Andrew Schwartz

Laurence W. DeMuth Chair of Business Law
Professor of Law

401 UCB
2450 Kittredge Loop Drive
Wolf Law Building
Boulder, CO  80309
Office: 470B
Phone: (303) 492-8724
E-mail: andrew.schwartz@colorado.edu

Curriculum Vitae:  View (PDF format)

Educational Background:
J.D.   Columbia University   2001  
Sc.B.   Brown University   1998  
Bio:
Andrew A. Schwartz joined the Colorado Law faculty in 2008 and was named the Laurence W. DeMuth Chair of Business Law in 2024. He teaches and publishes on corporate, securities and contract law, and has become an internationally recognized expert on investment crowdfunding. In 2017, Professor Schwartz served as a Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Auckland Law School in New Zealand, where he has regularly returned as a visiting professor.

Professor Schwartz earned an Sc.B. in Civil Engineering from Brown University and a J.D. from Columbia University, where he served on the Columbia Law Review and was named a James Kent Scholar (top honors) all three years. Before entering academia, he clerked for Judge William A. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Following his clerkships, Professor Schwartz practiced corporate law in New York at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Professor Schwartz is the author of one book, Investment Crowdfunding, published by Oxford University Press, as well as more than forty scholarly publications. His major articles have appeared in leading flagship law reviews including the UCLA Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Notre Dame Law Review, top specialty journals such as the Yale Journal on Regulation and Harvard Business Law Review, and peer-reviewed journals like the New Zealand Law Review.

Professor Schwartz has won numerous national awards for his scholarship, including the AALS Scholarly Paper Competition and the Federalist Society Young Legal Scholars Paper Competition. At Colorado Law, Professor Schwartz has received the Provost's Award for Faculty Achievement, the Gilbert Goldstein Faculty Fellowship, and the Outstanding New Faculty Award. His research is frequently cited and relied upon by courts and commentators across the country and around the world, including numerous citations by the Delaware Court of Chancery, the nation's leading venue for corporate law.

Published Books

Investment Crowdfunding, Oxford University Press (2023).

Articles

Frustration, the MAC Clause and COVID-19, 55 U.C. Davis Law Review 1771 (2022).
Contracts Capsized by COVID-19: A Legal and Jewish Ethical Analysis, 178 Journal of Business Ethics 403 (2022).
Mandatory Disclosure in Primary Markets, 2019 Utah Law Review 1069 (2019).
The Gatekeepers of Crowdfunding, 75 Washington and Lee Law Review 885 (2018).
Equity Crowdfunding in New Zealand, 2018 New Zealand Law Review 243.
Financing Corporate Elections, 41 Journal of Corporation Law 863 (2016).
The Digital Shareholder, 100 Minnesota Law Review 609 (2015).
Corporate Legacy, 5 Harvard Business Law Review 237 (2015).
Crowdfunding Securities, 88 Notre Dame Law Review 1457 (2013).
The Corporate Preference for Trade Secret, 74 Ohio State Law Journal 623 (2013).
The Perpetual Corporation, 80 George Washington Law Review 764 (2012).
Consumer Contract Exchanges and the Problem of Adhesion, 28 Yale Journal on Regulation 313 (2011).
A 'Standard Clause Analysis' of the Frustration Doctrine and the Material Adverse Change Clause, 57 UCLA Law Review 789 (2010).
The Patent Office Meets the Poison Pill: Why Legal Methods Cannot Be Patented, 20 Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 333 (2007).

Book Chapters

Social Enterprise Crowdfunding in New Zealand, in THE CAMBRIDGE HANDBOOK OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE LAW 209 (Cambridge University Press, Yockey & Means eds. 2018). Funded by United States Fulbright Research Scholar Award, 2017.

Essays

Contracts and COVID-19, 73 Stanford Law Review Online 48-60 (2020).
Crowdfunding Issuers in the United States, 61 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 155-71 (2020).
Inclusive Crowdfunding, 2016 Utah Law Review 661.
The Nonfinancial Returns of Crowdfunding, 34 Review of Banking & Financial Law 565 (2015).
Quarterback by Committee: A Response in Memory of Dan Markel, 6 Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law 159 (2015).
Teenage Crowdfunding, 83 University of Cincinnati Law Review 515 (2014).
Arbitration and the Contract Exchange, 29 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 299 (2014).
Rural Crowdfunding, 13 U.C. Davis Business Law Journal 283 (2013).
Keep it Light, Chairman White: SEC Rulemaking Under the CROWDFUND Act, 66 Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc 43 (2013).
Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Swipe: A Critique of the Infancy Rule in the Federal Credit CARD Act, 2011 Utah Law Review 407.
Patents on Legal Methods? No Way!, 107 Columbia Law Review Sidebar 1 (2007).

