Law School

A graduate of Brown University, Professor Houh earned her JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a founding member and article editor of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. After law school, Professor Houh served as a law clerk to the Honorable Anna Diggs Taylor, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. She also practiced law as a staff attorney with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and as a litigation associate at Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, PLC, in Detroit.

Professor Houh teaches contracts, commercial law and critical race theory, and in 2006, she won the Goldman Prize for Teaching Excellence. Her scholarship focuses on contract law and critical race theory, and she is a frequent speaker on these topics at national conferences and symposia. Her articles and essays have appeared in such journals as the Cornell Law Review, University of Pittsburgh Law Review, Utah Law Review and U.C. Davis Law Review. Professor Houh served as the Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Law and the Humanities in 2007. She also has served on the Board of Governors and as Secretary to the Society of American Law Teachers.

Publications

Book Chapters

• Contract Law as a Source of Antidiscrimination Law in Intergenerational Inequality: The Role of Race in Law, Markets, and Social Structures (Russell Sage Foundation, 2007)

Articles, Essays & Book Reviews

• Cracking the Egg: Which Came First—Stigma or Affirmative Action?, 96 Cal. L. Rev. 1299 (2008) (with Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Mary Campbell)
• Still (,) at the Margins, 40 Law & Soc'y Rev. 481 (2006)
• Toward Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006) (symposium)
• Critical Race Realism: Re-Claiming the Antidiscrimination Principle through the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 455 (2005)
• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A Nearly Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2005)
• Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith and Fair Dealing in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003)
• Book Review, Living "Off-Stage": The Semiotic Potential of Narrative in Paula Johnson's Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women in Prison, 16 Int'l J. Semiotics L. 317 (2003)

Presentations

• Contracting Identities: The Antisubordinating Potential of Contract Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law (March 24, 2008)
• The Antidiscriminatory Impulse of Contract Law, University of Iowa College of Law (March 23, 2007)
• The Antidiscriminatory Impulse of Contract Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law (February 8, 2007)
• Why Bargaining Matters in Identity Matters: A Critical Race Approach to Contract Law, Conference: Power, Inequality and the Bargain—the Role of Bargaining Power in the Law of Contract, Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, Michigan (March 31, 2006)
• The Implied Obligation of Good Faith in Contract Law: An Empty Vessel?, St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, MO (February 11, 2004)
• The False Dichotomy of the Justice and Economic Approaches to Contractual Good Faith, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL (October 20, 2003); 10th Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty, Boston College Law School, Newton, MA (October 17-18, 2003)

Courses

• Contracts
• Critical Race Theory
• Payment Systems
• Sales

October 2009

Two of Emily’s articles were cited:

• Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), in Stephen S. Ashley, Bad Faith Actions: Liability & Damages (West, 2d ed. 2009).
• Towards Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), in Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Honoring our Past, Charting our Future: Introduction: Celebrating Critical Race Theory at 20, 94 Iowa L. Rev. 1497 (2009).

Summer 2009

Emily presented Racial Retrenchment and the Thirteenth Amendment as part of the 13th Annual UC Faculty Summer Scholarship Series. Her article, The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2005), was cited in Larry A. DiMatteo, Policing Limited Liability Companies under Contract Law, 46 Am. Bus. L.J. 279 (2009).

May 2009

Emily presented Contracting Identities: Toward an Antisubordination Theory of Contract Law at the Critical Race Theory Workshop at UCLA. Her article, Cracking the Egg: Which Came First–Stigma or Affirmative Action?, 96 Cal. L. Rev. 1299 (with Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Mary Campbell), was cited in Carla D. Pratt, Way to Represent: The Role of Black Lawyers in Contemporary American Democracy, 77 Fordham L. Rev. 1409 (2009).

