Adam Badawi is a Professor of Law at UC Berkeley. He writes widely on issues of law and finance with an emphasis on corporate governance, corporate transactions, and shareholder litigation. Much of his recent work uses text analysis and machine learning to analyze debt agreements, merger documents, and shareholder class action complaints. At Berkeley Law, he teaches Contracts, Corporations, Mergers and Acquisitions, and seminars related to these topics.
His research includes “Does Voluntary Financial Disclosure Matter? The Case of Fairness Opinions in M&A” (forthcoming, The Journal of Law and Economics) (with Matthew D. Cain and Steven Davidoff Solomon), “How Informative is the Text of Securities Complaints?” (forthcoming, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization), “Social Good and Litigation Risk” (forthcoming, Harvard Business Law Review) (with Frank Partnoy); and “Is There a First-Drafter Advantage in M&A?”, California Law Review (2019) (with Elisabeth de Fontenay) (selected as one of the top 10 corporate and securities articles of 2019 by Corporate Practice Commentator).
Prior to joining the faculty of Berkeley Law in 2017, Badawi was a Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been a Visiting Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and he served as a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. Before joining the academy he was a litigator in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and was a law clerk to the Hon. Michael McConnell of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Education
B.A., University of California, Berkeley
J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Adam B Badawi is teaching the following courses in Spring 2025:
• 248.5 sec. 001 - Mergers & Acquisitions
• 251.54 sec. 001 - Empirical Methods for Lawyers
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Spring 2024 | 248.5 sec. 001 | Mergers & Acquisitions | View Teaching Evaluation | 251.54 sec. 001 | Empirical Methods for Lawyers | View Teaching Evaluation |
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‘A Unique Strength’: Stellar Group of Law and Economics Scholars Enhances a Long Tradition
“I think we have, by a not insubstantial margin, the deepest and best bench of empirical legal researchers in the country,” Professor Andrew C. Baker says.
ESG Comp: An Easy A for CEOs?
Professor Adam Badawi co-writes a new paper that finds that 63% of the S&P 500 include ESG components in their calculation of executive compensation and that such goals are almost always met.
Ellison’s Hands-On, Arm’s-Length Paramount Preview
Professor Adam Badawi weighs in on Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount Global, and discusses what control an acquiring company can exert over the decisions made by the acquired company during the regulatory review process.
From Crypto to the Meaning of Truth, New Courses Build Knowledge Across a Broad Spectrum
More than 20 new classes are just part of a record number of courses offered this spring, giving students a rich range of choices.
Inaugural Contract Theory Workshop Hosts ‘Dream Team’ of International Scholars
The new Berkeley Center for Private Law Theory event drew scholars from across the globe for a two-day event discussing scholarly works in progress.
That’s 759,000 More Billable Hours; Antitrust Plan Buoys Big Law
“Law firms will have to develop some expertise around these new rules, that’s going to take time,” said Adam Badawi, a UC Berkeley Law professor. “If these rules do become final, it will take a year or two for them to start feeling comfortable with them and it’s going to slow the deal process down.”
After PGA Tour’s Saudi deal, outrage but no clear path to blocking it
Professor Adam Badawi comments on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf deal.
Musk Risks ‘Battle Royale’ With Creditors as He Remakes Twitter
“The number one thing they’re going to worry about is the ability to pay back the loans,” said Berkeley Law professor Adam Badawi “Twitter misses a debt payment, that trips a covenant, and the loanholders can come in and say the debt is due right now.”
Elon Musk’s massive Twitter layoffs are here. Are they legal?
“I’ve looked at some of the language in the executive agreements. It’s totally baseless for [Musk] to seek termination with cause,” said Adam Badawi, a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. “To get terminated with cause, the circumstances have to be extreme, they have to kind of be malfeasance or someone did something illegal.
Musk-Twitter Feud Fast-Track Timeline Mirrors Other Busted Deals
The best efforts standard is vague and can be difficult to gauge, Professor Adam Badawi says, and establishing that someone has breached a best efforts obligation requires pretty extreme conduct. “You can’t hook someone up to a machine and figure out how much they’re trying,” he says.
Twitter Has Legal Edge in Deal Dispute With Elon Musk
“The argument for settling at something lower is that litigation is expensive,” Professor Adam Badawi says of Musk’s effort to back out of his $44 billion deal to buy the social media network. “And this thing is so messy that it might not be worth it.”
Musk’s Questions About Twitter Bot Problem Spur Race for Answer
Professor Adam Badawi says Elon Musk would need to prove the true number of bots and the amount Twitter disclosed in its SEC filings rises to the level of a ‘material adverse effect’ in order for him to renege on his offer
Berkeley Law Launches New Era under Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
Highlights include new faculty, flourishing programs, high-impact research, and expanding student opportunities.
Incoming Faculty Cite New Berkeley Law Colleagues as Powerful Draw
Abbye Atkinson, Adam Badawi ’03, and Joy Milligan begin their new positions this week, with Frank Partnoy to join the school in 2018.
Magnet School
FACULTY PROWESS HELPS ATTRACT THREE NEW PROFESSORS TO BERKELEY For Abbye Atkinson, Adam Badawi ’03, and Joy Milligan, joining Berkeley Law’s faculty is as humbling as it is thrilling. Atkinson