Hannah Buxbaum

Professor Hannah Buxbaum smiling softly in front of a white background.

Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law

King Hall

Hannah Buxbaum is a leading expert in international jurisdiction, international litigation, and comparative law. She joined UC Davis in 2025 from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she had been a member of the faculty since 1997. She served in a number of administrative leadership positions at Indiana University, including as the university’s Vice President for International Affairs (2018-2025) and as Interim Dean (2012-2014) and Executive Associate Dean (2009-2012) of the Maurer School of Law.

Professor Buxbaum is the co-author (with Detlev Vagts, William Dodge, and Harold Koh) of Transnational Business Problems (Foundation Press), a leading casebook on international business transactions. She is the editor of Extraterritoriality in Comparative Perspective (Brill, 2025) and co-editor (with Thibaut Fleury-Graff) of Extraterritoriality/L’extraterritorialité (Brill, 2022). She has also authored over 50 scholarly articles and book chapters. Over the course of her teaching career, she has held visiting appointments at universities including the London School of Economics, Humboldt University, Université Paris II, and UC Berkeley. She has also delivered courses for the Hague Academy of International Law in The Netherlands and in Buenos Aires.

She is active in many national and international organizations, including as an elected member of the American Law Institute and the International Academy of Comparative Law. She is currently President of the American Society of Comparative Law and has held a number of leadership roles in the American Society of International Law, most recently as Vice President. Professor Buxbaum serves on the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law, as the U.S. member of the Hague Academy of International Law’s academic governing council, and on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law.

Prior to joining Indiana University, Buxbaum practiced in the area of international securities transactions in the New York and Frankfurt offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell. She received a B.A. in English Literature from Cornell University, a J.D. from Cornell Law School, and an LL.M. from the University of Heidelberg.

Education and Degree(s)
  • B.A. (cum laude), Cornell University
  • J.D. (magna cum laude), Cornell Law School
  • LL.M. (summa cum laude), University of Heidelberg
Honors and Awards
  • 2025 Elected to Board of Editors, American Journal of International Law
  • 2024 Elected President, American Society of Comparative Law
  • 2023 Robbins Distinguished Visiting Professorship, UC Berkeley School of Law
  • 2021 Distinguished Discussant, 22nd Annual Grotius Lecture, American Society of International Law
  • 2021 Irving Tragen Lecturer in Comparative Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
  • 2019 Indiana University Bicentennial Medal
  • 2019 Elected to Curatorium, Hague Academy of International Law
  • 2016 Scholar in Residence, WilmerHale, London
  • 2014 Gavel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Graduating Class [student-selected], IU Maurer School of Law (also 2013, 2012, 2005, 2003)
  • 2012 Named to John E. Schiller Chair, IU Maurer School of Law
  • 2012 Elected titular member, International Academy of Comparative Law
  • 2007 Trustees Teaching Award, Indiana University
  • 2007 Academic Leadership Program Fellow, Big Ten Academic Alliance
  • 2005 Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
  • 2004 Louis F. Neizer Faculty Fellow, IU Maurer School of Law (also 2007)
  • 2004 Elected to American Law Institute
  • 2003 Ira C. Batman Faculty Fellow, IU Maurer School of Law (also 2006)
  • 2001 Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award, IU Maurer School of Law
  • 2000 Teaching Excellence Recognition Award, IU Maurer School of Law
Courses
  • Contracts
  • International Business Transactions
  • Comparative Civil Litigation
  • Conflict of Laws
Research Interests & Expertise
  • Comparative Law
  • International Business Transactions
  • International Jurisdiction and Litigation
Membership and Service
  • American Society of Comparative Law President (2024 to present); Vice President (2021 to 2024)
  • Hague Academy of International Law U.S. Member of the Curatorium (2019 to present); Director, Centre for Research and Studies (2019)
  • American Society of International Law Vice President (2017-2019); Executive Council (2004-2007, 2016-2019)
  • U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on Private International Law (member)
  • Member, Advisory Board, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg, Germany (2013-2022)
  • International Academy of Comparative Law Titular member since 2012
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Co-Chair, Planning Committee, Workshop on Openness, International
  • Association of American Law Schools Chair, Comparative Law Section (2007); Chair, Conflicts Section (2006)
  • American Law Institute Member (elected 2004); Advisor Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States; Member’s Consultative Group, Restatement (Third) of the Conflict of Laws
  • Member, Fulbright-CIES Advisory Board
  • Member, Advisory Board, University of Cologne U.S. Office

Publications

Books

EXTRATERRITORIAL LEGISLATION IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (ed.) (Brill, 2025)

EXTRATERRITORIALITY/L’EXTRATERRITORIALITÉ (with Thibaut Fleury Graff, eds.) (Brill, 2022)

TRANSNATIONAL BUSINESS PROBLEMS (7th edition, 2024) (with Detlev Vagts, William Dodge and Harold Koh) (Foundation Press)

A CONFLICT-OF-LAWS ANTHOLOGY (2nd edition) (with Gene R. Shreve) (LexisNexis, 2012)

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 98TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (with J. Chuang, eds.) (2004)
 

