I am a Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Southern California, where I also serve as Co-Director of the Center for Law and Philosophy. My research focuses on jurisprudence, private law theory, and contract theory. I teach courses on contract law, private law, legal theory, and law and society.
I was born in Chile and grew up in Chile and Venezuela. I currently live in Los Angeles.
A Theory of Contract Law
What is contract law, and what justifies it? Most theories answer this question by reducing contract law to something else—to the morality of promise-keeping, to individual consent, to economic efficiency, or to a particular vision of justice. The Institution of Contract: A Theory of Contract Law takes a different path. It offers a non-reductive, systematic, and institutional theory of contract law: a comprehensive theoretical framework that understands contract law on its own terms as a distinctive legal institution, while also connecting that institution to the values and goals that can justify it to the citizens who live under it.
The book proceeds through four interconnected questions. What is contract law and what does it do? Can it be justified, and how? What are contractual duties and how do they bind parties? And how should contracts be enforced? Each question receives a sustained answer, and together they constitute an account of the entire edifice of contract law. The result is a unified, intellectually cohesive account of one of the central legal building blocks of modern life.
I am currently working on a paper on the relationship between interpretation and theories of adjudication, a paper on reasonableness and political liberalism, and a paper on underlying disagreements in general jurisprudence.
Conversations with leading scholars in private law theory, recorded during the pandemic. Guests include Seana Shiffrin, Arthur Ripstein, Benjamin Zipursky, John Goldberg, Paul Miller, Brian Bix, Hanoch Dagan, Larissa Katz, Liam Murphy, Jody Kraus, Aditi Bagchi, and many others.
I am available to write expert opinions on matters within my areas of expertise. I have written expert opinions on issues of contract interpretation, U.S. contract law, legal reasoning, and related areas, with a particular emphasis on cross-border disputes involving civil law and U.S. law issues.
For inquiries, please contact me by email.
Here is a link to my CV.
I welcome inquiries from scholars, students, and institutions. Feel free to reach out about research collaborations, speaking invitations, or academic opportunities.
fjimenez@law.usc.edu USC Faculty ProfileUniversity of Southern California
699 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90089