Female Economist Joins Law Faculty

A leading expert in law and economics has accepted an offer to join the Harvard Law School faculty, the school announced last week.

The hiring of Kathryn E. Spier, a tenured professor at Northwestern University, will bring the number of economists on the law faculty to five, with Spier as the only woman.

Renowned for her work on liability and litigation strategy, Spier began her academic career 18 years ago as an associate professor in Harvard’s Department of Economics, and served as a visiting professor at the Law School in 2005.

Though former Professor of Law Christine M. Jolls—the only female economist on the Law School’s faculty from 2001 to 2006—left for Yale last year, Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law Richard H. Fallon said that Spier was not chosen to serve as Jolls’ replacement.

Fallon, who served on the appointments committee, said that Spier’s offer was decided more than a year before Jolls’ resignation.

“This was not an effort to replace her,” Fallon said.Fallon added that Spier’s appointment was aimed at enhancing the law faculty, not just increasing diversity.

“This is not the case of someone being appointed because she was a woman, but it is a case of an exceptionally talented and competent woman being appointed,” Fallon said, acknowledging that women were underrepresented on the law faculty.

In a statement issued yesterday, Law School Dean Elena Kagan said Spier would strengthen an “already extraordinary group of scholars” at the Law School’s law and economics faculty.

“Kathy’s research, such as her work on settlement behavior, fee-shifting rules, and other aspects of the civil justice system is notable for its originality and rigor,” Kagan said. “And her teaching, as Harvard students discovered when she visited here, is simply exemplary.”

Spier could not be reached for comment.

Before joining the Northwestern faculty, Spier worked at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Spier’s background will expose students to new content and teaching methods, professors said following her appointment.

“She has a lot of contacts and connections and perspectives that are different from those of us who have spent our entire careers at the Law School,” said Louis Kaplow, the Caspersen and Household International Professor of Law and Economics. “The potential synergy of her appointment is higher than others.”

Spier’s appointment comes as part of an ongoing effort by the Law School to expand its faculty.

Another new hire, New York University law professor Noah R. Feldman ’92, will make the jump to Cambridge this fall.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhou can be reached at kzhou@fas.harvard.edu