Articles, Book Chapters, and Essays

Forum Selection Agreements and Access to Justice, __ GERMAN LAW JOURNAL __ (2025 forthcoming)

Extraterritoriality in Comparative Context: Defining the Scope of State Law in a Global Era, in EXTRATERRITORIAL LEGISLATION IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (H. Buxbaum ed., 2025)

Deemed Consent as the Basis for Personal Jurisdiction, 60 WILLAMETTE LAW REVIEW __ (2025 forthcoming)

Anti-Enforcement Injunctions, 56 N.Y.U. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLITICS 101 (2023) (with Ralf Michaels)

The Practice(s) of Extraterritoriality, in EXTRATERRITORIALITY/L’EXTRATERRITORIALITÉ (H. Buxbaum and T. Fleury Graff eds., 2022)

Centralized Proceedings in Group Insolvency: Notes on U.S. Practice Regarding Transfer of Venue, in VERBINDUNGSLINIEN IM RECHT—FESTSCHRIFT FÜR CHRISTOPH G. PAULUS ZUM 70. GEBURTSTAG (Katharina de la Durantaye et al. eds. 2022) (with Richard Buxbaum)

Transnational Antitrust Law, in THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW (P. Zumbansen ed., 2021)

Reasonableness as a Limitation on the Extraterritorial Application of U.S. Law: From 403 to 405 (via 404), in THE RESTATEMENT AND BEYOND: THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS LAW (Paul B. Stephan and Sarah H. Cleveland eds. 2020) (with Ralf Michaels)

Capital Markets and Conflict of Laws: From Mutual Recognition to Substituted Compliance, in FESTSCHRIFT FOR HERBERT KRONKE (C. Benicke & S. Huber eds. 2020)

Extraterritoriality in the Public and Private Enforcement of U.S. Regulatory Law, in PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES AND CONTINUING RELEVANCE (D. Fernandez-Arroyo & F. Ferrari eds. 2019)

Public Regulation and Private Enforcement in a Global Economy: Strategies for Managing Conflict, 399 RECUEIL DES COURS 267 (2019)

The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law, 66 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW (SUPP) 127 (2018); reprinted in OPTIONAL CHOICE OF COURT AGREEMENTS IN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW 501 (M. Keyes ed., 2020)

Determining the Territorial Scope of State Law in Interstate and International Conflicts: Comments on the Draft Restatement (Third) and on the Role of Party Autonomy, 27 DUKE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW 381 (2017)

Transnational Legal Ordering and Regulatory Conflict: Lessons From the Regulation of Cross-Border Derivatives, 1 UC IRVINE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL, TRANSNATIONAL, AND COMPARATIVE LAW (2017)

Foreign Governments as Plaintiffs in U.S. Courts and the Case Against “Judicial Imperialism,” 73 WASHINGTON & LEE LAW REVIEW 653 (2016)

The Viability of Enterprise Jurisdiction: A Case Study of the Big Four Accounting Firms, 48 U.C. DAVIS LAW REVIEW 1769 (2015)

Class Actions, Conflict and the Global Economy, in Festschrift für Rolf Stürner 1443 (A. Bruns et al., eds., 2013); reprinted in 21 INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL STUDIES 585 (2014)

Remedies for Foreign Investors Under U.S. Federal Securities Law, 75 LAW & CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS 161 (2012)

Jurisdiction and Choice of Law in International Antitrust Law: A U.S. Perspective, in International Antitrust Litigation: Conflict of Laws and Coordination 225 (J. Basedow et al., eds. 2012) (with R. Michaels)

National Jurisdiction and Global Business Networks, 17 INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL STUDIES 165 (2010)

Personal Jurisdiction Over Foreign Directors in Cross-Border Securities Litigation, 35 JOURNAL OF CORPORATION LAW 71 (2009)

Conflict of Laws Conventions and Their Reception in National Legal Systems: Report for the United States, International Academy of Comparative Law (2009)

Territory, Territoriality and the Resolution of Jurisdictional Conflict, 57 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW 631 (2009)

Competition in the Private Enforcement of Regulatory Law, in ECONOMIC LAW AS AN ECONOMIC GOOD: ITS RULE FUNCTION AND ITS TOOL FUNCTION IN THE COMPETITION OF SYSTEMS 129 (Karl M. Meessen, ed.) (Sellier, 2009)

Culture and Conflict in the Enforcement of Competition Law, in GLOBALER WETTBEWERB UND NATIONALE WETTBEWERBSORDNUNGEN [GLOBAL COMPETITION AND NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICIES]: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 41ST FIW SYMPOSIUM 39 (Carl-Heymann, 2008)

Incentives to Promote the Private Enforcement of Law: A View From the United States, in ZUGANG ZUM RECHT: EUROPÄISCHE UND US-AMERIKANISCHE WEGE DER PRIVATEN RECHTSDURCHSETZUNG 91 (H.-P. Mansel et al., eds. 2008)

Mandatory Rules in Civil Litigation: Status of the Doctrine Post-Globalization, 18 AMERICAN REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION 21 (2007)

Multinational Class Actions Under Federal Securities Law: Managing Jurisdictional Conflict, 46 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW 14 (2007)

