Gregory S. Crespi

Full-time faculty

Homer R. Mitchell Endowed Professorship in Commercial and Insurance Law and Professor of Law

Biography

Gregory S. Crespi is a 1985 graduate of the Yale Law School. Before entering law school he was a Professor of Economics at the University of Iowa and at the University of Tulsa. Immediately prior to joining the faculty at SMU in 1990 Professor Crespi served in the White House as the Senior Counsel for the Council of Economic Advisers. Dr. Crespi also practiced law with the firms of Debevoise & Plimpton and Davis, Hockenberg for several years before joining the SMU faculty, working on a range of corporate and commercial law matters. He is the author of two books on securities regulation and over 60 articles on a wide range of legal topics, including disability rights, contract law, corporate law, law and economics, jurisprudence, and legal education. He is a five-time winner of the Law School’s Teacher of the Year award.

Areas of Expertise

Contract Law
Disability Rights
Corporate Law
Law and Economics
Legal Education

Education

B.S., Michigan State University
M.S., George Washington University
Ph.D., University of Iowa
J.D., Yale Law School

Courses

Contracts
Economic Analysis of Law

Books

STOCKBROKER SUPERVISION: MANAGING STOCKBROKERS AND SURVIVING SANCTIONS (Butterworth Legal Publishers 1989) (with Ralph Ferrara and David Rivkin)

REDEEMING FALLEN BROKERS: MANAGING THE AFTERMATH OF BROKER-DEALER ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS (Butterworth Legal Publishers 1988) (with Ralph Ferrara)

DIRECTORSHIP YEAR-END REGULATORY REVIEW: JANUARY 1988 (Directorship Publications 1988) (with Eric Roiter)

DIRECTORSHIP YEAR-END REGULATORY REVIEW: JANUARY 1987 (Directorship Publications 1987) (with Eric Roiter and Gary Kubek)

Articles

Will the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Ever Forgive Any Loans?, 421 Connecticut Law Review 625 (2019)
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The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The Need for Better Employment Eligibility Regulations, 66 Buffalo Law Review 819 (2018)
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Does Failure to Mitigate Damages Bar Recovery of the Costs of Mitigation?, 46 Hofstra Law Review 827 (2018)
SMU Repository

Presenting a Critical Perspective on 'Economic Efficiency' in Law and Economics Courses, 71 SMU Law Review 315 (2018)
SMU Repository

The Obama Administration's new "REPAYE" Plan for Student Loan Borrowers: Not Much Help for Law School Graduates, 35 Quinnipiac Law Review 323 (2017)
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Should We Defuse the "Tax Bomb" Facing Lawyers Who are Enrolled in Income-Based Student Loan Repayment Plans? 68 South Carolina Law Review 117 (2017)
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The Family Office Exclusion under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 69 SMU Law Review 97 (2016) (with Nathan Crow)
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Will the Income-Based Repayment Program Enable Law Schools to Continue to Provide 'Harvard-Style' Legal Education?, 67 SMU Law Review 51 (2014)
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Teaching Contract Law Through Common Law Analysis: The UC-Irvine Experiment, 66 SMU Law Review 341 (2013)
SMU Repository

Teaching Contract Law: Introducing Students to a Critical Perspective Through Indentured Servitude and Sharecropper Contracts, 66 SMU Law Review 351 (2013)
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Who is Liable for Attorney's Fees under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Section 38.001 in Breach of Contract Litigation?, 65 SMU Law Review 71 (2012)
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Misbehavior and Mistake in Bankruptcy Mortgage Claims, 45 Creighton Law Review 361 (2012)
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The Underappreciated Importance of the Sequence in Which the Issues are Raised in Contract Litigation, 46 New England Law Review (On Remand) 37 (2011)
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Cost-Benefit Analysis: Not a Suitable Approach for Evaluating Climate Regulation Policies, 2 Washington & Lee Journal of Energy, Climate and the Environment 227 (2011)
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The Trillion Dollar Problem of Underwater Homeowners: Avoiding a New Surge of Foreclosures by Encouraging Principal-Reducing Modifications, 51 Santa Clara Law Review 153 (2011)
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Green Cards for Foreign House Buyers: A Way to Help Stabilize Housing Prices, 45 Tulsa Law Review 471 (2010)
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The Endogeniety Problem in Cost-Benefit Analysis: Valuing Policies That Alter Preferences or Genetic Identities, 8 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 91 (2010)
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How Recognizing the Endogeniety of Identity Renders the Discounting Debate Largely Irrelevant, 30 Journal of Land, Resources & Environmental Law 75 (2010)
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Further Reflections on Post-Realist Legal Scholarship and Teaching: A Brief Response to Professor Scordato, 50 Santa Clara Law Review 281 (2010)
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A Brief Reflection on the Problem of Person-Altering Consequences, 2 Journal of Applied Economy 13 (2009)
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Incorporating Endogenous Preferences in Cost-Benefit Analysis, 17 Penn State Environmental Law Review 157 (2009)
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The Fatal Flaw of Cost-Benefit Analysis: The Problem of Person-Altering Consequences, 38 Environmental Law Reporter 10703 (2008)