March 2009

Emily published Cracking the Egg: Which Came First — Stigma or Affirmative Action?, 96 Cal. L. Rev. 1299 (with Angela Onwuachi-Willig (Iowa) & Mary Campbell (Iowa)). Several of her articles were cited:

• Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), in Keith Aoki & Kevin R. Johnson, Latinos and Latinas at the Epicenter of Contemporary Legal Discourses: Latinos and Latinas in the Legal Academy: An Assessment of LatCrit Theory Ten Years After, 83 Ind. L.J. 1151 (2008).
• Critical Race Realism: Re-Claiming the Antidiscrimination Principle Through the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 455 (2005), in Gregory Scott Parks, Toward a Critical Race Realism, 17 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 683 (2008); and Gregory S. Parks & Shayne E. Jones, “Nigger”: A Critical Race Realist Analysis of the N-Word within Hate Crimes Law, 98 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 1305 (2008).
• Towards Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), in Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, A House Divided: The Invisibility of the Multiracial Family, 44 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 231 (2009); and Nancy E. Dowd, Masculinities and Feminist Legal Theory, 23 Wis. J.L. Gender & Soc'y 201 (2008).

February 2009

Two of Emily’s articles were cited:

• Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), in Stephen S. Ashley, Bad Faith Actions Liability & Damages (West, 2nd ed., 2008).
• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2005), in Touch and Concern, the Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes, and a Proposal, 122 Harv. L. Rev. 938 (2009).

January 2009

Emily’s article, Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), was cited in Keith Aoki, An Assessment of LatCrit Theory Ten Years After, 83 Ind. L.J. 1151 (2008).

December 2008

Emily and her husband Andrew welcomed their second child into their family — Rowan was born on October 30.

November 2008

The Freedom Center Journal, which is advised by Emily, Kristin Kalsem and Verna Williams, held a discussion of Pamela Bridgewater's article, Connectedness and Closeted Questions: The Use of History in Developing Feminist Legal Theory, dealing with reproductive rights and the intersection of race, class, and gender.

Emily published Cracking the Egg: Which Came First--stigma or Affirmative Action?, 96 Cal. L. Rev. 1299 (2008) (with Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Mary Campbell). The article was discussed in an article in the Iowa Press-Citizen. (Her co-authors Angela Onwuachi-Willig and Mary Campbell are on the University of Iowa faculty).

October 2008

Emily's article, Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), was cited in Stephen S. Ashley, Bad Faith Actions Liability & Damages (Thomson-West, 2nd ed., 2008 Supp.).

Summer 2008

Emily Houh was named Gustavus Henry Wald Professor of the Law and Contracts.

Emily presented Contracting Identities as part of the 12th Annual UC Faculty Summer Scholarship Series.

Two of Emily's articles were cited:

• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2005), in Mariana Pargendler, Modes of Gap Filling: Good Faith and Fiduciary Duties, 82 Tul. L. Rev. 1315 (2008).
• Towards Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), in Natasha T. Martin, Immunity for Hire: How the Same-actor Doctrine Sustains Discrimination in the Contemporary Workplace, 40 Conn. L. Rev. 1117 (2008).

May 2008

Two of Emily's articles were cited:

• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1, in Florence Wagman Roisman, The Right to Remain: Common Law Protections for Security of Tenure: An Essay in Honor of John Otis Calmore, 86 N.C. L. Rev. 817 (2008).
• Towards Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), in Angela P. Harris, From Color Line to Color Chart?: Racism and Colorism in the New Century, 10 Berkeley J. Afr.-Am. L. & Pol'y 52 (2008).

March 2008

Emily participated in a panel discussion on Ending Affirmative Action: The Current Effects of Proposition 209 in California and the Potential Effects of Proposal 2 on Public University Education in Michigan at a conference at Michigan on From Proposition 209 to Proposal 2: Examining the Effects of Anti-Affirmative Action Voter Initiatives. The papers will be published in the Michigan Journal of Race and Law.

