-authors), in Heuristics and the Law, (edited by Gerd Gigerenzer & Christophe Engle, MIT Press, 2006).
    • The Problems with Heuristics for Law, in Heuristics and the Law, (edited by Gerd Gigerenzer & Christophe Engle, MIT Press, 2006). Full Text
    • Psychological Impediments to Mediation Success, 21 Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution 281-327 (2006). Schwartz Lecture on Dispute Resolution.
    • Harnessing the Positive Power of Rankings: A Response to Posner and Sunstein, 81 Indiana Law Journal 35-45 (2006). Keynote address at symposium on educational rankings. Full Text
    • Stem Cell Research and the Law (with Stephen R. Munzer), UCLA School of Law Public Law & Legal Theory Working Paper (2006). Full Text
    • Possibility and Plausibility in Law and Economics, 32 Florida State University Law Review 781-95 (2005). Full Text
    • The Role of Law in Settlement, in The Handbook of Dispute Resolution, (edited by Robert Bordone & Michael Moffitt, Jossey-Bass, 2005). Full Text
    • Roadblocks to the Road Map: A Negotiation Theory Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict After Yasser Arafat (with Jonathan Zasloff), 30 Yale Journal of International Law 1-80 (2005). Full Text
    • The Battle Over Self-Insured Health Plans, Or One Good Loophole Deserves Another, 1 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics 89-136 (2005). Full Text
    • A "Traditional" and "Behavioral" Law-and-Economics Analysis of Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co., 26 Hawaii Law Review 441 (2004). Full Text
    • Bargaining Power as Threat of Impasse, 87 Marquette Law Review 867-71 (2004). Full Text
    • Heuristics and Biases at the Bargaining Table (with Christopher P. Guthrie), 87 Marquette Law Review 795-808 (2004). Full Text
    • The Law of Bargaining (with Michael Moffitt and Nancy Welsh), 87 Marquette Law Review 839-845 (2004). Full Text
    • The Failed Jurisprudence of Managed Care, and How to Fix It, 51 UCLA Law Review 457-537 (2003). Full Text
    • Bounded Rationality, Standard Form Contracts, and Unconscionability, 70 University of Chicago Law Review 1203-95 (2003). Full Text
    • The Endowment Effect and Legal Analysis, 97 Northwestern University Law Review 1227-93 (2003). Full Text
    • Empirical Scholarship in Contract Law: Possibilities and Pitfalls, 2002 University of Illinois Law Review 1033-66 (2002). Full Text
    • Aspirations and Settlement, 88 Cornell Law Review 1-61 (2002). Full Text
    • A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Legal Scholarship: Economics, Behavioral Economics, and Evolutionary Psychology, 41 Jurimetrics Journal 319-336 (2001). Full Text
    • Behavioral Analysis and Legal Form: Rules vs. Standards Revisited, 79 Oregon Law Review 23 (2000). Symposium on New and Critical Approaches to Law and Economics.
    • Law and Behavioral Science: Removing the Rationality Assumption from Law and Economics (with Thomas Ulen), 88 California Law Review 1051-1144 (2000). Full Text
    • A Positive Theory of Legal Negotiation, 88 Georgetown Law Journal 1789-1831 (2000). Full Text
    • Behavioral Economics, Contract Formation, and Contract Law, in Behavioral Law and Economics, (edited by Cass R. Sunstein, Cambridge University Press, 2000).
    • The Efficiency of Managed Care "Patient Protection: Laws: Incomplete Contracts, Bounded Rationality, and Market Failure, 85 Cornell Law Review 1-88 (1999). Full Text
    • Ranking Journals: Some Thoughts on Theory and Methodology, 26 Florida State University Law Review 851-76 (1999).
    • In Praise of Law School Rankings: Solutions to Coordination and Collective Action Problems, 77 Texas Law Review 403-28 (1998). Full Text
    • Physician-Assisted Suicide Legislation: Issues and Preliminary Responses, 12 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 449-72 (1998).
