James J. Brudney

James Brudney joined the Fordham faculty after nineteen years at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he was Newton D. Baker-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law. He has been Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown Law Center and Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. At Fordham, Professor Brudney teaches Labor Law, International Labor Law, Employment Law, and Legislation & Regulation. His scholarship has appeared in leading law journals, including the Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and the Yale, Chicago and Pennsylvania Journals of International Law.

Following graduation from law school, Professor Brudney clerked for the Honorable Gerhard A. Gesell of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. and then for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court. He was associated for four years with the firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser in Washington, representing individuals and unions in constitutional and statutory matters.

Professor Brudney served for six years as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Labor. He is co-chair of the Public Review Board for the United Auto Workers International Union. He received an Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching from The Ohio State University, and was selected as Professor of the Year by Fordham Law School Students in 2014.

Professor Brudney obtained his JD from Yale Law School, an MA & BA in Politics and Philosophy from Oxford University (“First Class” degree), and a BA in American Studies from Amherst College (summa cum laude).

Representative Publications

Books and Book Chapters

Elgar Companion to the Law and Practice of the International Labour Organization, co-edited with Janice R, Bellace (forthcoming 2026) (chapters authored: Labor Inspection and the ILO: Challenges and Opportunities, and Introduction: The ILO in Law and Practice).

2025 e-Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Seventh Edition, 2025 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz)

Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Seventh Edition (2025) (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz) 

Job Security Law in the United States, in Jeffrey Jupp KC et. al eds., McMullen on Business Transfers and Employee Rights, (2024) (Butterworths, U.K.)

2023 Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Sixth Edition, 2023 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz)

Legislation and Statutory Interpretation, Third Edition, 2022 (Concepts & Insights Series; with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz) 

Square Pegs and Round Holes: Shrinking Protections for Unpaid Interns under the Fair Labor Standards Act in Internships, Employability, and the Search for Decent Work Experience (Andrew Stewart et. al eds., ILO/Edward Elgar Press, 2021) 

Reflections on Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Innovation and Scalability in Power, Participation, and Private Regulatory Initiatives: Human Rights under Supply Chain Capitalism (Daniel Brinks et. al eds. U. Penn. Press, 2021)

2021 Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Sixth Edition, 2021 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz)

Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Sixth Edition, 2020 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz) 

2018 Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Fifth Edition, 2018 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz)

Evolution and Transformation of Sources of Labour Law in the Americas in Labour Law and Social Security in the Americas (Giuseppe Casale & Vasco Torres De Leon eds., ITC-ILO publications 2018)

 2016 Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Fifth Edition, 2016 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Josh Chafetz)

 Decent Labour Standards in Corporate Supply Chains: The Immokalee Workers Model, in Temporary Labour Migration in the Global Era: The Regulatory Challenges (Joanna Howe & Rosemary Owens eds., Hart Publishing, UK 2016)

Recollections of a Supreme Court Community (with Victor Brudney); in Of Courtiers and Kings: More Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices (Peppers & Cushman eds., Univ. of Virginia Press, 2015)

Cases and Materials on Legislation and Regulation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Fifth Edition, 2014 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Elizabeth Garrett)

 2012 Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Fourth Edition, 2012 (with William N. Eskridge Jr. and Elizabeth Garrett)

 Documents Supplement to Cases and Materials on Legislation: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy, Fourth Edition, 2011 (with William N. Eskridge Jr.)

The Story of Pepper v. Hart (1992): Examining Legislative History Across The Pond, in Statutory Interpretation Stories (Eskridge, Frickey & Garrett eds., Foundation Press, 2010)

Legislators’ Freedom of Speech, Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties (2006)

U.S. Job Security Law, in John McMullen, Business Transfers and Employee Rights, (Butterworths, 2005 ed., U.K.)

Journal Articles

A Taxonomy of Striker Replacements, forthcoming 39 COMP. LAB. L. & POL’Y J. ___ (2018).

The Internationalization of Sources of Labor Law, 39 U. PA. J. INT’L LAW 1 (2017)

Legislative Underwrites, 103 VA. L. REV. 1487 (2017) (with Ethan Leib)

Contextualizing Shadow Conversations, 166 U. PA. L. REV. ONLINE 37 (2017)

Protean Statutory Interpretation in the Courts of Appeals, 58 WM. & MARY L. REV. 681 (2017) (with Lawrence Baum)

Dictionaries 2.0: Exploring the Gap Between the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals, 125 YALE L.J. FORUM 104 (2015) (with Lawrence Baum)

Legislation and Regulation in the Core Curriculum: A Virtue or a Necessity? 65 J. LEGAL EDUC. 3 (2015)

Chevron and Skidmore in the Workplace: Unhappy Together, 83 FORDHAM L. REV. 497 (2014)

Oasis or Mirage: The Supreme Court’s Thirst for Dictionaries in the Rehnquist and Roberts Eras, 55 WM. & MARY L. REV. 483 (2013) (with Lawrence Baum)

Faithful Agency versus Ordinary Meaning Advocacy, 57 ST. LOUIS U. L. J. 975 (2013)

Distrust and Clarify: Appreciating Congressional Overrides, 90 TEX. L. REV. See Also 205 (2012)

Envisioning Enforcement of Freedom of Association Standards in Corporate Codes: A Journey for Sinbad or Sisyphus?
33 COMP. LAB. L. & POL’Y J. 553 (2012)

Reluctance and Remorse: The Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing in American Employment Law, 32 COMP. LAB. L. & POL’Y J. 773 (2011)

Gathering Moss: The NLRA’s Resistance to Legislative Change, 26 ABA J. LAB. & EMPL. L. 161 (2011)

Private Injuries, Public Policies: Adjusting the NLRB’s Approach to Backpay Remedies, 5 FLA. INT’L L. REV. 645 (2011)

Confirmatory Legislative History, 76 BROOK. L. REV. 901 (2011)

Canon Shortfalls and the Virtues of Political Branch Interpretive Assets, 98 CAL. L. REV.1199 (2010).