February 2008

Emily attended the AALS Annual Meeting in New York City, where she spoke on several panels:

• The Committee on Sections and Annual Meeting Program, Beyond the Program at the Annual Meeting: Other Functions and Roles for AALS Sections.
• Section on Minority Groups, “In the Name of Love”: What Does Martin Luther King Mean on the 40th Anniversary of His Assassination? (to be published in the NYU Review of Law and Social Change).
• Section on Law and the Humanities, Law and Order: SVU - Sexuality, Videos and You (to be published in the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal).

November 2007

Emily, Kristin Kalsem, and Verna Williams organized and hosted the inaugural symposium of the Freedom Center Journal, Reconstructions: Historical Consciousness and Critical Transformation. Speakers included:

• Pamela Bridgewater (American)
• Alfred Brophy (Alabama)
• Courtney Cahill (Roger Williams)
• James Campbell (Brown)
• Christine Zuni Cruz (New Mexico)
• Adrienne Davis (North Carolina)
• Katherine Franke (Columbia)
• Angela Harris (UC-Berkeley)
• Kevin Noble Mallard (Syracuse)
• Margaret Montoya (New Mexico)
• Natsu Taylor Saito (Georgia State)

Emily was the discussant for a faculty workshop by Luis Fuentes-Rohwer (Indiana) on Bringing Democracy to Puerto Rico: A Rejoinder, as part of the College's Faculty Colloquia Series.

Two of Emily's articles were cited:

• Critical Interventions: Toward an Expansive Equality Approach to the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 88 Cornell L. Rev. 1025 (2003), in Stephen S. Ashley, Bad Faith Actions Liability & Damages (Clark Boardman Callaghan, 2nd ed., 2007 Supp.).
• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1 (2005), in Regulating Contract Formation: Precontractual Reliance, Sunk Costs, and Market Structure, 39 Conn. L. Rev. 1977 (2007).

Summer 2007

Emily presented Stigma and Affirmative Action as part of the 11th Annual UC Faculty Summer Scholarship Series. Two of Emily's articles, Critical Race Realism: Re-Claiming the Antidiscrimination Principle through the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 455 (2005), and Towards Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), were cited in Mario L. Barnes, But Some of [Them] Are Brave: Identity Performance, the Military, and the Dangers of an Integration Success Story, 14 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 693 (2007); Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Volunteer Discrimination, 40 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1895 (2007); and Berta Hernandez-Truyol, Angela Harris & Francisco Valdes, Beyond the First Decade: A Forward-looking History of LatCrit Theory, Community and Praxis,17 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 169 (2006).

June 2007

Emily's symposium proposal, From Proposition 209 to Proposal 2: Examining the Effects of Anti-Affirmative Action Voter Initiatives, has been accepted for publication in the California Law Review.

April 2007

Emily presented The Antidiscriminatory Impulse of Contract Law at Iowa and Suffolk.

Two of Emily's articles were cited:

• Toward Praxis, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 905 (2006), in Alfred L. Brophy, Law [Review']s Empire: The Assessment of Law Reviews and Trends in Legal Scholarship, 39 Conn. L. Rev. 101 (2006).
• The Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law: A (Nearly) Empty Vessel?, 2005 Utah L. Rev. 1, in Daystar Const. Management, Inc. v. Mitchell, 2006 WL 2053649, *8 (Del.Super. Jul 12, 2006) (NO. CIV.A. 04C-05-175JRS).

February 2007

Emily attended the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where she began her term as Chair of the AALS Section on Law and the Humanities.

Emily's article, Critical Race Realism: Re-Claiming the Antidiscrimination Principle Through the Doctrine of Good Faith in Contract Law, 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 455 (2005), was cited in N. Jeremi Duru, Fielding a Team for the Fans: The Societal Consequences and Title VII Implications of Race-considered Roster Construction in Professional Sport, 84 Wash. U. L. Rev. 375 (2006).

Please see Faculty News Archives for earlier issues.

Awards

• 2006 Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching