Christopher Bradley, JD

Christopher G. Bradley joined UK Law as an Assistant Professor in 2016 and was appointed Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs Associate Professor of Law in 2020. Professor Bradley’s research and teaching interests include commercial, business, consumer, and bankruptcy law.

Both in his research and his teaching, Professor Bradley adheres to an emphasis on “law in action” rather than “law in the books.” His research relies on empirical, historical, and theoretical approaches—all focused on how law impacts the realities of social, commercial, business, political, and cultural life. In his teaching, he seeks to bring important legal concepts to life for students by emphasizing their practical impact on our economy and on our society’s adherence to its core values. He is committed to helping students not simply understand the law, but also find and be prepared for careers that they will find fulfilling.

Professor Bradley is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, Problems and Materials in Debtor and Creditor Law (7th ed., forthcoming 2021), with Douglas J. Whaley, and a well-regarded practitioners’ manual, Strategies for Creditors in Bankruptcy Proceedings (revised 7th ed.), with Lynn M. LoPucki & Christopher R. Mirick. He has recently published an article about our important new business bankruptcy law, the Small Business Reorganization Act, in the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Agency, Partnership, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations, and he is Chair-Elect of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law. He is also a founding fellow of the American College of LLC and Partnership Attorneys.

Much of Professor Bradley's recent research has explored the impact of technology on business and commercial law, as well as the use of business entities (such as LLCs) in various commercial contexts. This research includes his article, "Disrupting Secured Transactions," Houston Law Review (2019), which explores the impact of the Internet of Things and related technologies on secured transactions law (UCC Art. 9); his article "The Consumer Protection Ecosystem: Law, Norms, and Technology," Denver Law Review (2020) which considers the role of technological and social change in the area of consumer law and policy; his essay "FinTech’s Double Edges," Chicago-Kent Law Review (2018), which forms part of a symposium on the promises and perils of new financial technologies; and his article "Art Works as Business Entities: Sculpting Property Rights by Private Agreement," Tulane Law Review (2020), which discusses the power of modern business entity law to reshape other areas of law and regulation. He is currently engaged in an empirical research project concerning the Bankruptcy Code's institution of the "Consumer Privacy Ombudsman," designed to protect consumers’ private data.

Prior to entering academia, Professor Bradley clerked for Judge Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then spent several years practicing with the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manges. At Weil, he was recognized for pro bono service, which included the successful representation of an asylum petitioner from El Salvador and of a victim of domestic violence seeking a visa under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.
 
Professor Bradley then clerked for Judge Tony M. Davis of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. In this capacity he gained exposure to the wide range of matters brought before bankruptcy courts, from individual debtors trying to rebuild their credit to business entities and corporate groups pursuing reorganization.

Professor Bradley also practiced at the specialty bankruptcy and litigation firm of Hohmann Taube & Summers and with the Finance and Restructuring Group of the national firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis. Professor Bradley’s practice included service to creditors and to debtors in bankruptcy, as well as to bankruptcy trustees and state court receivers. In addition to taking and defending depositions, drafting briefs and other court papers, participating in alternative dispute resolutions, and arguing to courts, he negotiated and drafted a range of business transaction documents. While at these firms, Professor Bradley also participated in several pro bono matters and served the bar in various roles, including as chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Professor Bradley remains committed to pro bono service. Recently, he joined a small team of lawyers on a pro bono basis to serve as amici curiae in two cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Their efforts were part of a successful push to convince the court to reconsider a ruling on an important issue of bankruptcy law. See Hawk v. Engelhart, No. 16-20641 (amici successfully supported reconsideration of initial ruling; featured in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire for Sept. 7, 2017); Lowe v. DeBerry, No. 17-50315 (amici successfully supported reversal of district court opinion;  brief is cited in opinion dated Mar. 7, 2018; featured in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire for March 12, 2018).