The Archives

Everything written by Brian R. Downing on law, economics, and more

Brian R. Downing

Brian R. Downing is an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. His research involves the disruption of legal systems and internet platforms by novel technologies, and how those technologies and platforms should be regulated.

Before joining Ole Miss, Downing spent 16 years in legal and engineering roles at Google, where he developed products and legal approaches that influenced modern internet law.  He was previously an associate at Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles, representing musicians in copyright disputes.

He received his bachelor's from Claremont McKenna College and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Posts

‘Contemporary Law and Economics,’ by Adam Chilton, Joshua C. Macey & Mila Versteeg

Brian R. Downing Oct 23, 2026

What does it mean to be a law & economics (L&E) scholar? It can’t require a Ph.D. in economics. Richard Posner doesn’t have one. He didn’t even major in economics as an undergraduate, preferring English—as did his Chicago colleagues Douglas Baird and Diane Wood. It can’t require a law degree, either, or Ronald Coase, William ... ‘Contemporary Law and Economics,’ by Adam Chilton, Joshua C. Macey & Mila Versteeg

Artificial Intelligence - Law Policy & EthicsBehavioral & Experimental EconomicsEmpirical Legal Studies

‘Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral,’ by Guido Calabresi & A. Douglas Melamed

Brian R. Downing Dec 11, 2025

Guido Calabresi and Doug Melamed’s 1972 classic “One View of the Cathedral” sets up a framework that is now standard fare for first-year law students. First-years spend their early months trying to figure out what they are doing and why they shuffle from property class to torts class. They hear terminology utterly new to them ... ‘Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral,’ by Guido Calabresi & A. Douglas Melamed

CopyrightIntellectual Property