Scott Hirst
Associate Professor of Law
BComm LLB, University of Queensland, Australia
LLM, Harvard Law School
SJD, Harvard Law School
Biography
Scott Hirst joined Boston University School of law as an associate professor in 2018. His research seeks to explain phenomena in corporate law, securities regulation, and related areas, and to inform policy making on these subjects. His work combines empirical methods and conceptual analyses from finance, accounting, and economics, with close attention to the institutional environment within which corporations and investors make decisions. He teaches Corporations, Corporate Governance, and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Hirst’s recent scholarship has appeared in the Columbia Law Review, the Boston University Law Review, the Yale Journal on Regulation, the Harvard Business Law Review, the Journal of Corporation Law and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. It has been referred to by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its rule making and discussed in the Wall Street Journal, among other places.
Before joining BU Law, Hirst served as research director of the Program on Institutional Investors at Harvard Law School and practiced for seven years in the mergers and acquisitions group of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York. Hirst received Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) and Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from Harvard Law School, and Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
- Profile Types
- Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Professors & Clinical Instructors
- Areas of Interest
- Corporate Law, Corporate Social Responsibility, Mergers & Acquisitions, Regulatory Design, and Securities
Publications
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Scott Hirst, Initiation Payments 48 Journal of Corporation Law (2023)
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Scott Hirst, Kobi Kastiel & Tamar Kricheli-Katz, How Much Do Investors Care about Social Responsibility? 2023 Wisconsin Law Review (2023)
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Scott Hirst, Saving Climate Disclosure 28 Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance (2023)
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Scott Hirst & Lucian Bebchuk, Big Three Power, and Why It Matters 102 Boston University Law Review (2022)
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Scott Hirst, Holger Spamann & Gabriel Rauterberg, Corporations in 100 Pages (3rd. Ed.) (2022)
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Scott Hirst & Adriana Z. Robertson, Hidden Agendas in Shareholder Voting 39 Yale Journal on Regulation (2022)
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Holger Spamann, Scott Hirst & Gabriel Rauterberg, Corporations in 100 Pages (2nd Edition) (2021)
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Holger Spamann, Scott Hirst & Gabriel Rauterberg, Corporations in 100 Pages (2020)
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Scott Hirst & Lucian Bebchuk, Index Funds and the Future of Corporate Governance: Theory, Evidence, and Policy 119 Columbia Law Review (2019)
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Scott Hirst & Lucian Bebchuk, The Specter of the Giant Three 99 Boston University Law Review (2019)
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Scott Hirst & Kobi Kastiel, Corporate Governance by Index Exclusion 99 Boston University Law Review (2019)
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Scott Hirst, The Case for Investor Ordering No. 2017-13 The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2018)
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Scott Hirst, Universal Proxies No. 2016-11 The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2018)
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Scott Hirst, Lucian A. Bebchuk & Alma Cohen, The Agency Problems of Institutional Investors 31 Journal of Economic Perspectives (2017)
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Scott Hirst, Frozen Charters No. 2016-01 The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2017)
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Scott Hirst, Social Responsibility Resolutions No. 2016-06 The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance Discussion Paper (2016)
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Scott Hirst, Lucian A. Bebchuk & June Rhee, Towards the Declassification of S&P 500 Boards 3 Harvard Business Law Review (2013)
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Scott Hirst & Lucian A. Bebchuk, Private Ordering and the Proxy Access Debate No. 653 The Harvard John M. Olin Discussion Paper Series (2010)
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In the Media
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Epoch Times June 25, 2024
Conservative Investors Face Uphill Battle in Shareholder Actions against ESG
Scott Hirst is quoted.
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Harvard Law June 7, 2024
Letter in Opposition to the Proposed Amendment to the DGCL
Scott Hirst is featured.
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Harvard Law School April 9, 2024
HLS Forum on Corporate Governance Continues Growing
Scott Hirst is featured.
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Harvard Law School January 24, 2024
Initiation Payments
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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American Affairs November 20, 2023
The New Corporate Philanthropy
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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Harvard Law School November 17, 2023
Dirty Air and Green Investments: The Impact of Pollution Information on Portfolio Allocations
Scott Hirst's research is referenced
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CNN June 21, 2023
401(k) Plans Have Never Been Hotter. That’s Changing the Stock Market.
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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ECGI January 20, 2023
Appointment of 56 New ECGI Research Members
Scott Hirst is appointed as a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute.
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Markets Media November 28, 2022
How Much Do Investors Care About Social Responsibility?
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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ThinkAdvisor July 21, 2022
Sanders’ Tweet on Power of Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street Raises Eyebrows
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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Harvard Law School Forum July 6, 2022
Hidden Agendas in Shareholder Voting
A piece authored by Scott Hirst.
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ETF Stream February 22, 2022
Charlie Munger Blasts Index Funds and the ‘Emperors’ Behind Them
Scott Hirst is featured.
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Investor’s Chronicle January 4, 2022
The Growing Power Of Passives
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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ETF Stream December 21, 2021
Common Ownership is ‘Defining Battleground’ for ETF Industry Over Next Decade
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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Financial Times October 7, 2021
The Ten Trillion Dollar Man: How Larry Fink Became King of Wall St
Scott Hirst's research is referenced.
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Activities & Engagements
No upcoming activities or engagements.
Courses
Corporate Governance: LAW JD 941
Corporations play a central role in our society. What corporations do, and how they do it, depends on the legal rules and other forces that govern them. The course examines the most important aspects of corporate governance by analyzing real world examples. The course considers the relationship between directors and executives, and the role that mutual funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds and private equity funds play in corporations and the capital markets. We will consider the objectives and the behavior of each of these groups, and the laws and practices that shape their actions. We will also consider the social and environmental responsibility of corporations, and how corporations--and the rules and institutions that shape their operation--affect our society. There will be no exam. Instead, students will be assessed on a course paper and their class participation. PREREQUISITE: Corporations (may be waived with instructor's permission). UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement.
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 941 A1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Scott Hirst |
Corporations: LAW JD 816
Course about the legal structure and characteristics of business corporations. Topics include the promotion and formation of corporations; the distribution of power between management and shareholders; the limitations on management powers imposed by state law fiduciary duties and federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits; capital structure and financing of corporations; and fundamental changes in corporate structure, such as mergers and sales of assets. Hirst’s Section: This section covers similar topics, but has a different emphasis and approach, involving fewer cases, and more exercises and analysis of real-world transactions and documents, including from Tesla, Twitter, and Boeing. The course involves self-directed learning through the submission of multiple choice quizzes, and some use of corporate-finance-style numerical analyses. Laptops and similar devices are generally not permitted without an accommodation. The course serves as a prerequisite to advanced courses. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 816 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Scott Hirst | LAW | 414 |
| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon,Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 4 | Pierluigi Matera | LAW | 605 |
| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 4 | David I. Walker | LAW | 103 |
| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue,Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Madison Condon |
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: LAW JD 988
This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of mergers and acquisitions. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals and Corporations, or permission of instructor.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 988 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue,Thu | 2:30 pm | 3:55 pm | 3 | Stephen G. Marks | LAW | 413 |
| Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon,Wed | 2:30 pm | 3:55 pm | 3 | Scott Hirst |