Oliver Goodenough

Oliver Goodenough lives in Woodstock, Vermont and teaches at the Vermont Law School.

Professionally, he is an authority on several emerging areas of law.  He has pioneered the application of technology to legal processes, particularly in the field of contracts and business organizations. His goal is to create “digital institutions” within which reliable economic life can take place.  He has helped Vermont and Nevada shape digital business organization initiatives – a direct application of these principles to law reform in the U.S. In Vermont, he has been a participant in the legislatively-mandated Blockchain study committee and is a co-author of proposed legislation to give Blockchain technology legal recognition.  At the national level, he is collaborating with the Office of Financial Research at the Department of the Treasury to explore the possibility of automating financial instruments.

Oliver’s other fields of research include entertainment law and applications of neuroscience and behavioral biology to legal questions.  He is currently a Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School, Affiliated Faculty at Stanford’s CodeX Center for Legal Informatics, a Research Fellow of the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, a Lecturer at the University of Vermont’s School of Business Administration, and an Adjunct Professor at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering.

Personally, Oliver is married to Alison Clarkson, a member of the Vermont Legislature. They have two children, Ward and William Goodenough.  Oliver is active as a singer and a gardener.