Collateral Conflict: Employer Claims of RICO Extortion Against Union Comprehensive Campaigns, 83 S. CAL. L. REV. 731 (2010)

The Supreme Court as Interstitial Actor: Justice Ginsburg’s Eclectic Approach to Statutory Interpretation, 70 OHIO ST. L.J. 889 (2009)

The Warp and Woof of Statutory Interpretation: Comparing Supreme Court Approaches in Tax Law and Workplace Law, 58 DUKE L.J. 1231 (2009) (with Corey Ditslear)

Liberal Justices’ Reliance on Legislative History: Principle, Strategy, and the Scalia Effect, 29 BERKELEY J. EMPL. & LAB. L. 117 (2008) (with Corey Ditslear)

Intentionalism’s Revival, 44 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 1001 (2007)

Below The Surface: Comparing Legislative History Usage by The House of Lords and The Supreme Court, 85 WASH. U.L. REV. 1 (2007)

Comment, NLRB: 45 Days to Challenge Voluntary Recognition, CCH Lab. Law Reports, Insight (October 2007)

Recrafting a Trojan Horse: Thoughts on Workplace Governance in Light of Recent British Labor Law Developments, 28 COMP. LAB. L. & POL’Y J. 193 (2007)

Neutrality Agreements and Card Check Recognition: Prospects for Changing Labor Relations Paradigms, American Constitution Society Issue Brief, available at https://www.acslaw.org/publications/issue-briefs/neutrality-agreements-and-card-check-recognition-prospects-for-changing-la (February 2007)

The Decline and Fall of Legislative History? Patterns of Supreme Court Reliance in the Burger and Rehnquist Eras, 89 JUDICATURE 220 (2006) (with Corey Ditslear)

Book Review: Workplace Justice Without Unions, 61 REL. INDUSTR./INDUS. REL 359 (2006)

Comment, Neutrality Agreements Take Center Stage at the National Labor Relations Board, 57 CCH L.J. 117 (Summer 2006)

Canons of Construction and the Elusive Quest for Neutral Reasoning, 58 VAND. L. REV. 1 (2005) (with Corey Ditslear)

Foreseeing Greatness? Measurable Performance Criteria and the Selection of Supreme Court Justices, 32 FLA ST. L. REV. 1015 (2005)

Isolated and Politicized: The NLRB’s Uncertain Future, 26 COMP. LAB. L. & POL’Y J. 221 (2005)

Neutrality Agreements and Card Check Recognition: Prospects for Changing Paradigms, 90 IOWA L. REV. 819 (2005)

Contractual Approaches to Labor Organizing: Supplanting the Election Paradigm?, 57 LERA ANNUAL PROCEEDINGS 106 (2005)

Recalibrating Federal Judicial Independence, 64 OHIO ST. L.J. 149 (2003)

Statutory Interpretation as Diplomacy, 3 ISSUES IN LEGAL SCHOLARSHIP, art. 10 (2002) (faculty-edited electronic journal, published in connection with Berkeley School of Law) on line at http://www.bepress.com/ils/iss3/art10

Designated Diffidence: District Court Judges on the Courts of Appeals, 35 LAW & SOCIETY REV. 565 (2001) (with Corey Ditslear)

Dispute Resolution and the Uniform State Law Process, 8 DISP. RESOL. MAG. 3 (Summer 2002)

The Influence of Appellate Judges’ Social Backgrounds When Reviewing NLRB Decisions, 2 EMPLOYEE RIGHTS Q. 13 (Spring 2002) (with Deborah J. Merritt)

Dissing Congress, 100 MICH. L. REV. 80 (2001) (with Ruth Colker)

Stalking Secret Law: What Predicts Publication in the United States Courts of Appeals, 54 VAND. L. REV. 71 (2001) (with Deborah J. Merritt)

The Changing Complexion of Workplace Law: Labor and Employment Law Decisions of the Supreme Court’s 1999-2000 Term, 16 THE LABOR LAWYER 151 (2000)

Judicial Hostility Toward Labor Unions? Applying the Social Background Model to a Celebrated Concern, 60 OHIO ST. L.J. 1675 (1999) (with Sara Schiavoni & Deborah J. Merritt)

To Strike or Not to Strike, (Review of JULIUS GETMAN, THE BETRAYAL OF LOCAL 14: PAPERWORKERS, POLITICS, AND PERMANENT REPLACEMENTS) 1999 WIS. L. REV. 65 (1999)

Congressional Accountability and Denial: Speech or Debate Clause and Conflict of Interest Challenges to Unionization of Congressional Employees, 36 HARV. J. ON LEGIS. 1 (1999)

Of Labor Law and Dissonance, 30 CONN. L. REV. 1353 (1998)

Mediation and Some Lessons from the Uniform State Law Experience, 13 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 795 (1998)

Reflections on Group Action and the Law of the Workplace, 74 TEX. L. REV. 1563 (1996)

A Famous Victory: Collective Bargaining Protections and the Statutory Aging Process, 74 N.C. L. REV. 939 (1996)

Congressional Commentary on Judicial Interpretations of Statutes: Idle Chatter or Telling Response? 93 MICH. L. REV. 1 (1994)

Agency Shop in the Public Sector: Recent Developments in the Law, 8 COLL. BARG. Q. No.1 (May 1985)

Note, The Cost of Growing Old: Business Necessity and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 88 YALE L.J. 565 (1979)