Brian J. Broughman, an expert in corporate financing and governance, has joined the faculty of Vanderbilt Law School. His appointment as a professor of law was announced by Dean Chris Guthrie.
Broughman’s research focuses on corporate governance and financial contracting, particularly in startup firms financed by venture capital. He entered the legal academy after earning his Ph.D. in jurisprudence and social policy at the University of California, Berkeley, where his dissertation examined how governance arrangements mitigate the risk of opportunistic conduct between business founders and venture capital investors.
His research, which includes empirical studies related to mergers and acquisitions, shareholder voting, founder control rights, and the dominance of Delaware corporate law nationwide, has been published in law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Legal Studies and Journal of Corporate Finance. His recent work has examined how changes in shareholder voting thresholds and appraisal rights impact merger negotiations, how venture capital firms “induce entrepreneurial teams to sell startups,” whether VCs use additional rounds of financing to dilute the founders’ stake in startups, and how business norms are maintained in entrepreneurial finance arrangements.
“Brian Broughman is an outstanding addition to our faculty,” Guthrie said. “Our students will benefit from his expertise in startup financing and from working with him on cutting-edge empirical research. I look forward to the contributions he will make to our Law and Business Program.”
Broughman previously taught for 11 years at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, where he also served for two years as associate dean for research. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
He practiced corporate law in Chicago immediately after earning his J.D. from the University of Michigan. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago.
At Vanderbilt, he will teach Corporations and Business Entities, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Introduction to Corporate Finance for Lawyers.