The University of Texas at Austin   School of Law

Education

• JD Yale
• MA University of Chicago
• BA University of Florida

Areas of Specialty

• Civil Procedure
• Professional Responsibility

Professor Silver holds the Roy W. and Eugenia C. McDonald Endowed Chair at the University of Texas School of Law, where he writes and teaches about civil procedure, professional responsibility and, increasingly, health care law and policy.

Professor Silver has coauthored a series of studies of medical malpractice litigation in Texas, most of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. These articles include

The Impact of the 2003 Texas Medical Malpractice Damages Cap on Physician Supply and Insurer Payouts: Separating Facts from Rhetoric, 44 The Advocate 25 (2008) (with David A. Hyman and Bernard Black);

Estimating the Effect of Damage Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases: Evidence from Texas, J. Legal Analysis (2008) (with David A. Hyman, Bernard S. Black, and William M. Sage);

Defense Costs and Insurer Reserves in Medical Malpractice and Other Personal Injury Cases: Evidence from Texas, 1988-2004, 10 Amer. Law & Econ. Rev. 185 (2008) (with Bernard Black, David A. Hyman, and William M. Sage); and

Malpractice Payouts and Malpractice Insurance: Evidence from Texas Closed Claims, 1990-2003, 33 Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice 177-192 (2008) (with David A. Hyman, Bernard S. Black, William M. Sage and Kathryn Zeiler).

Professor Silver also writes about civil procedure, complex litigation, and the professional responsibilities of attorneys. Recent writings in these areas include

The Quasi-Class Action Method of Managing Multi-District Litigations: Problems and a Proposal, Vanderbilt Law Review (forthcoming 2010) (with Geoffrey P. Miller); and

Incentivizing Institutional Investors to Serve as Lead Plaintiffs in Securities Fraud Class Actions, 57 DePaul Law Review 471 (2008) (with Sam Dinkin.

In 2009, the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association honored Professor Silver with the Robert McKay Award for outstanding scholarship in tort and insurance law. In 1997, Professor Silver received the Texas Excellence in Teaching Award, of which he is especially proud.

Professor Silver is currently an Associate Reporter on the American Law Institute's Project on Aggregate Litigation and a member of the ABA/TIPS Task Force on the Contingent Fee. He has been Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan Law School and the Vanderbilt University Law School.

Recent Publications

• Will Tort Reform Bend the Cost Curve? Evidence from Texas, 9 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 173 (2012) (with Mungho Paik, Bernard S. Black, & David A. Hyman).
• Healthcare Quality, Patient Safety, and the Culture of Medicine: "Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt" [Symposium: On the Table: An Examination of Medical Malpractice, Litigation, and Methods of Reform], 46 New England Law Review 417 (2012).
• Medical Malpractice and Compensation in Global Perspective: How Does the U.S. Do It? [Symposium: Medical Malpractice and Compensation in Global Perspective Part II], 87 Chicago Kent Law Review 163 (2012).

Full list of publications…