Joanna Mehlhop Shepherd-Bailey is an American legal scholar and economist serving as Thomas Simmons Professor of Law and Vice Dean at Emory University School of Law. Shepherd specializes in judicial behavior, judicial elections, tort reform, and empirical legal studies.

Education Shepherd earned a Bachelor of Business Administration at Baylor University in 1997, and completed a juris doctor degree in law and a PhD in economics at Emory University in 2002.

Career

Academic Career Shepherd began teaching at Clemson University, returning to Emory as a faculty member in 2005. In December 2019, Shepherd was named the Thomas Simmons Professor of Law. Shepherd served as Vice Dean at Emory from 2020–2023, and again beginning in 2024. In addition to her law school role, Shepherd serves as an adjunct professor in the Emory University department of economics, and is a nonresident scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics.

Congressional and Legislative Testimony

Shepherd gave written and oral testimony before the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security at a hearing on H.R. 2934, the Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003. Shepherd discussed the deterrent effect of capital punishment.Capital Punishment and the Deterrence of Crime: Hearing on H.R. 2934 Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 108th Congress (2004) (statement of Dr. Joanna Shepherd, PhD., Visiting Assistant Professor, Emory Law School). Shepherd testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice at a hearing titled Exploring Federal Diversity Jurisdiction, discussing her research on the effect of expanded diversity jurisdiction on federal court caseloads.Exploring Federal Diversity Jurisdiction: Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 114th Congress (2016) (statement of Joanna Shepherd, Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law) Shepherd submitted written testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, addressing pharmaceutical industry practices, including product hopping, that affect drug pricing and generic competition.Profits Over Consumers: Exposing How Pharmaceutical Companies Game the System: Hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, 116th Congress (2019) (written statement of Joanna Shepherd, Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law)

Scholarship Shepherd has published broadly in top law reviews, legal journals, and peer-reviewed economics journals. A 2016 analysis by Gregory Sisk considered Shepherd a highly cited legal scholar.

Books

Butler, Henry N.; Shepherd, Joanna; Cooper, James C. (2024). Economic Analysis for Lawyers (4th ed.). Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 9781531026011. Kang, Michael S.; Shepherd, Joanna M. (2023-08-22). Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503627611.

Judicial Elections and Campaign Finance

Joanna Shepherd & Michael S. Kang. "Skewed Justice: Citizens United, Television Advertising, and State Supreme Court Justices' Decisions in Criminal Cases". American Constitution Society. 2014. The findings of this study were cited by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Concurrence in Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar for the proposition that disproportionate campaign spending threatens both the appearance and the actuality of judicial independence.Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar, 575 U.S. 433, 461 (2015) (Ginsburg, J., concurring) Michael S. Kang, Joanna M. Shepherd. "The Partisan Price of Justice: An Empirical Analysis of Campaign Contributions and Judicial Decisions". New York University Law Review. 86 (1): 69–130. 2011. Joanna M. Shepherd. "Money, Politics, and Impartial Justice". Duke Law Journal. 58 (4): 623–685. 2009.

Tort Reform

Paul H. Rubin & Joanna M. Shepherd. "Tort Reform and Accidental Deaths". The Journal of Law and Economics. 50 (2): 221–238. 2007. Joanna M. Shepherd. "Tort Reforms' Winners and Losers: The Competing Effects of Care and Activity Levels". UCLA Law Review. 55 (4): 905–977. 2008. Joanna M. Shepherd. "Products Liability and Economic Activity: An Empirical Analysis of Tort Reform's Impact on Businesses, Employment, and Production". Vanderbilt Law Review. 66 (1): 255–321. 2013.

Judicial Behavior

Joanna M. Shepherd. "Are Appointed Judges Strategic Too?". Duke Law Journal. 58 (7): 1589–1626. 2009. Michael S. Kang & Joanna M. Shepherd. "The Long Shadow of Bush v. Gore". Stanford Law Review. 68 (6): 1411–1452. 2016.

References