Jeffrey M. Hirsch
Geneva Yeargan Rand Distinguished Professor of Law

Areas of Expertise
- Civil Rights and Discrimination
- Federalism
- Labor and Employment Law
Biography
Jeffrey Hirsch, Geneva Yeargan Rand Distinguished Professor of Law, joined Carolina Law in 2011. He served as Associate Dean for Strategy from 2016-2018 and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2013-2016. Hirsch’s teaching and research focuses on labor and employment law issues, and he has authored numerous books, book chapters, articles, and essays on topics including technology in the workplace, unions, and dismissal law. His article Regulatory Pragmatism at Work was selected for the 2008 Seton Hall Labor & Employment Law Scholars’ Forum, and his co-authored article Comparative Wrongful Dismissal Law: Reassessing American Exceptionalism was selected for Princeton University’s 2012 Comparative Law Works in Progress Workshop. He is an editor of the Workplace Prof Blog, executive committee member of the Labor Law Group, research fellow at the NYU Center for Labor & Employment Law, former chair of the AALS Labor Relations & Employment Law Section, and former president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. Professor Hirsch received University of Tennessee’s Marilyn V. Yarbrough Faculty Award for Writing Excellence in 2016, Carolina Law’s Charles E. Daye Award for Excellence in Service in 2018, and Carolina Law’s Frederick B. McCall Award for Teaching Excellence in 2019.
Hirsch earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia; Master of Public Policy from the College of William & Mary; and J.D. from the NYU School of Law, where he received the ABA/BNA Prize for Excellence in Labor & Employment Law and Seymour Goldstein Prize for Academic Excellence in Labor Relations. He then clerked for Judge Haldane Mayer, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Judge Robert Beezer, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; litigated in the National Labor Relations Board’s Appellate Court Branch; and taught for several years at the University of Tennessee College of Law, as well as Vanderbilt University Law School as a visiting professor.
Education
- J.D. (cum laude), New York University Law School (1998)
- M.P.P., College of William and Mary (1995)
- B.A. (cum laude), American Government and Economics, University of Virginia (1992)
Selected Publications
Future Work, 2020 U. ILL. L. REV. 889 (2020).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | Document Link
Joint Employment in the United States, 13 ITALIAN LABOUR LAW E-JOURNAL 55 (2020).
SSRN | Document Link
War Powers Abrogation, 89 GEO. WASH. L. REV. (forthcoming 2020).
SSRN
WORK LAW UNDER COVID-19 (Sachin S. Pandya & Jeffrey M. Hirsch, eds., 2020).
Document Link
Introduction: #MeToo in the Workplace, 23 EMP. RIGHTS & EMP'T POL'Y J. 1 (2019).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein
Twenty-First Century Employers, in CAMBRIDGE HANDBOOK OF U.S. LABOR LAW: REVIVING AMERICAN LABOR FOR A 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY (Richard Bales & Charlotte Garden, eds.) (Cambridge U. Press, 2020).
KF3319 .C33 2020
UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYMENT LAW (with Paul M. Secunda & Richard A. Bales) (3d ed.) (Carolina Acad. Press 2019).
KF3455 .B354 2019
A Modern Union for the Modern Economy (with J. Seiner), 86 FORDHAM L. REV. 1727 (2018).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
MASTERING EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION LAW (with P. M. Secunda and J. Seiner) (2nd ed., Carolina Acad. Press, 2019).
KF3464 .S425 2018
LABOR LAW: A PROBLEM-BASED APPROACH, (with P.M. Secunda & M. Duff) (2d ed. Carolina Academic Press, 2017).
KF3319 .S43 2017
In the Media
- Hirsch Says Employees Face 'Really Tough Choice' as States Say Return to Work or Lose Unemployment Benefits (Newsweek)
- Hirsch comments on what could happen in the case of a possible North Carolina teacher strike (Associated Press)
- DOL finalizes joint employer rule, Hirsch quoted (Politico)
- Ex-Google Employees Planning to File Complaint with NLRB, Hirsch Interviewed (KCBS Radio)
- Hirsch: Worker-Protection Laws Aren’t Ready for an Automated Future (The Conversation)
- Grinnell Files Federal Appeal Over Vote to Expand Students' Union; Hirsch Quoted (National Public Radio)
- Hirsch Quoted on Workplace Bargaining Power in "The Class Struggle According to Donald Trump" (The New York Times)
- Hirsch Discusses the National Labor Relations Act and Athletes' Protests (ESPN)
- Seattle Might Try Something Crazy to Let Uber Drivers Unionize, Hirsch Comments (Washington Post)
- NLRB Ruling Redefining 'Employer' Could Have Big Impact, Hirsch Quoted (NBC News)