Hai Tran

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Transnational Property Law: Land Taking Conflict in East Asian Postsocialist Countries as The Enduring Evolution of Socialist Law
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Hai Tran is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law. He holds a dear interest in the historical evolution of land law, and property rights in general. His doctoral thesis is the explanation of the unique and turbulent property rights compromise between socialist and free market legal norms in postsocialist East Asia. With his research, he seeks to solve the welfare question for the public regarding land redistribution and de-escalate the new ideological cold war of the 21st century. This is tied to his broader investigation of the developments of legal institutions in developing countries which are often ideologically nonconforming and self-contradicting.

Beyond his academic endeavor at the University of Toronto, he is an active member of social activism. He has been involved with the feminist HeForShe project in Japan; CPRE for the protection of the English countryside; Power For People and Repowering London to campaign for and build the capacity of community energy groups in the U.K.

Education
S.J.D University of Toronto (2023-present)
LL.M. King’s College London, United Kingdom (2021-2022)
LL.B. Nagoya University, Japan (2017-2021)
Awards and Distinctions
Best undergraduate thesis, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law (2021)
JASSO Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Student (2020-2021)
Selected Publications
Tran, Phuc Hai. “Vietnam’s Land Law Evolution” East Asia Forum, March 13, 2024. https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/03/14/vietnams-land-law-evolution/.
Research Interests
Civil Law
Comparative Law
Environmental Law
Law and Globalization
Legal History
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Committee Members

Megan Pfiffer

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Toward a Rights-Based Theory of Substantive Review
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Megan Pfiffer is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, and legal, political, and moral philosophy. She is also the managing editor of the University of Toronto Law Journal. Her thesis explores the idea of justification in administrative law and will reframe contemporary debates on substantive review. Megan received her JD from Queen's University where she was awarded the Silver Medal in Law for achieving the second highest academic standing in her graduating class, as well as the Dean's Key Award for best embodying the signature values of Queen's Law. She then articled at a leading Toronto litigation boutique and clerked for Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Megan completed the BCL at the University of Oxford with distinction. 

Education
BCL, University of Oxford (with distinction)
JD, Queen's University
BA (Hons), Queen's University
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2023-2026)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics - Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2022-2023)
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2022-2023)
Onora O'Neill Prize in Philosophy, Law and Politics (2022)
Faculty of Law and Brasenose College Scholarship for the BCL (2021)
Medal in Law – Second Highest Standing (2019)
Dean's Key Award (2019)
Denis Marshall Contribution Award (2019)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2019)
Christopher Riggs Administrative Law Scholarship (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Administrative Law (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Legal and Political Philosophy (2019)
Dean's Gold Scholar Award (2018)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2018)
Queen’s Law Prize in Law and Poverty (2018)
Dean’s Silver Scholar Award (2017)
Aird & Berlis LLP Student Award for Overall Academic Achievement (2017)
R.W. Leonard Scholarship in Law (2017)
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Scholarship (2017)
David Sabbath Scholarship (2017)
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Prize in Torts (2017)
Queen’s Law Prize in Constitutional Law (2017)
Queen’s University Entrance Scholarship in Law (2016)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

Yukiko Kobayashi Lui

Yukiko, wearing a grey sweater, smiles in a photograph taken in the Jackman Law Building
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Care work, dependence and redistribution in family life and law
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Yukiko is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law with a collaborative specialization in sexual diversity studies at the Mark S. Bonham Centre. Her research interests are in the law governing families and households and the work that happens within them, and in critical legal and political theories. Her doctoral project is about the law and politics of legal relationship recognition, particularly as related to economic dependence, social assistance, and unwaged work during and after relationships. She is interested in how law and social assistance create and police the borders of 'the family' and what implications this has for the material preconditions that make life possible. She also maintains an interest in the law of Hong Kong. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, she worked in the non-profit sector and in publishing.

Education
LLM (Distinction), The University of Hong Kong
BA (Hons) in Law, University of Cambridge
Awards and Distinctions
Centre for Ethics Doctoral Fellowship (2023-2024)
Mary H. Beatty Fellowship (2023-2024)
Graduate Fellowship in Women's Rights (2022-2024)
Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence (2015-2018)
Professional Affiliations
Law and Society Association
Canadian Law and Society Association
Other information

Co-organiser, Feminist Legal Theory and the Family conference, hosted at the Institute for Feminist Legal Studies, Osgoode Hall Law School (May 2024)

Organising committee, Sex Salon speaker series, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies (2023-2024)

Co-organiser, Toronto Law and Political Economy Reading Group (Spring 2023)

 

Research Interests
Comparative Law
Critical Legal Theory
Family Law
Feminist Analysis of Law
Political Philosophy and Theory
Sexuality and the Law
Supervisor
Committee Members
Linda White (Department of Political Science)

Dimitrios Tsilikis

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Justifications of Recourse Rules (working title)
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

 I am a second year S.J.D. student working on Bankruptcy Law and Private Law Theory. My main project is focused on the normative foundations of personal bankruptcy law in the U.S. and Canadian legal orders. I do also research on some side-projects on corporate bankruptcy especially in the U.S., currently working on the intersection of mass tort litigation and bankruptcy.

