Harry Surden
 |
401 UCB
2450 Kittredge Loop Drive
Wolf Law Building
Boulder, CO 80309
Office: 427
Phone: (303) 492-7840
E-mail: hsurden@colorado.edu
Curriculum Vitae: View (PDF format)
Personal Link: Bio:Harry Surden is a Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School, where his research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and law. Recognized as a leading scholar in this field, Prof. Surden is known for originating the concept of "computable contracts" and for his widely-cited articles on topics such as AI Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, AI ethics and loyalty, computable law, machine learning and law, autonomous systems, as well as related work on patent law, copyright law, and information privacy law.
Professor Surden is also the Associate Director of Stanford University's CodeX Center for Legal Informatics, and the Faculty Director of CU's Silicon Flatirons Center's AI Initiative. He brings an interdisciplinary perspective, with a background in both computer science and law. Prior to academia, he worked as a professional software engineer at both Cisco Systems and Bloomberg L.P.
Professor Surden is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Cornell University, both with honors. He also clerked for the Hon. Martin J. Jenkins of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Before joining CU Law, Professor Surden was a resident fellow at Stanford's CodeX center, where he collaborated with the School of Engineering on research exploring the application of computing to improve the legal system. He also led CodeX's Computer Science and Law Initiative and was involved with the Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse.
At the University of Colorado, Professor Surden has received numerous awards including the Provost's Scholarship Award and the Goldstein Fellowship. Professor Surden teaches courses on intellectual property law, artificial intelligence and law, patent law, tort law, and on professional judgment, problem solving, and decision-making.
Selected Publications
| Naïve Realism, Cognitive Bias, and the Benefits and Risks of AI, Yale Journal on Regulation Online, Notice and Comment (Spring 2023). |
| Values Embedded in Legal Artificial Intelligence, IEEE Technology and Society, peer-reviewed (Spring 2022). |
| Surden (with Anthony Aguirre, Peter Bart Reiner, & Gaia Dempsey), AI Loyalty and Governance in The Oxford Handbook on Artificial Intelligence Governance, Oxford University Press (2022). |
| Machine Learning and Law: An Overview, in Research Handbook on Big Data Law (Roland Vogl, ed.) (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021). |
| Surden (with Anthony Aguirre, Gaia Dempsey, and Peter Bart Reiner), AI Loyalty: A New Paradigm for Aligning Stakeholder Interests, IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society (2020). |
| The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Law: Basic Questions, Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI (2020). |
| Artificial Intelligence and Law: An Overview, 35 Georgia State University Law Review (2019). |
| What to Teach Law Students About Artificial Intelligence and Law?, (Bridges II) Northwestern Law Review Online (2017). |
| Technological Opacity, Predictability, and Self-Driving Cars, 38 Cardozo Law Review 121 (2016). |
| Machine Learning and Law, 89 Washington Law Review 87 (2014). |
| Technological Cost as Law in Intellectual Property, 27 Harvard Journal of Law and Technology 135 (2013). |
| Computable Contracts, 46 U.C. Davis Law Review 629 (2012). |
| Efficient Uncertainty in Patent Interpretation, 68 Wash & Lee L. Rev 1737 (2011). |
| The Variable Determinacy Thesis, 12 Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 1 (2010-2011). |
| Structural Rights in Privacy, 60 SMU Law Rev. 1605 (2007). |
| Surden (with Michael Genesereth & Bret Logue), Representational Complexity in Law, Proc. 11th Int'l Conf. on Artificial Intelligence & L. 193 (2007). |
Selected Press, Media & Publicity
Courses:
| Fall 2025 | Torts | LAWS 5425-802 |
| Fall 2025 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2025 | Seminar: Computers and the Law | LAWS 8321-801 |
| Fall 2024 | Torts | LAWS 5425-802 |
| Fall 2024 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2024 | Seminar: Computers and the Law | LAWS 8321-801 |
| Fall 2023 | Torts | LAWS 5425-802 |
| Fall 2023 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2023 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Fall 2021 | Torts | LAWS 5425-801 |
| Fall 2021 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2021 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-801 |
| Fall 2020 | Torts | LAWS 5425-802 |
| Fall 2020 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2020 | Problem Solving, Professional Judgment, and Decision Making | LAWS 6813-801 |
| Spring 2020 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-801 |
| Fall 2019 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-801 |
| Spring 2019 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-801 |
| Spring 2019 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-902 |
| Spring 2019 | Seminar: Computers and the Law | LAWS 8321-801 |
| Spring 2019 | Seminar: Computers and the Law | LAWS 8321-902 |
| Fall 2018 | Torts | LAWS 5425-803 |
| Fall 2017 | Torts | LAWS 5425-803 |
| Fall 2017 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-001 |
| Spring 2017 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-001 |
| Fall 2016 | Torts | LAWS 5425-804 |
| Fall 2016 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-001 |
| Spring 2016 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-001 |
| Spring 2016 | Seminar: Computers and the Law | LAWS 8321-001 |
| Fall 2014 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-001 |
| Fall 2014 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-001 |
| Spring 2014 | Problem Solving, Professional Judgment, and Decision Making | LAWS 6813-001 |
| Spring 2014 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-001 |
| Spring 2014 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7936-901 |
| Spring 2014 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7936-902 |
| Spring 2014 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7946-901 |
| Spring 2014 | LL.M Thesis | LAWS 9856-903 |
| Fall 2013 | Torts | LAWS 5425-801 |
| Fall 2013 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7936-901 |
| Fall 2013 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7936-902 |
| Fall 2013 | Journal: Colorado Technology Law Journal | LAWS 7946-901 |
| Spring 2013 | Patent Law | LAWS 7311-001 |
| Fall 2012 | Torts | LAWS 5425-801 |
| Fall 2012 | Introduction to Intellectual Property Law | LAWS 6301-001 |
Our Vision
With our roots in Colorado and a global outlook, we are ...
a supportive and diverse educational and scholarly community in a place that inspires vigorous pursuit of ideas, critical analysis, contemplation, and civic engagement to advance knowledge about the law in an open, just society.
Our Mission
To be an outstanding public law school that: provides students with a state-of-the-art legal education and prepares them to serve wisely and with professionalism; advances the development of knowledge through scholarship, testing of new ideas, and challenges to the status quo; and serves as a vehicle and catalyst for meaningful public service, all of which deliver high value to our students and have positive impacts?both locally and globally?on the legal profession and society.