Joseph Grundfest
Encyclopedia
Joseph Grundfest is an American academic. He is currently the William A. Franke Professor of Law and Business at Stanford Law School
and co-director of the Rock Center on Corporate Governance at Stanford University
. He joined Stanford's faculty in 1990 after having served for more than four years as a Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Professor Grundfest’s scholarship in the areas of corporate law, securities regulation, and litigation has been published in the Harvard, Yale, and Stanford Law Reviews. The National Law Journal lists Professor Grundfest as among the nation’s 100 most influential attorneys, and California Lawyer has listed Professor Grundfest as among the top 10 lawyers in California. Prior to joining the SEC, Professor Grundfest served as counsel and senior economist for legal and regulatory matters at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. An attorney and economist, Professor Grundfest has also practiced law with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and has served as an economist with the Brookings Institution
and the Rand Corporation.
Professor Grundfest holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University
(1973) and completed the M.Sc. program in mathematical economics and econometrics at the London School of Economics
(1972). His law degree is from Stanford (1978) where he also completed all requirements for a doctorate in economics but for the dissertation (1978).
Professor Grundfest is founder and director of Directors’ College at Stanford Law School, and principal investigator for Stanford Law School’s Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. He has served on the New York Stock Exchange’s Legal Advisory Board, on the NASDAQ Legal Advisory Committee, on a rules committee of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and has been elected to membership in the American Law Institute. Professor Grundfest has been selected as a National Fellow by the Hoover Institution
, has been awarded a John M. Olin Faculty Fellowship, and is an Adjunct Scholar of the American Enterprise Institute
. Professor Grundfest is admitted to practice in California and in the District of Columbia.
Professor Grundfest has twice received the John Bingham Hurlbut Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the Associated Students of Stanford University award as the best professor at the Stanford Law, Business, and Medical Schools. Professor Grundfest is also a co-founder and director of Financial Engines, Inc., chairman of the board nominating committee of the NASDAQ Stock Market, and was formerly a director of Oracle Corporation
He was a member of the Special Litigation Committee in the 2003 case In Re Oracle Corp. Derivative Litigation, 824 A.2d 917. Grundfest's independence, as a member of the Special Litigation Committee, was particularly scrutinized (and found questionable) by the Delaware Chancery Court. 824 A.2d 917, 946.
In 2010 Professor Grundfest filed an affidavit with the US District Court in SEC v Bank of America Corporation(1-09-cv-06829), complaint under cause of action of Securities Fraud. At the onset of the litigation SEC and Bank of America Corporation filed with the Court a proposed settlement for $33 millions. Professor Grundfest's affidavit supported the Settlement Agreement then before the Court, which was eventually rejected.
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
and co-director of the Rock Center on Corporate Governance at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He joined Stanford's faculty in 1990 after having served for more than four years as a Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Professor Grundfest’s scholarship in the areas of corporate law, securities regulation, and litigation has been published in the Harvard, Yale, and Stanford Law Reviews. The National Law Journal lists Professor Grundfest as among the nation’s 100 most influential attorneys, and California Lawyer has listed Professor Grundfest as among the top 10 lawyers in California. Prior to joining the SEC, Professor Grundfest served as counsel and senior economist for legal and regulatory matters at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. An attorney and economist, Professor Grundfest has also practiced law with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and has served as an economist with the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
and the Rand Corporation.
Professor Grundfest holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(1973) and completed the M.Sc. program in mathematical economics and econometrics at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(1972). His law degree is from Stanford (1978) where he also completed all requirements for a doctorate in economics but for the dissertation (1978).
Professor Grundfest is founder and director of Directors’ College at Stanford Law School, and principal investigator for Stanford Law School’s Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. He has served on the New York Stock Exchange’s Legal Advisory Board, on the NASDAQ Legal Advisory Committee, on a rules committee of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and has been elected to membership in the American Law Institute. Professor Grundfest has been selected as a National Fellow by the Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
, has been awarded a John M. Olin Faculty Fellowship, and is an Adjunct Scholar of the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
. Professor Grundfest is admitted to practice in California and in the District of Columbia.
Professor Grundfest has twice received the John Bingham Hurlbut Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the Associated Students of Stanford University award as the best professor at the Stanford Law, Business, and Medical Schools. Professor Grundfest is also a co-founder and director of Financial Engines, Inc., chairman of the board nominating committee of the NASDAQ Stock Market, and was formerly a director of Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
He was a member of the Special Litigation Committee in the 2003 case In Re Oracle Corp. Derivative Litigation, 824 A.2d 917. Grundfest's independence, as a member of the Special Litigation Committee, was particularly scrutinized (and found questionable) by the Delaware Chancery Court. 824 A.2d 917, 946.
In 2010 Professor Grundfest filed an affidavit with the US District Court in SEC v Bank of America Corporation(1-09-cv-06829), complaint under cause of action of Securities Fraud. At the onset of the litigation SEC and Bank of America Corporation filed with the Court a proposed settlement for $33 millions. Professor Grundfest's affidavit supported the Settlement Agreement then before the Court, which was eventually rejected.