Andrew Kaufman
USC Gould School of Law

Andrew Kaufman brings more than 40 years of experience in private practice and more than a decade of experience teaching transactional courses and practice skills. He has mentored transactional law students at several leading law schools including Vanderbilt University Law School, UCLA School of Law, and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

From a transactional lawyer’s perspective, Kaufman teaches courses that address business associations, commercial law including secured transactions, leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, risk management and compliance, syndicated loan transactions and other current issues in transactional practice. When feasible, Kaufman combines the doctrinal elements of his subject matter with the experiential. He uses hypotheticals based on actual transactions to help students understand the inherent and external risks involved, while also developing lawyering skills to mitigate those risks.

Kaufman was a long-time partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP handling matters primarily from their Chicago and New York offices. He founded and, for many years, supervised the firm’s Debt Finance Group and chaired the firm’s Opinions Committee. Now of counsel to the firm, Kaufman continues to participate in its professional training programs and to advise on internal risk management matters and client transactions.

At Vanderbilt, Kaufman served as an adjunct professor from 2005-2009. In 2009, he was appointed their first professor of the practice of law for the Law and Business Program, a position he held for next three years. He spent the 2012-13 academic year at UCLA, where he served as professor from practice and the initial executive director of UCLA’s Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy. He began offering his transactional weekend short courses at the USC Gould School of Law in 2008, and he continues to present them regularly at both Vanderbilt and USC.

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

The New York Times
January 28, 2023
Re: Jody David Armour

Professor Jody Armour was interviewed by the New York Times about the recent policy brutality incident that led to the death of Tyre Nichols. “It’s not just a Black and white issue, but a Black and blue one. And when you put on that blue uniform, it often becomes the primary identity that drowns out any other identities that might compete with it," Armour said.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Robin Craig
December, 2022

"Climate Adaptation in the United States." Frontiers in Marine Science 9 (2022) December. Special Topic: Ocean Governance and Climate Adaptation: Comparing Responses, Charting Future Courses.

Scott Altman
December, 2022

"Why Parents' Interests Matter." Ethics 133 (forthcoming 2023): 271.

Jonathan Barnett
December, 2022

"The China Innovation Challenge." Center for Strategic & International Studies interview, Washington, D.C.