Jody S. Kraus is the David E. Kaufman & Leopold C. Glass Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he also co-directs the Institute for Law and Philosophy. Before joining Penn Law he was on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law as the Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law and Philosophy and as the Albert Clark Tate, Jr. Research Professor. He teaches contracts, commercial law, political theory, and jurisprudence. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Philosophy and an M.A. from the University of Arizona, and a B.A. from The Ohio State University. He received numerous awards at the University of Arizona and served as a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He entered Yale Law as a member of the Yale Law Journal after having been published in the Journal before enrolling.
He is a popular professor, known for his rough cold calls, in depth lectures, and habitual Diet Coke consumption. He frequently uses economic theory in his lectures. He is co-author of the textbook, Contract Law and Theory. He was parodied in the 100th Anniversary Libel Show. He is rumored to have been a top candidate in the University of Texas School of Law dean search in 2006, and the University of Virginia School of Law dean search in 2007.