About

The Project on the Foundations of Private Law is an interdisciplinary research program at Harvard Law School dedicated to the academic investigation of private law. “Private law” embraces the traditionally common law subjects (property, contracts, and torts), as well as related subjects that are more heavily statutory, such as intellectual property and commercial law. It also includes areas of study that are today less familiar to students and scholars, including unjust enrichment, restitution, equity, and remedies. The Project aims to further study of these areas, their relationships to and distinctiveness from each other, and questions about the status and nature of private law as a whole. The Project draws on multiple disciplines outside law, including economics, history, cognitive science, and philosophy. It also encourages comparative work, especially involving Commonwealth and civil-law systems with explicit notions of private law.

Contact: Please direct all inquiries about the Project on the Foundations of Private Law to Susan Norton at snorton@law.harvard.edu.