Shauhin Talesh
By courtesy, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Law & Society
Director, Law and Graduate Studies Program
Faculty Athletic Representative, UCI Athletics
Advisory Board Member and Faculty Affiliate, Center in Law, Society & Culture
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Organizational Research
Faculty Affiliate, Long U.S.-China Institute for Business & Law

Expertise:
Civil procedure, consumer law, insurance, organizations, empirical legal studies, law and society, law and inequality, law and social change
Background:
Professor Talesh is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work spans law, sociology, and political science. His research interests include the empirical study of law and business organizations, dispute resolution, consumer protection, insurance, and the relationship between law and social inequality.
Professor Talesh’s most recent empirical study addresses the intersection between organizations, risk, and consumer protection laws, focusing on private organizations' responses to and constructions of laws designed to regulate them, consumers' mobilization of their legal rights and the legal cultures of private organizations.
Professor Talesh’s scholarship has appeared in multiple law and peer-reviewed social science journals including Law and Society Review and has won multiple awards in Sociology, Political Science and Law & Society.
(Log in to view full course descriptions in the UCI Law Course Catalog)
- Shauhin Talesh, Transition Coverage and Clarity in Self-Insured Corporate Health Insurance Benefit Plans, Transgender Health, DOI: 10.1089/trgh.2020.0067 (2020) (with A. Kirkland & A. Perone).
- Shauhin Talesh, The Devil is in the Details: How Arbitration System Design and Training Facilitate and Inhibit Repeat Player Advantages in Private and State-Run Arbitration Hearings, 42 Law & Policy 315-343 (2020) (with Peter Alter) (lead article).
- Shauhin Talesh, How Legal Intermediaries Facilitate and Inhibit Social Change, 79 Studies in Law, Politics & Society 111-45 (2019) (with Jerome Pelisse).
- Shauhin Talesh, The Process is the Problem, in R. Greenspan, H. Aviram, & J. Simon, eds., The Legal Process and the Promise of Justice: Studies Inspired by the Work of Malcolm Feeley, Cambridge Studies in Law & Society, pp. 72-94, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press (2019).
- Shauhin Talesh, Data Breach, Privacy, and Cyber Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as "Compliance Managers" for Businesses, 43 Law & Soc. Inquiry 417-440 (2018)
- Shauhin Talesh, Public law and regulatory theory, in Handbook on Theories of Governance 102 (Christopher Ansell & Jacob Torfing eds., 2017)
- Shauhin Talesh, Insurance Companies as Corporate Regulators: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, 66 DePaul L. Rev. 463-501 (2017)
- Shauhin Talesh, Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws, 37 Law & Pol'y 209-39 (2015) (peer review)
- Shauhin Talesh, Rule-Intermediaries in Action: How State and Business Stakeholders Influence the Meaning of Consumer Rights in Regulatory Governance Arrangements, 37 Law & Pol'y 1-31 (2015) (peer review) (lead article)
- Shauhin Talesh, Insurance and the Law, International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Science, 2nd edition, Vol. 12. Oxford: Elsevier 215-220 (2015) (peer edited)
- Shauhin Talesh, Institutional and Political Sources of Legislative Change: Explaining How Private Organizations Influence the Form and Content of Consumer Protection Legislation, 39 Law & Soc. Inquiry 973-1005 (2014) (peer review)
- Shauhin Talesh, The Privatization of Public Legal Rights: How Manufacturers Construct the Meaning of Consumer Law, in The Law and Society Reader II (Erik Larson & Patrick Schmidt eds., NY Press) (2014)
- Shauhin Talesh, Foreword: Why Marc Galanter’s ‘Haves’ Article is One of the Most Influential Pieces of Legal Scholarship Ever Written, in Marc Galanter, Why the Haves Come Out Ahead (Quid Pro Books, 2014)
- Shauhin Talesh, How the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead in the Twenty-First Century, 62 DePaul L. Rev. 519 (2013) (invited submission for Clifford Symposium, honoring the work of Marc Galanter)
- Shauhin Talesh, How Dispute Resolution System Design Matters: An Organizational Analysis of Dispute Resolution Structures and Consumer Lemon Laws, 46 Law & Society Rev. 463 (2012) (lead article)
