David Walker

Maurice Poch Faculty Research Scholar; Professor of Law, School of Law

Professor David Walker teaches courses in taxation, corporate law, law and economics, and the economic structure of commercial transactions, a.k.a. “deals.”  He is the recipient of BU Law’s Michael Melton Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence and Boston University’s Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Professor Walker’s research lies at the intersection of taxation and corporate governance, with a particular focus on executive compensation. Recent projects include “Evolving Executive Equity Compensation and the Limits of Optimal Contracting,” published in the Vanderbilt Law Review, and “Suitable for Framing: Business Deductions in a Net Income Tax System,” published in the William and Mary Law Review.

Professor Walker is a 1998 graduate of Harvard Law School and a recipient of Harvard’s John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics.  After graduation, he clerked for Judge Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, returned to Harvard Law School for a year as an Olin Fellow, and worked as an associate in the tax department at Ropes & Gray, where he had a general tax practice with an emphasis on executive compensation.

Prior to law school, Professor Walker enjoyed an interesting and varied career in the oil industry that included roles as a chemical engineer, crude oil trader, and assistant to the president of BP Oil Company, the U.S. arm of British Petroleum.  His undergraduate degree in chemical engineering is from Vanderbilt University.