Swiss Cheese Contracts – Mitu Gulati (University of Virginia)

Swiss Cheese Contracts – Mitu Gulati (University of Virginia)

From Talking law and economics at ETH Zurich by ETH Center for Law & Economics

January 18, 2026 · 24 min

About this episode

Mitu Gulati discusses the concept of 'Swiss Cheese Contracts' and the implications of creative lawyering in contract practices.

In this episode of the CLE Vlog & Podcast Series, Mitu Gulati (University of Virginia) and Karol Rutkowski (ETH Zurich) discuss "Swiss Cheese Contracts", a topic drawn from Gulati's new book "Contract Hazards: Lawyers and Their Landmines", co-authored with Stephen J. Choi (NYU) and Robert E. Scott (Columbia University). In the study "Swiss Cheese Contracts: The Costs of Creative Lawyering", Prof. Gulati and his co-authors examine contracting practices in high-yield secured syndicated loans and Liability Management Transactions. They describe how new loopholes are continually discovered and exploited, creating a landscape that increasingly resembles a block of Swiss cheese. References: Stephen J. Choi – New York University Mitu Gulati – University of Virginia Robert E. Scott – Columbia University Swiss Cheese Contracts: The Costs of Creative Lawyering https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5391281 Contract Hazards: Lawyers and Their Landmines https://academic.oup.com/book/61634 Audio Credits for Trailer: AllttA by AllttA https://youtu.be/ZawLOcbQZ2w

People in this episode

Guest: Mitu Gulati

Topics covered

  • Swiss Cheese Contracts
  • contracting practices
  • high-yield secured syndicated loans
  • Liability Management Transactions

Keywords

  • contract hazards
  • lawyers
  • landmines
  • loopholes

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Contract Hazards: Lawyers and Their Landmines

Books & works: Swiss Cheese Contracts, Contract Hazards: Lawyers and Their Landmines, Swiss Cheese Contracts: The Costs of Creative Lawyering

More episodes of Talking law and economics at ETH Zurich

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Talking law and economics at ETH Zurich podcast page.