- Shauhin Talesh, Insurance Law as Public Interest Law, 2 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 985 (2012)
- Lauren Edelman & Shauhin Talesh, To Comply or Not to Comply – That Isn’t the Question: How Organizations Construct the Meaning of Compliance, in Explaining Compliance (Christine Parker & Vibeke Nielsen eds., Edward elgar) (2012)
- Shauhin Talesh, The Privatization of Public Legal Rights: How Manufacturers Construct the Meaning of Consumer Law, 43 Law & Society Rev. 527-562(2009)
- Shauhin Talesh, Mental Health Court Judges as 'Dynamic Risk Managers': A New Conceptualization of the Role of Judges, 57 DePaul L. Rev. 93-132 (2007)
- Shauhin Talesh, Breaking the Learned Helplessness of Patients: Why MCOs Should be Required to Disclose Financial Incentives, 26 Univ. of Ala. L. & Psychol. Rev. 49-95 (2002)
- Shauhin Talesh, Welfare Migration to Capture Higher Welfare Benefits: Fact or Fiction?, 32 Conn. L. Rev. 675-716 (2000)
- Shauhin Talesh, Parole Officers and the Exclusionary Rule: Is There Any Deterrent Left?, 31 Conn. L. Rev. 1179-1216 (1999)
- Feb. 22, 2019:
Presenter, “The Hidden Curriculum of Arbitrator Training: A Comparative Analysis of Private and State-Run Arbitration Hearings,” Consumer Law Scholars Conference, Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, Berkeley Law, Berkeley, CA - Jan. 5, 2019:
Moderator, Insurance Law, Co-Sponsored by Law and the Social Sciences, 2019 AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA - April 9, 2018:
Speaker, “Have Changes in Procedural Rules Made Substantive Relief in Federal Courts Problematic?” Civil Justice Research Initiative 2018 Inaugural Symposium: What’s Happening in Federal Court? Recent Findings and Research Strategies for the Future, Berkeley Law, Berkeley, CA - March 30, 2018:
Baldy Distinguished Speaker, “How legal Intermediaries Facilitate and Inhibit Social Change,” Faculty Workshop, University of Buffalo School of Law, Buffalo, NY - March 20, 2018:
Presenter, Cyber Risk Insurance: How to Live With It because You Can No Longer Live Without It, The Cove at UCI, Irvine, CA - Jan. 5, 2018:
Speaker. Data Breach, Privacy and Cyber Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as “Compliance Managers” for Businesses, Association of American Law Schools Annual Conference, San Diego, CA. - June 29, 2017:
Co-Presenter, “How Legal Intermediaries Facilitate or Inhibit Social Change,” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 29th Annual Meeting, Lyon, France - June 26, 2017:
Presenter, “Data Breach, Privacy and Cyber Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” Sciences Po LIEPP interdisciplinary research center for public policy evaluation, Paris, France - Feb. 22, 2017:
Presenter, “Data Breach, Privacy & Cyber Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” American Bar Foundation, Chicago, Illinois - Jan. 30, 2017:
Presenter, “Data Breach, Privacy & Cyber Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” Center for the Study of Law & Society, UC Berkeley Law - October 2016:
Invited Speaker, “Data Breach, Privacy and Cyber Liability Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” University of Minnesota Faculty Workshop - September 2016:
Invited Speaker, “Data Breach, Privacy and Cyber Liability Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” University of California, Hastings Faculty Workshop - September 2016:
Guest Speaker, Strategies for Success on the Law Job Market, UC Berkeley Workshop: Going on the Law Job Market, UC Berkeley - August 2016:
Speaker, Professionalism in Law School and the Legal Profession, UCI Law Student Development Workshop, UC Irvine - June 2016:
Invited Speaker, “Data Breach, Privacy, and Cyber Liability Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, UC Berkeley - June 2016:
Presenter, Author meets Reader: Jeb Barnes & Thomas F. Burke, “How Policy Shapes Politics,” Law and Society Association, New Orleans, LA - June 2016:
Invited Speaker, “New Legal Realist Research: Integrating Scholarship and Teaching, Realist and Empirical Methods for Law: A Collaborative Research Network,” Law and Society Association, New Orleans, LA - April 2016:
