
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
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