 I started my legal career in civil law countries (Greece and France), but I have transitioned towards the common law world with my LL.M. in Legal Theory at NYU School of Law and my S.J.D. at the University of Toronto. 

I am a lawyer in Greece and I spend some time lawyering in Greek and E.U. law, especially on restructuring consultation.

In my spare time I like to read moral and political philosophy as they tend to be really helpful in providing analytical tools in legal research. Other than that, I love reading on aesthetics and the philosophy of mind.

Education
LL.B. - National and Capodistrian University of Athens - Faculty of Law
LL.B. (Erasmus+) - Paris 1 - Panthéon-Sorbonne - École de Droit
LL.M. - New York University School of Law
S.J.D. - University of Toronto - Faculty of Law
Professional Affiliations
Athens Bar Association (Greece)
Research Interests
Bankruptcy/Insolvency Law
Business Corporations
Competition Law
Judicial Decision-Making
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Tax Law
Supervisor
Committee Members

'Completely misunderstood' – University Professor Arthur Ripstein explores Immanuel Kant's views on war

Friday, April 30, 2021

Arthur Ripstein

A colleague of Arthur Ripstein’s once described the 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant as “the philosopher for people who like philosophy too much.”

Ripstein freely admits belonging to this group.  He’s spent decades researching and teaching Kantian legal and political philosophy and is currently finishing his latest book about the philosopher, Kant and the Law of War. It will be available in September.

David Bullock

David Bullock
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Tort law as a response to collective action problems
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

David is a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a Vanier Scholar.  His research interests include the intersection of public and private law (in particular property and tort) as they relate to the environment, international law, and constitutional law.

David is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and Yale Law School. He began his career as  judicial clerk to the former Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias GNZM, before commencing professional practice at a specialist litigation firm in Auckland, New Zealand.  As a lawyer, David has acted for a range of environmental NGOs and has appeared at all levels of New Zealand courts, including in leading cases on climate change, the exportation of indigenous timber, seabed mining, off-shore oil exploration, election advertising, and police interrogation.  David has also regularly acted in sports disputes, regulatory proceedings, and complex commercial litigation.

Education
LLM, Yale Law School (2017)
LLB(Hons), Victoria University of Wellington (2011)
BCA (Economics), Victoria University of Wellington (2011)
Awards and Distinctions
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2021)
Connaught International Scholarship (2020)
Fulbright General Graduate Scholarship (2016)
William Georgetti Scholarship (2016)
Victoria University Medal of Academic Excellence (2011)
Chapman Tripp Prize (2011)
Dean’s List for Academic Excellence (2011)
Chris Highfield Memorial Prize (2011)
Quentin-Baxter Prize in International Law (2011)
IPANZ Prize in Public Administration (2011)
Robert Orr McGechan Prize (2010)
Archibald Francis McCallum Scholarship (2010)
Val Gormley Memorial Prize (2010)
Lord Cooke of Thorndon Prize (2009)
A H Johnstone Scholarship in Law (2009)
New Zealand Recent Law Review Prize (2009)
Alumni Association Prize (2008)
Mario Patrono Prize (2007)
Faculty of Law Prize (2007)
Professional Affiliations
Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand
Selected Publications

"Public Nuisance and Climate Change: The Common Law's Solutions to the Plaintiff, Defendant and Causation Problems" (2022) Modern Law Review [forthcoming, available at https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12732]

The Law of Costs in New Zealand (LexisNexis, Wellington, 2022) (with Tim Mullins)

"New Zealand" (2020) 31 Yearbook of International Environmental Law 261

“Three Strikes and the Interpretative Obligation: Parliamentary Intention and the Ascription of Meaning under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act” (2020) 29 New Zealand Universities Law Review 225

“Combating Climate Recalcitrance: Carbon-related Border Tax Adjustments in a New Era of Global Climate Governance” (2018) 27 Washington International Law Journal 609

“Political Costs and the Challenge of Tradable Environmental Markets” (2017) 29 Georgetown Environmental Law Review 609

"A Defence of Statutory Property” (2017) 48 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 529

“The Wane of s 5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990” [2017] New Zealand Law Journal 164

“Costs of Costs Applications” [2014] New Zealand Law Journal 348 (with Julian Long)

“Emissions Trading in New Zealand: Development, Challenges and Design” (2012) 21 Environmental Politics 657

“Multi-party Governance: Managing the Unity-Distinctiveness Dilemma in Executive Coalitions” (2012) 18 Party Politics 349 (with Jonathan Boston)

"Electoral Expression with Institutional Bounds: Reframing the Judicial Treatment of Elections in New Zealand" (2011) 42 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 459

“Home Detention as a Stand-alone Sentence” (2011) 2 New Zealand Law Students’ Journal 603

"Experiments in Executive Government under MMP in New Zealand: Contrasting Approaches to Multi-party Governance” (2009) 7 New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law 39 (with Jonathan Boston)

Research Interests
Environmental Law
International Law
Legal Process
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Tort Law and Tort Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

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