Academic Faculty
Full Time Teaching Faculty
Vincent Buccola
Professor of LawBiography
Vince Buccola is Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where his teaching and research span the fields of corporate management and finance, with a special focus on the law of leveraged finance, distress, restructuring, and bankruptcy.
Buccola received a BA from Wesleyan University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, he clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and practiced as a trial lawyer at Bartlit Beck. He began his academic career as a Bigelow Fellow and then spent a decade on the faculty of the Wharton School before returning to Hyde Park.
Education
University of Chicago Law School
JD, with High Honors (2008)
- Order of the Coif
- MVP2 Fellowship in Law & Economics
- University of Chicago Law School Law Review
- Ann Watson Barber Outstanding Service Award
Wesleyan University
BA, with High Honors in History (2003)
- Robins Prize
- White Fellowship
- Thesis: “Religious Solitude in Medieval England”
Experience
University of Chicago Law School
Professor of Law (2024 – Present)
Visiting Associate Professor of Law (2023)
Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law (2012 – 2014)
NYU School of Law
Visiting Professor of Law (2024)
The Wharton School | University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics (2021 – 2024)
Lecturer in Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (2022)
Assistant Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics (2014 – 2021)
Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP
Special Counsel (2012 – 2014)
Associate (2009 – 2012)
The Hon. Frank H. Easterbrook
Law Clerk (2008–2009)
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Summer Associate (2007)
Publications
Journal Articles
- "The Loan Market Response to Dropdown and Uptier Transactions," 53 Journal of Legal Studies 489 (2024) (with Greg Nini). ssrn www
- "Efficacious Answers to the Non-Pro Rata Workout," 171 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1859 (2023). www
- "Sponsor Control: A New Paradigm for Corporate Reorganization," 90 University of Chicago Law Review 1 (2023). ssrn www
- "Unwritten Law and the Odd Ones Out," 131 Yale Law Journal 1559 (2022). ssrn www
- "The Myth of Creditor Sabotage," 87 University of Chicago Law Review 2029 (2020) (with Jameson K. Mah & Tai Zhang). ssrn cu
- "The Municipal Bond Cases Revisited," 94 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 591 (2020) (with Allison R. Buccola). ssrn
- "Bankruptcy's Cathedral: Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Distress," 114 Northwestern University Law Review 705 (2019). www
- "The Logic and Limits of Municipal Bankruptcy Law," 86 University of Chicago Law Review 817 (2019). ssrn cu
- "The Bankruptcy Firm," 167 University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online 1 (2019). ssrn www
- "Opportunism and Internal Affairs," 93 Tulane Law Review 339 (2018). www
- "The Janus Faces of Reorganization Law," 44 Journal of Corporation Law 1 (2018). ssrn www
- "Untimely Bidding in Bankruptcy Auctions," 26 Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice 281 (2017) (with Jeffrey R. Dutson & W. Austin Jowers).
- "States' Rights Against Corporate Rights," 2016 Columbia Business Law Review 596 (2017). ssrn www
- "Law and Legislation in Municipal Bankruptcy," 38 Cardozo Law Review 1301 (2017). ssrn www
- "Corporate Rights and Organizational Neutrality," 101 Iowa Law Review 499 (2016). ssrn www
- "An Ex Ante Approach to Excessive State Debt," 64 Duke Law Journal 235 (2014). ssrn www
Book Sections
- "Corporate Expression," in Corporate Law and Economics, Adam Badawi ed. (2023).