Online Essays

McRitchie v. Zuckerberg: Fiduciary Duties are Firm-Specific, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, May 31, 2024.
A Missing Piece in Regulation Crowdfunding, PROFESSORBAINBRIDGE, Aug. 17, 2023.
How Brand Ambassadors Illustrate the Power of Private Ordering in Investment Crowdfunding, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, July 14, 2023.
New Book on Investment Crowdfunding, OXFORD BUSINESS LAW BLOG, July 6, 2023.
A COVID-19 Quandary: Does a Force Majeure Clause Displace the Frustration Doctrine?, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, Apr. 6, 2021.
Which Companies Crowdfund?, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, May 29, 2020 Reprinted in OXFORD BUSINESS LAW BLOG, June 10, 2020.
Breaking contracts over coronavirus: Can you argue it's an 'act of God'?, THE CONVERSATION, Mar. 31, 2020.
Voluntary Disclosure for Primary Securities Offerings, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, Mar. 3, 2020 Reprinted in OXFORD BUSINESS LAW BLOG, Mar. 5, 2020; SECURITIES REGULATION DAILY, Mar. 19, 2020.
COVID-19: Impossible Contracts and Force Majeure, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, Aug. 11, 2020.
Equity Crowdfunding in New Zealand, OXFORD BUSINESS LAW BLOG, Oct. 30, 2018.
Resolving the Tension Between Efficiency and Inclusiveness in Crowdfunding, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, Sept. 27, 2018.
Inclusive Crowdfunding, OXFORD BUSINESS LAW BLOG, Jan. 3, 2017.
Financing Corporate Elections, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FORUM ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FINANCIAL REGULATION, June 21, 2016.
Crowdfunding and the Digital Shareholder, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FORUM ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FINANCIAL REGULATION, Feb. 2, 2016.
The Iliad and the IPO, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FORUM ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FINANCIAL REGULATION, Aug. 12, 2015. Selected by THE BROWSER as one of the 100 best pieces of writing published online in 2015.
Young Hearts Be Free Tonight: The Promise of Teenage Crowdfunding, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, June 12, 2015.
Crowdfunding Securities: Two Novel Predictions, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL BLUE SKY BLOG, June 26, 2013.

Selected Press, Media & Publicity

How did God make it into millions of consumer contracts? | Los Angeles Times | Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Crowdfunding for Companies | Law Week Colorado | Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Fulbright Scholar Coming to Auckland Law School | University of Auckland Law School | Monday, August 29, 2016
CU Boulder Law Professor Andrew Schwartz Awarded Fulbright Grant to Study Securities Crowdfunding | Boulder Daily Camera | Monday, August 22, 2016
CU Law Professor Named Fulbright Scholar | Law Week Colorado | Friday, August 19, 2016
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (Release No. 34-77879) | Securities and Exchange Commission | Friday, May 20, 2016
Crowdfunding and the Digital Shareholder | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation | Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Schwartz on Crowdfunding | Legal Theory Blog | Tuesday, December 29, 2015
SEC OKs crowdfunding rules, even as Colorado's law has few takers | The Denver Post | Friday, October 30, 2015
Homer in the Boardroom | BlogSpot.com | Friday, August 14, 2015
The Iliad And The IPO: Corporate Legacy | ValueWalk.com | Monday, July 20, 2015
The CARD Act: What It Is, New Rules & More | CardHub.com | Friday, February 14, 2014
Expert FAQ: What Should Investors Know about Equity Crowdfunding? | nerdwallet | Monday, September 23, 2013
Crowdfunding: Income or Gift? IRS Taxes and SEC Regulations Could Hurt Startups And Innovation On Kickstarter And Indiegogo | International Business Times | Friday, July 19, 2013

Courses:

Spring 2025 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Fall 2024 Contracts LAWS 5121-801
Fall 2024 Contracts LAWS 5121-803
Spring 2024 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Fall 2023 Contracts LAWS 5121-801
Fall 2023 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Spring 2023 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Spring 2023 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Fall 2022 Contracts LAWS 5121-801
Spring 2022 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Spring 2022 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Fall 2021 Contracts LAWS 5121-801
Spring 2021 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Fall 2019 Contracts LAWS 5121-802
Fall 2019 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Spring 2019 Corporations LAWS 6211-801
Spring 2019 Corporations LAWS 6211-902
Spring 2019 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Spring 2019 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-902
Fall 2018 Contracts LAWS 5121-802
Spring 2018 Corporations LAWS 6211-001
Spring 2018 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-801
Fall 2017 Contracts LAWS 5121-802
Fall 2016 Contracts LAWS 5121-802
Fall 2016 Corporations LAWS 6211-001
Spring 2016 Seminar: Advanced Corporate Law LAWS 8251-001
Fall 2015 Contracts LAWS 5121-801
Fall 2015 Corporations LAWS 6211-001
Spring 2014 Mergers, Acquisitions and Reorganizations LAWS 7411-001
Fall 2013 Contracts LAWS 5121-802
Fall 2013 Corporations LAWS 6211-001
Spring 2013 Corporations LAWS 6211-002
Spring 2013 Mergers, Acquisitions and Reorganizations LAWS 7411-001