Christopher G. Bradley serves as the Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs Associate Professor of Law. His research and teaching interests include bankruptcy, commercial, consumer, and business law.

Professor Bradley adheres to an emphasis on “law in action” rather than “law in the books.” His research relies on empirical, historical, and theoretical approaches—all focused on how law impacts the realities of social, commercial, business, political, and cultural life. In his teaching, he seeks to bring important legal concepts to life for students by emphasizing their practical impact on our economy and on our society’s adherence to its core values. He seeks to go beyond merely helping students understand the law—he is committed to helping students find fulfilling jobs and serve their communities. He received the law school’s Duncan Award for teaching excellence in 2022. In 2020, he was recognized as A Teacher Who Made a Difference by the University of Kentucky Department of Education, and in 2019, he was chosen by the Class of 2019 to hood graduates at commencement.

Professor Bradley is co-author of a bankruptcy casebook, Problems and Materials in Debtor and Creditor Law (7th ed., 2021), with Douglas J. Whaley, and a well-regarded practitioners’ manual, Strategies for Creditors in Bankruptcy Proceedings (revised 7th ed.), with Lynn M. LoPucki & Christopher R. Mirick. He has written and spoken extensively about the important new small business provisions in Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. He is active in the Association of American Law schools and currently serves on the Executive Committees of the Section on Agency, Partnership, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations and of the Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law, where he recently served as Chair. He is a founding fellow of the American College of LLC and Partnership Attorneys.

Much of Professor Bradley's recent research has explored the impact of technology on business and commercial law, as well as the use of business entities (such as LLCs) in various commercial contexts. This research includes his article “Privacy for Sale: The Law of Transactions in Consumers’ Personal Data,” Yale Journal on Regulation (forthcoming), an empirical project on the sale of consumer data by bankrupt companies; his article, “Privacy Theater in the Bankruptcy Courts,” Hastings Law Journal (forthcoming), another empirical project, which explores the Bankruptcy Code’s institution of the "Consumer Privacy Ombudsman," designed to protect consumers’ private data; his article, "Disrupting Secured Transactions," Houston Law Review (2019), which explores the impact of the Internet of Things and related technologies on secured transactions law (UCC Art. 9); his article "The Consumer Protection Ecosystem: Law, Norms, and Technology," Denver Law Review (2020) which considers the role of technological and social change in the area of consumer law and policy; his essay "FinTech’s Double Edges," Chicago-Kent Law Review (2018), which forms part of a symposium on the promises and perils of new financial technologies; and his article "Art Works as Business Entities: Sculpting Property Rights by Private Agreement," Tulane Law Review (2020), which discusses the power of modern business entity law to reshape other areas of law and regulation. He has also co-authored numerous articles with students, including “The Multi-Level Marketing Pandemic,” Tennessee Law Review (2022), with Hannah Oates, class of 2021, about multi-level marketing schemes and the Covid-19 pandemic; “Property Tax Privateers,” Virginia Tax Review (2021), with Cameron Baskett, class of 2021, about abuses of taxpayers by state tax lien sales; and “An Appellate Ruling Shows the Difficulty of Preserving Carve-Outs,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal (2020), with Marina Kirtland Carrier, class of 2020, about a ruling concerning “carve-outs” for the professionals fees in Chapter 11 bankruptcies. He is currently engaged in a new empirical project about the experience of judges and practitioners concerning the use of remote technology in both consumer and business bankruptcy proceedings.

Prior to entering academia, Professor Bradley served as judicial clerk for Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit as well as for Judge Tony Davis of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. While working for Judge Davis, he gained exposure to the wide range of matters brought before bankruptcy courts, from individual debtors trying to rebuild their credit to business entities and corporate groups pursuing reorganization.

Professor Bradley spent several years practicing with the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, representing, among others, Lehman Brothers, in the largest bankruptcy in history. He also practiced at the specialty bankruptcy and litigation firm of Hohmann Taube & Summers and with the Finance and Restructuring Group of the national firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis. Professor Bradley’s practice included service to creditors and to debtors in bankruptcy, as well as to bankruptcy trustees and state court receivers. In addition to taking and defending depositions, drafting briefs and other court papers, participating in alternative dispute resolutions, and arguing to courts, he negotiated and drafted a range of business transaction documents.

Professor Bradley is committed to pro bono and community service. He has been recognized for pro bono service, which has included the representation of U-Visa applicants and asylum seekers through Catholic Charities and Kids in Need of Defense and service in the Houston municipal courts. He has served the bar in various roles, including as chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Texas. He has helped to lead fundraising for United Way within the University of Kentucky community, and he has advocated for legal change nationally. He recently represented, pro bono, a group of law professors arguing for a change in Ninth Circuit law concerning the protection of the homes of those in bankruptcy. Before that, he joined a small team of bankruptcy experts on a pro bono basis to serve as amici curiae in two cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Their efforts were part of a successful push to convince the court to reconsider a ruling on an important issue of bankruptcy law. See Hawk v. Engelhart, 871 F.3d 287 (5th Cir. 2017) (amici successfully supported reconsideration of initial ruling; featured in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire for Sept. 7, 2017); Lowe v. DeBerry, 884 F.3d 526 (5th Cir. 2018) (amicus brief cited at 529) (featured in the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Rochelle’s Daily Wire for March 12, 2018).