Other Publications
- "The Backstop Party," Oxford Business Law Blog, June 3, 2025 (with Adi M. Gross & Matthew M. McBrady). www
- "Getting to Yes: The Role of Coercion in Debt Renegotiations," Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable, March 25, 2025 (with Marcel Kahan). www
- "Historical Empiricism and the Schleicher Trilemma," Balkinization, May 31, 2023. www
- "Intra-Creditor Warfare," Creditor Rights Coalition, September 14, 2022. www
- (Wharton Public Policy Initiative Issue Brief )No. 4, (2016). www
Presentations
2025
- Chicago-Harvard-Wharton Insolvency & Restructuring Conference [planned]
- American Bankruptcy Law Journal Roundtable
- Yale Law School, Weil, Gotshal & Manges Roundtable
- Tulane Bankruptcy & Restructuring Symposium
- UCLA School of Law, Business Law Workshop
- Altman-Paulson Restructuring Symposium
- University of Chicago Law School, Faculty Workshop
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, Marshall M. Criser Distinguished Faculty Workshop
- S&P Leveraged Finance Series
- Loan Syndication & Trading Association Seminar
2024
- BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School, Law Review Symposium
- S&P Global Ratings Leveraged Finance Series
- Goethe Universität, The Future of Insolvency Conference
- Harvard-Wharton Insolvency & Restructuring Conference
- Altman-Paulson Restructuring Symposium (panelist)
- Law and Finance of Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Penn-NYU Empirical Contracts Workshop (discussant)
- S&P Leveraged Finance and CLO Group, online
- 1 July 2025
- University of Virginia School of Law, Sokol Colloquium
- NYU School of Law, Faculty Workshop
- BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School, online
- American Association of Law Schools (panelist)
2023
- University of Chicago Law School, Faculty Workshop
- Wharton-Harvard Insolvency and Restructuring Conference
- Creditor Rights Coalition / LSTA Symposium (panelist)
- Selendy Gay Liability Management Seminar (panelist)
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (discussant)
- The Wharton School, Department Workshop
- University of Chicago Law School, Law & Economics Workshop
- USC Gould School of Law, online
2022
- Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Faculty Workshop
- Dechert Distressed Investing Forum
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Law Review Symposium
- Corporate Restructuring & Insolvency Seminar, online
- Loan Syndication & Trading Association (panelist)
- NYU School of Law, Law & Economics Workshop
- American Law & Economics Association
- Creditor Rights Coalition / LSTA Symposium
- Corporate Law Scholars Colloquium, online
- BYU Winter Deals Conference
- University of Alabama Law School, Law & Economic Workshop
- USC Gould School of Law, West Coast Bankruptcy Roundtable
Works in Progress
- Getting to Yes: The Role of Coercion in Debt Renegotiations, Journal of Legal Analysis, 17: __ (forthcoming) (with M. Kahan)
- Bankruptcy Judging after Williamson, BYU Law Review, 51: __ (forthcoming)
Other Professional Activities
- Co-chair (with L. Coordes), Covid-19 and Bankruptcy Law Project: Municipal Bankruptcy (2020)
- Area organizer, Society for Empirical Legal Studies annual meeting (2023, 2025)
- Area organizer, European Law & Economics Association annual meeting (2025)
- Convenor, Departmental Junior Faculty Workshop Series (2019–2021)
- Departmental MBA Student Advisor (2019–2023)
- Convenor, Departmental External Speaker Series (2015–2017)
Governance - Chicago
- Bigelow Program (co-chair, 2025–2026) (with S. Bray)
- Moot Court Committee (co-chair, 2024–2025) (with J. Nou)
Governance - Wharton
- Academic Freedom and Responsibility Committee (member, 2022–2023)
- Teaching Excellence Committee (member, 2020–2022)
- Curriculum Innovation and Review Committee (member, 2018–2019)
- Faculty Search Committee (member, 2022–2023)
Referee and Reviewer Experience
- American Business Law Journal
- American Law & Economics Review
- Business Ethics Quarterly
- Journal of Legal Analysis
- Journal of Legal Studies
- Law and Social Inquiry
- Stanford Law Review
- University of Chicago Law Review
- University of Pennsylvania Law Review
- Yale Law Journal
Awards
University of Pennsylvania
- Teaching Excellence Award (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
- Dorinda and Mark Winkelman Distinguished Scholar (2017)
- Rapaport Family Undergraduate Core Teaching Award (2017)