Law and economics is one of the fastest-growing areas of applied microeconomics. It uses the standard microeconomic tools and concepts of scarcity, choice, preferences, incentives, supply and demand to explain legal and political rules, social conventions and norms, firms and contracts, government organizations, and other institutions. Our perspective will be that of the lawyer, viewing these institutions under the lens of purposeful human choice. The economic approach to the Law has both predictive and prescriptive functions. Law schools around the world are devoting increasing attention to understanding economic analysis of legal institutions. The course will give special emphasis to contract law, tort law, criminal law and family law applications of economic analysis. It will also examine the complex relationship between economic efficiency and social justice and discuss the importance of social norms.