Choice of Law in Veil Piercing Litigation: Courts Should Discard the Internal Affairs Rule and Embrace General Choice of Law Principles, 64 NYU Annual Survey of American Law 85 (2008)
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Would It be Unethical to Dump Radioactive Wastes in the Ocean? The Surprising Ethical Implications of the Person-Altering Consequences of Policies, 1 Ecology Law Currents 1 (2008); reprinted as Chapter 2 of WASTE MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, (L. Lakshmi, ed., 2008)
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Clarifying the Boundary Between the Parol Evidence Rule and the Rules Governing Subsequent Oral Modifications, 34 Ohio Northern University Law Review 71 (2008)
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What’s Wrong With Dumping Radioactive Wastes in the Ocean? The Surprising Ethical Implications of the Problem of Person-Altering Consequences, 37 Environmental Law Reporter 10873 (2007)

Maximizing the Wealth of Fictional Shareholders: Which Fiction Should Directors Embrace?, 32 Journal of Corporation Law 381 (2007)
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Valuation in Cost-Benefit Analysis: Choosing Between Offer Prices and Asking Prices as the Appropriate Measure of Willingness to Pay, 39 John Marshall Law Review 429 (2006)
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Standards of Conduct and Standards of Review in Corporate Law: The Need for Closer Alignment, 82 Nebraska Law Review 671 (2004)
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Is a Signed Offer Sufficient to Satisfy the Statute of Frauds?, 80 North Dakota Law Review 1 (2004)
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Judicial and Law Review Citation Frequencies for Articles Published in Different 'Tiers' of Law Journals: An Empirical Analysis, 44 Santa Clara Law Review 897 (2004)
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The Influence of Two Decades of Contract Law Scholarship on Judicial Rulings: An Empirical Analysis, 57 SMU Law Review 105 (2004)
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Redefining the Fiduciary Duties of Corporate Directors in Accordance with the Team Product, 36 Creighton Law Review 623 (2003)
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Rethinking Corporate Fiduciary Duties: The Inefficiency of the Shareholder Primacy Norm, 55 SMU Law Review 141 (2002)
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Selling Structured Settlements: The Uncertain Effect of Anti-Assignment Clauses, 28 Pepperdine Law Review 787 (2001)
SMU Repository

The Enforcibility of Fixed-Term Employment Contracts that Conflict with Corporate Bylaws, 36 Tulsa Law Journal 583 (2001)
SMU Repository

The Influence of a Decade of Statutory Interpretation Scholarship on Judicial Rulings: An Empirical Analysis, 53 SMU Law Review 9 (2000)
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Ranking Specialized Law Reviews: A Methodological Critique, 26 Florida State University Law Review 837 (1999)
SMU Repository

Ranking the Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law and Land Use Planning Journals: A Survey of Expert Opinion, 23 William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review 273 (1998)
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Exploring the Complicationist Gambit: An Austrian Approach to the Economic Analysis of Law, 73 Notre Dame Law Review 316 (1998)
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Ranking International and Comparative Law Journals: A Survey of Expert Opinion, 31 International Lawyer 869 (1997)
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Does the Chicago School Need to Expand Its Curriculum? LAW AND ECONOMICS: NEW AND CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES (Robin Paul Malloy and Christopher Braun, eds., P. Lang 1995) 22 Law & Social Inquirer 149 (1997) (book review)
SMU Repository

Putting the Chicago School Debate in Proper Perspective, 22 Law & Social Inquirer 201-207 (1997)
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Comparing American and New Zealand Legal Education: Are American Law Schools Too Good?, 30 Vanderbilt Transactional Law Journal 31-57 (1997)
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Other Publications

WHAT DO GOOD LAWYERS KNOW THAT THE REST OF US DON’T? INTRODUCING FIRST–YEAR LAW STUDENTS TO “LEGAL REALISM”, Nebraska Law Review Bulletin (2022)
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“Firm Offers” Under UCC Section 2-205 Should Be Treated the Same Way as Are Offers Included in Option Contracts, 75 SMU Law Review Forum 285 (2022)
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How Should the Statute of Frauds Apply to Reliance-Based Contracts?, 75 SMU Law Review Forum 277 (2022)
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The Texas Legislature Has Significantly Broadened the Statute Governing Recovery of Attorney's Fees in Breach of Contract Cases, 74 SMU Law Review Forum 130 (2021)
SMU Repository

Developing a Law School Course on Presidential Impeachment, 72 SMU Law Review Forum 41 (2019)
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