    • Determining Health Care Rights from Behind the Veil of Ignorance, 1998 University of Illinois Law Review 801-36 (1998). Abstract
    • Inertia and Preference in Contract Negotiation: The Psychological Power of Default Rules and Form Contracts, 51 Vanderbilt Law Review 1583-1651 (1998). Full Text
    • Efficiency and Equity: What Can Be Gained by Combining Coase and Rawls? (with Thomas Ulen), 73 Washington Law Review 329-48 (1998). Full Text
    • The Status Quo Bias and Contract Default Rules, 83 Cornell Law Review 608-87 (1998). Full Text
    • Psychology, Economics, and Settlement: A New Look at the Role of the Lawyer (with Chris Guthrie), 76 Texas Law Review 77-141 (1997). Full Text
    • The Local Politics of Acid Rain: Public Versus Private Decisionmaking and the Dormant Commerce Clause in a New Era of Environmental Law, 75 Boston University Law Review 689-758 (1995).
    • Psychological Barriers to Litigation Settlement: An Experimental Approach (with Chris Guthrie), 93 Michigan Law Review 107-92 (1994).
    • Opening Offers and Out of Court Settlement: A Little Moderation May Not Go a Long Way (with Chris Guthrie), 10 Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution 1-22 (1994).
    • Sulfur Dioxide and the Constitution: Legal Doctrine and State Responses to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 13 Stanford Environmental Law Journal 349-400 (1994).
    • Policymaking and the Offer/Asking Price Gap: Toward a Theory of Efficient Entitlement Allocation, 46 Stanford Law Review 663-708 (1994).
    • The Politics of Disfranchisement in George, 74 Georgia Historical Quarterly 20 (1990).
  • Other
    • Why a Petulant, Erratic Trump May Succeed with North Korea, Los Angeles Times (Aug. 11, 2017).
    • Staring Down the Irrational Wing of the GOP, Los Angeles Times at A16 (Oct. 4, 2013).
    • Try a Ratings System for Health Care Treatments, San Francisco Chronicle at A18 (Dec. 10, 2009).
    • Stem Cell Disappointment: NIH Guidelines Would Not Mark a Clean Break From Bush  Ideology, The National Law Journal (June 29, 2009).
    • Insuring Amy, Beth, and Cindy, Los Angeles Times at A27 (2007).
    • Selling Eggs isn't Selling Our Souls, Los Angeles Times at B13 (Aug. 30, 2006).
    • The Stem Cell Initiative, Sabotaged, Los Angeles Times at B13 (March 2, 2006).
    • Sell an Organ, Save a Life, Los Angeles Times at M5 (Oct. 30, 2005).
    • Rojas: Balancing Confidentiality and Disclosure, 3(4) SCMA News 4-5 (August/September 2004).
    • Sacramento's Game of Chicken, Los Angeles Times at B13 (July 1, 2003).
    • Put Some Bite Into a "Land for Peace" Deal, Los Angeles Times at M5 (April 14, 2002).
    • Stage is Set for a Patients' Rights Bill that Works, Los Angeles Times at B14 (Aug. 7, 2001).
    • Keep Marital Status Out of the Tax Code, Los Angeles Times at B7 (July 24, 2000).
    • HMOs Get Authority to Strike a Fair Balance, Los Angeles Times at B9 (June 14, 2000).
    • States' Rights Backers Show Hypocrisy, Dallas Morning News at 13A (Nov. 16, 1999).
    • Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill is Hypocritical, Austin American-Statesman (Nov. 2, 1999).
    • Legislative Issues in Physician-Assisted Suicide, University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs Policy Forum (April, 1998).
    • Commentary, High Court charged Approach in Assisted-Suicide Ruling, St. Louis Post-Dispatch at 3B (July 27, 1997).
    • Negotiation Strategy: Can the Opening Offer Ever Be Too High?, Conflict Management at 1 (1996).