Invited Speaker, “Data Breach, Privacy, and Cyber Liability Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” Clifford Symposium on Tort Law and Social Policy at DePaul Law School, Chicago, IL - April 2016:
Invited Speaker, “Data Breach, Privacy, and Cyber Liability Insurance: How Insurance Companies Act as ‘Compliance Managers’ for Businesses,” Drexel Law School Faculty Workshop, Philadelphia, PA - February 2016:
Panelist, “The Current State of Law & Society Research,” West Coast Law & Society Retreat, Irvine - September 2015:
Guest Speaker, “A New Institutional Theory of Insurance,” Faculty Workshop, Indiana University, Center for Law, Society & Culture, Bloomington, IN - January 2015:
Speaker, “Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws,” UCI Socio–Legal Studies Workshop, UCI School of Law - January 2015:
Invited Speaker, “Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws,” American Association of Law Schools Conference, Washington D.C. - November 2014:
Invited Speaker, “Manufacturing Consumer Protection Law: The Private Construction of Public Legal Rights,” UC Berkeley, Jurisprudence & Social Policy, Dissertation Colloquium, Berkeley - September 2014:
Speaker, "Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws," UC Berkeley Law School Faculty Workshop - Sept. 19, 2014:
Organizer and Speaker, "Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws," Conference on The Relationship Between Insurance and Legal Regulation: Normative, Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives, UCI Law - September 2014:
Invited Speaker, "Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws," Rutgers Law School Center for Risk and Responsibility Insurance Law Faculty Workshop, Camden, NJ - Aug. 29–30, 2014:
Panelist, "Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws," New Legal Realism 10th Anniversary Conference: Future Directions for Legal Empiricism, American Bar Foundation and UC Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA - July 23, 2014:
Presenter, “The Forms and Functions of Insurance,” Orange County Bar Association, Insurance Law Section, Newport Beach, CA - April 11, 2013:
Guest Speaker, University of Pacific- McGeorge Law School - Jan. 25, 2013:
Guest Speaker, University of Wisconsin Law School - Jan. 6, 2013:
Speaker, AALS conference, Law and Social Science Panel - April 13, 2012:
Speaker, Business Law as Public Interest Law Symposium, UCI Law - Aug. 20, 2011:
Presenting Paper, “How Organizations Shape the Meaning of Law,” American Sociological Association Conference
- American Association of Law Schools, Insurance Law Section, Chair Elect, 2018-present
- Editorial Board, Law & Social Inquiry, 2018-present
- Elected Secretary/Treasurer, American Sociological Association, Sociology of Law Section, 2017-19
- Distinguished Teaching Award Nominee, UC Irvine School of Law, 2013-14; 2014-15
- Best Graduate Student Paper, Law & Society Association, 2011
- Best Graduate Student Paper, American Sociological Association, Sociology of Law, 2011
- Best Graduate Student Paper, American Political Science Association, Law & Courts, 2010
- New University: Prof. Talesh interviewed on his role as UCI Faculty Athletic Representative and member of the Big West Undivided Committee, and UCI’s commitment to diversity and inclusion
- UCI Law: Prof. Shauhin Talesh Selected as a Faculty Innovation Fellow by UCI Beall Applied Innovation
- UCI Athletics: Prof. Talesh serves as faculty athletic representative for UCI Athletics
- Cybersecurity Policy & Research Institute: Prof. Talesh part of team to receive $1.4M for research on cybersecurity, cyber insurance
- Variety: Prof. Talesh comments on civil rights laws doing “poor job” of defining harassing, discriminatory behavior
- The Washington Post: When companies buy harassment insurance, they're not protecting the victims
- Amici: Prof. Talesh interviewed in newsletter after being elected secretary/treasurer of the American Sociological Association, Sociology of Law Section
- American Bar Foundation: Prof. Talesh to present paper at American Bar Foundation event in Chicago
- UCI Stories video oral histories: Prof. Talesh and his brother Rameen Talesh, UCI Dean of Students, discuss their past and present at UCI
- UConn Law Graduate Report: Prof. Talesh featured in UConn Law alumni magazine
- ZotZine: Feature story: UCI alums Prof. Talesh and his brother, Rameen, return to alma mater to work and give back