Biography
Horst Eidenmüller joined the Faculty of Law as a Visiting Professor in 2009 and took up a Chair for Commercial Law and a Professorial Fellowship at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, in 2015.
Eidenmüller was born in Munich, Germany. He obtained an LLM at Cambridge University (1989) and a PhD from Munich University (1994) after working for McKinsey & Co. in the 1990s. After his Habilitation in 1998, he was a law professor at the University of Münster from 1999 until 2003. From 2003 to 2014, he held the Chair for Private Law, German, European and International Company Law at Munich University. This position was designated as a research professorship under the excellence scheme of the German Research Foundation from 2007 to 2011.
Eidenmüller’s main research areas are contract law, company and bankruptcy law, and alternative dispute resolution. He is known for his economic and empirical analysis of important problems in these fields.
Eidenmüller has held visiting positions at major other universities such as Cambridge (2007), Harvard (2011), NYU (2013 and 2015), Stanford (2014) and Columbia (2018). From 2008 to 2009, he was a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. Eidenmüller is a Research Associate of the European Corporate Governance Institute (since 2009) and a Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (since 2008). As member of expert committees, he has advised the European Commission and the Federal Republic of Germany on issues of company and insolvency law reform. He has also acted as arbitrator in more than 40 commercial disputes (DIS, ICC, UNCITRAL, Ad Hoc) and as mediator in more than 60 commercial disputes since 1995.
In Oxford he lectures on Corporate Insolvency Law, on Comparative Corporate Law, and on Commercial Dispute Resolution (Commercial Negotiation and Mediation, International Commercial Arbitration).
Publications
Chapter (47)
Journal Article (137)
Book (11)
Edited Book (11)
Internet Publication (6)
Report (1)
Other (3)
Case Note (5)
Review (5)
Research programmes
- Business Law Hub
- Commercial Law Centre
- Law and Finance
- Research Collection: BREXIT
- Research Collection: Law and Technology
Research projects
Research Interests
Commercial Contracts and Contract Design, European and Comparative Company and Bankruptcy Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Options taught
Comparative Corporate Law, Corporate Insolvency Law, International Commercial Arbitration, Commercial Negotiation and MediationBlog posts by Horst Eidenmüller

The PPP Negotiation Model: Problem, People, and Process
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College | Andreas Hacke, Faculty of Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
Robots’ Legal Personality
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Robots’ Legal Personality
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Research Collection: Law and Technology
Contracting for a European Insolvency Regime
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Commercial Law Centre
Contracting for a European Insolvency Regime
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
What is an Insolvency Proceeding?
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Negotiating and Mediating Brexit
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Negotiating and Mediating Brexit
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Research Collection: BREXIT
The Future of Restructuring Law in Europe: Greater Harmonisation, but at What Cost?
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College | Kristin van Zwieten, Harris Manchester College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Comparative Corporate Insolvency Law
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Corporate Co-Determination German-Style as a Model for the UK?
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College | Mathias Habersack | Caspar Behme | Lars Klöhn
Oxford Business Law Blog
Brexit Negotiation Games
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Commercial Law Centre
Brexit Negotiation Games
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Brexit Negotiation Games
By Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College
Research Collection: BREXIT