Manhattan Institute CLP Director

James R. Copland is the director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy, which seeks to develop and communicate thoughtful ideas on how to improve the civil and criminal justice system. Copland oversees two of the Institute's websites, PointofLaw.com, a web magazine that brings together information and opinion on the U.S. litigation system, as well as the Institute's new corporate-governance website, ProxyMonitor.org. He is also project manager for the Institute's Trial Lawyers, Inc. series of publications examining the size, scope, and inner workings of America's lawsuit industry.

Copland has published opinion columns in national, local, and online newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The National Law Journal, Investors Business Daily, and USA Today. He has appeared on various television and radio shows, including those on PBS, FOX News, FOX Business, MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN, and NPR. He has testified before Congress and is a regular speaker and conference participant discussing tort reform issues.

Prior to joining the Manhattan Institute, Copland was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York. He had earlier served as a law clerk for Ralph K. Winter on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He has been a director of two privately held manufacturing companies since 1997.

Copland received J.D. and M.B.A degrees from Yale, where he was an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics and an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation. He also has an M.Sc. in politics of the world economy from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in economics with highest distinction and highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.

Select Media

PBS's "Newshour"
Board Member's "This Week in the Boardroom"
WABC's "John Batchelor Show"
Westwood One's "Lars Larson Show"
Money Radio's "Business for Breakfast"
KPCC's "Airtalk"
SBN's "Small Business Advocate"
WBAL's "Ron Smith Show"
WTPL's "Bulldog Live with Brian Tilton"
97.1 FM Talk's "Randy Tobler Show"

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Articles/Op-eds

Shareholder Activism and the 2013 Proxy Season, Boardmember.com, 03-11-13
Why Does FDA Keep Drugmakers From Informing Doctors?, Investor's Business Daily, 01-09-13
'Magnet Courts' Attract Class Action Corruption, Washington Times, 11-23-12
Minnesota Attorney General's Assault on American Health, Washington Examiner, 11-22-12
Philadelphia Still in Need of Tort Reform, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11-18-12
Politicized Proxy Advisers vs. Individual Investors, Wall Street Journal, 10-07-12
Politicized Proxy Advisers vs. Individual Investors, New York Post, 10-07-12
Unions Target Corporations Through Shareholder Activism, Washington Examiner, 07-19-12
2012 Proxy Season: Results and Lessons for Directors, Boardmember.com, 07-16-12
Don't Believe the Hype About Corporate Political Spending, Washington Examiner, 06-22-12
More Articles >>

Testimony

Hearing on Contingent Fees and Conflicts of Interest in State AG Enforcement of Federal Law, Statement Before the House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution (February 2, 2012)
Hearing on America's Capital Markets: Maintaining Our Lead in the 21st Century, Testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services (April 26, 2006)

Reports

Proxy Monitor 2013: Political Spending, Say on Pay, and Other Key Issues to Watch in the 2013 Proxy Season Proxy Monitor Report 5, March 2013
Off-Label, Not Off-Limits: The Fda Needs To Create a Safe Harbor For Off-Label Drug Use Issue Brief 15, December 2012
Cracked Justice: Philadelphia's Magnet Court Making Progress but in Need of Greater Reform Trial Lawyers Inc. Update 10, November 2012
Proxy Monitor 2012: A Report on Corporate Governance and Shareholder Activism Proxy Monitor Report 4, September 2012
The Shadow Regulatory State: The Rise of Deferred Prosecution Agreements Legal Policy Report 14, May 2012
Shareholder Activism: What to Watch for in the 2012 Proxy Season Proxy Monitor Report 3, Winter 2012
Proxy Monitor 2011: A Report on Corporate Governance and Shareholder Activism Proxy Monitor Report 2, Fall 2011
New Database Reveals Shareholder Proposal Trends Proxy Monitor Report 1, Winter 2011
Regulation by Prosecution: The Problems with Treating Corporations as Criminals Legal Policy Report 13, December 2010
In the Wake of Wyeth v. Levine: Making the Case for FDA Preemption and Administrative Compensation Project FDA Report 1, March 2009

Trial Lawyers Inc. Industry Focus

Trial Lawyers Inc. State Focus

Books

One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty (The Heritage Foundation, March 2010) - (Note* James Copland authored a chapter)

Features

Area man takes on the legal machine Times-News, 2-20-04

City Journal articles

The Whooping Cough’s Unnecessary Return, 2 February 2011
Kagan Flunks Her Own Test, 11 May 2010
Defeat Cloaked in Victory, 30 June 2009
Lawyer Lead-ership, Spring 2006

Podcasts