Defining the Function and Scope of Group Litigation: The Role of Class Actions for Monetary Damages in the United States, in KOLLEKTIVE RECHTSDURCHSETZUNG – RECHTSVERGLEICHENDE UND RECHTSPOLITISCHE TENDENZEN 215 (P. Gottwald ed., 2008)

Private Enforcement of Competition Law in the United States: Of Optimal Deterrence and Social Costs, in PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT OF EC COMPETITION LAW 41 (J. Basedow, ed., 2007)

Transnational Regulatory Litigation, 46 VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 251 (2006)

German Legal Culture and the Globalization of Competition Law: A Historical Perspective on the Expansion of Private Antitrust Enforcement, 23 BERKELEY JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 474 (2005)

Improving Transatlantic Cooperation in the Taking of Evidence, in INTERNATIONAL CIVIL LITIGATION IN EUROPE AND RELATIONS WITH THIRD STATES (A. Nuyts and N. Watté eds., 2005)

Jurisdictional Conflict in Global Antitrust Enforcement, 16 LOYOLA CONSUMER LAW REVIEW 365 (symposium issue) (2004)

Regulatory Policy in Transnational Litigation: The Influence of Judicial Globalization, in Festschrift für Erik Jayme (H. Mansel et al., eds. 2004)

Forum Selection in International Contract Litigation: The Role of Judicial Discretion, 12 WILLAMETTE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION 185 (symposium issue) (2004)

Unification of the Law Governing Secured Transactions: Progress and Prospects for Reform, 2003 1/2 UNIFORM LAW REVIEW 321 (2003)

Assessing Sovereign Interests in Cross-Border Discovery Disputes: Lessons from Aérospatiale, 38 TEXAS INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL 87 (symposium issue) (2003)

Conflict of Economic Laws: From Sovereignty to Substance, 42 VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 931 (2002)

The Private Attorney General in a Global Age: Public Interests in Private International Antitrust Litigation, 26 YALE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 219 (2001)

Cooperative International Regulatory Enforcement and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 43 GERMAN YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 171 (2000)

Rethinking International Insolvency: The Neglected Role of Choice-of-Law Rules and Theory, 36 STANFORD JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 23 (2000)

Case Notes, Comments, Book Reviews and Miscellaneous

Should, and Can, Extraterritoriality be Contained?, in CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AT THE TIME OF THE CENTENARY OF THE HAGUE ACADEMY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (2024 forthcoming)

Book Review: A Cosmopolitan Jurisprudence: Essays in Memory of H. Patrick Glenn (H. Dedek, ed.), 70 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW 879 (2022)

Discussant Remarks, 23rd Annual Grotius Lecture of the American Society of International Law, 37 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL LAW REVIEW 695 (2022)

RICO’s Extraterritorial Application: RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community, 37 PRAXIS DES INTERNATIONALEN PRIVAT- UND VERFAHRENSRECHTS (IPRAX) 106 (2017)

TLOs and Global Financial Markets: The Case of Derivatives, American Society of International Law 109th Annual Meeting Proceedings 71 (2016)

The Scope and Limitations of the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality, 110 AJIL Unbound 62-67 (2016)

Morrison v. National Australia Bank: Defining the Domestic Interest in International Securities Litigation, American Society of International Law 105th Annual Meeting Proceedings 402 (2012)

Global Wrongs, Local Remedies, in INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL REFORM (A. Fijalkowski, ed., 2006) (proceedings of Hague Joint Conference on Contemporary Issues of International Law)

Brief for Amici Curiae Professors Ralf Michaels, Hannah Buxbaum and Horatia Muir Watt, F. Hoffmann LaRoche Ltd. v. Empagran, S.A. (U.S. Supreme Court 2004) (co-author)

National Courts, Global Cartels: F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd. v. Empagran, S.A., 5 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 1095 (2004)

Comment: A Post-Colonial View of Transjudicialism, 11 INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL STUDIES (2004)

Corporate Accountability Reform in the United States: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its Application to Foreign Accountants, 23 PRAXIS DES INTERNATIONALEN PRIVAT- UND VERFAHRENSRECHTS (IPRAX) 78 (2003)

Book Review: Richard Potok (ed.), Cross Border Collateral: Legal Risk and Conflict of Laws, 50 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW 877 (2002)

The Role of Public Policy in International Contracts: Reflections on the U.S. Litigation Concerning Lloyd’s of London, 22 PRAXIS DES INTERNATIONALEN PRIVAT- UND VERFAHRENSRECHTS (IPRAX) 232 (2002)

Asset Freezes in United States Federal Courts: Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo, S.A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc., 20 PRAXIS DES INTERNATIONALEN PRIVAT- UND VERFAHRENSRECHTS (IPRAX) 39 (2000)

Book Review: Edgar J. Habscheid, Cross-Border Bankruptcy Law of the United States and Germany, 6 INDIANA JOURNAL OF GLOBAL LEGAL STUDIES 419 (1999)

Diskussion zum Referat Hess, in CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (Feddersen, Hommelhof and Schneider, eds., 1996)