Will Spearhead New Initiatives for the Law School

STANFORD, Calif., February 13, 2013—George Triantis, the James and Patricia Kowal Professor of Law, has been appointed Associate Dean for Strategic Planning by Stanford Law School Dean M. Elizabeth Magill. In this role, Professor Triantis will lead the law school’s examination of several developments that are likely to influence legal education and the profession in the future, including the opportunities presented by online education and the globalization of law practice.

Triantis is a renowned expert in contract, commercial, and bankruptcy law. He pioneered the application of options theory to the study of contracts and commercial law and has published a series of path-breaking articles developing principles of contract design. Most recent in this series have been his articles on the effect of bargaining power on contracting and the link between litigation and contract design. This series includes “Market Conditions and Contract Design: Variations in Debt Contracts” (New York University Law Review 2013); “The Effect of Bargaining Power on Contract Design”(Virginia Law Review 2012); and “Strategic Vagueness in Contract Design: The Case of Corporate Acquisitions” (Yale Law Journal 2010).

“George is a distinguished and creative scholar and a talented teacher. As anyone who has worked with him will attest, he is also a gifted institution builder and leader,” said Stanford Law School Dean M. Elizabeth Magill. “This role is a natural fit for him because George is a far-sighted thinker. I’m thrilled that he will put his talents to work in thinking about how we can continue to lead in legal education going forward.”

Professor Triantis began his teaching career in 1989 as an assistant professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Faculty of Management.  Before coming to Stanford Law School in the summer of 2011, he served as a member of the tenured law faculties at Virginia, Chicago and Harvard. On the occasion of his appointment as the Eli Goldston Professor of Law at Harvard in 2007, Triantis gave a public lecture on “The Future of Transactional Legal Practice.” He has also lectured on the topics of pricing of legal services, client relations, and compensation issues in Harvard’s executive program for managing partners and emerging leaders in law firms. At Stanford, he is affiliated with both the Center for the Legal Profession and the Rock Center for Corporate Governance.