Nicolas Cornell

Nicolas Cornell, professor of law at the University of Michigan, teaches and writes in the areas of contracts, property, moral philosophy, remedies, and private law theory.

Cornell’s work seeks to connect issues in normative ethics with questions about the foundations of private law doctrine. He is the author of Wrongs and Rights Come Apart (Harvard University Press, 2025). His work has also appeared both in peer-reviewed philosophy journals—including “The Possibility of Preemptive Forgiving” (Philosophical Review, 2017) and “Wrongs, Rights, and Third Parties” (Philosophy & Public Affairs, 2015)—and in top law reviews—including “Competition Wrongs” (Yale Law Journal, 2020), “A Complainant-Oriented Approach to Unconscionability and Contract Law” (University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2016), and “A Third Theory of Paternalism” (Michigan Law Review, 2015).

Before joining the faculty at Michigan Law, he was assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and clerked at the Vermont Supreme Court. In 2019, Michigan Law students awarded him the L. Hart Wright Teaching Award.