Randy Picker graduated from the University of Chicago in 1980 cum laude with a BA in economics and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then spent two years in the Department of Economics, where he was a Friedman Fellow, completing his doctoral course work and exams. He received a master's degree in 1982. Thereafter, he attended the Law School and graduated in 1985 cum laude. He is a member of the Order of the Coif. While at the Law School, Picker was an Associate Editor of the Law Review. After graduation, Picker clerked for Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He then spent three years with Sidley & Austin in Chicago, where he worked in the areas of debt restructuring and corporate reorganizations in bankruptcy.

Picker's primary areas of interest are the laws relating to intellectual property, competition policy and regulated industries, and applications of game theory and agent-based computer simulations to the law. He is the co-author of Game Theory and the Law. He currently teaches classes in antitrust, copyright, network industries, and secured transactions. He served as Associate Dean from 1994 to 1996.