Property ownership, authority and the law with Larissa Katz

Thursday, April 17, 2025

The Curious Campus podcast, through CIUT radio station based at Hart House, recently interviewed Professor Larissa Katz. 

In the episode, Professor Katz discusses her paper, "Property: Authority Without Office?," where she dives into property law, specifically looking into the notion of authority that occurs within property ownership. The episode covers insights into some of the nuances that live within the property law space, while touching on Professor Katz’s background and interest in property law.

Brandon Montour

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Across the Council Fire: Haudenosaunee Law as a Framework for Colonial Relations under the Covenant Chain
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: brandon.montour@mail.utoronto.ca

Brandon is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk, Wolf Clan) from Kahnawà:ke and a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He completed his Master of Laws (LL.M) under the supervision of Professor John Borrows at the University of Toronto, for which he was awarded a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. His doctoral research is examining the Covenant Chain relationship and the role of Haudenosaunee law in regulating colonial relations throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In 2025, Brandon was appointed by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Council of Chiefs to sit as an Adjudicator on the inaugural Kahnawà:ke Administrative Tribunal. 

Education
LL.M (Long Thesis), University of Toronto (2024)
J.D / B.C.L, McGill University (2023)
B.A (Political Science) with Great Distinction, Concordia University (2020)
Awards and Distinctions
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's (U of T, 2024)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Indigenous Scholars Award (U of T, 2024)
June Callwood Program in Aboriginal Law (U of T, 2023-2024)
Gualtieri-Doran Award (McGill, 2023)
Bank of Canada Scholarship Award (McGill, 2022-2023)
Robert L. Katz and Christina H. Otto Entrance Scholarship (McGill, 2020)
Research Interests
Aboriginal Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Indigenous Legal Traditions
Property Law
Supervisor
John Borrows
Committee Members
Douglas Sanderson
Angela Fernandez

Wanekia (Kia) Dunn

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Relationships with Land: Exploring applications of natural agency and rights of nature theory to facilitate innovations in Indigenous land tenure and governance
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: kia.dunn@mail.utoronto.ca

Wanekia (Kia) Dunn is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law. His research focus is on Indigenous and Aboriginal law, and intersections therein with constitutional law, property law, and the law of equity.  Kia wrote his LLM thesis “Cutting the Knot: Founding Canada and Restoring the Honour of the Crown” as an analysis of how to overcome the intractable knot that is the sui generis legal status of Indigenous peoples, and which holds Indigenous peoples precariously in a liminal space of legal exceptionalism.

Kia’s upcoming work seeks to explore pathways forward via innovations in land tenure within the space of declared Aboriginal title, as recognized in the Xeni Gwet’in of the Tsilhqot’in. His last few years of professional work have allowed him to learn from and work with several partner First Nations, including the Tsilhqot’in. This provided the understanding that it will be necessary for Canadians to expand the scope of what it can mean in law to have a relationship with lands and territories to enable substantive reconciliation to move forward.

The conceptual frameworks for recognizing lands and territories with a form of legal personhood akin to corporation are on the rise in Canada and internationally; they present distinct potential for manifesting Indigenous worldviews and lawful relations. The issue of standing is resolved when natural agency is understood to contain an inherent guardian and steward relation as between the lands and their First Peoples: a fundamental trust.  He returns to the Faculty of Law to more fully develop these conceptual tools so that they are available to facilitate self-governance.

Education
LLM, University of Toronto; JD, University of Toronto
MA Philosophy, Carleton University
BA (Hons) Philosophy, Carleton University
Awards and Distinctions
June Callwood Programme in Aboriginal Law (2020-2024)
Bennett Scholar (2018)
Other information
  • Panelist for the event “Dialogues on 175 Years of Canadian Democracy” alongside John Ralston Saul and Omayra Issa held in 2023.
  • Presented the “Indigenous Homelands Initiative – Housing and Governance Toolkit” to dozens of Nation, government, and industry leaders at the Yanonhchia Indigenous Housing Finance Network conference in 2022.
  • Facilitated a workshop for the Tsilhqot’in National Government to bring together leaders in housing and development to find consensus on a housing strategy across all six member communities in 2021.
  • Co-organized a conference entitled “Treaties Talk” held at Massey College which brought together expert panelists to discuss cross-border international agreements pertaining to Indigenous rights, specifically the Jay Treaty, in 2020.
  • Sat as chair of the Aboriginal Sovereignty panel held at Massey College as part of the series “Sovereignty in 2017: It’s Meaning for Canada and the World” held in, as you might suspect, 2017.
Research Interests
Aboriginal Law
Indigenous Legal Traditions
International Law
Legal Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
John Borrows
Committee Members

Hai Tran

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Land Taking Conflict in East Asian Postsocialist Countries as The Misapplication of Institutional Reform
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: phuchai.tran@mail.utoronto.ca

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/.
 
Tran, Phuc Hai. “Vietnam’s High-stakes Economic Pivot” East Asia Forum, February 12, 2025. https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/02/12/vietnams-high-stakes-economic-pivot/.
Research Interests
Civil Law
Comparative Law
Environmental Law
Law and Globalization
Legal History
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Mariana Mota Prado
Committee Members
Larissa Katz
Kerry Rittich
External links
Academia.edu

Dimitrios Tsilikis

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Justifications of Recourse Rules (working title)
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: dimitrios.tsilikis@mail.utoronto.ca

 I am a third year SJD 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 also research on corporate bankruptcy especially in the U.S., currently working on mega-bankruptcy case-studies, the intersection of mass tort litigation and bankruptcy, and third-party releases.

 I hold an LL.M. in Legal Theory from NYU School of Law, having written a thesis on corporate asset partitioning. I studied for my LL.B. in Greece and France.

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

 

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)
Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
Bankruptcy/Insolvency Law
Business Corporations
Competition Law
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Private Law Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Larissa Katz
Committee Members
Edward Iacobucci
Christopher Essert
Peter Benson

Private Law Podcast: Professor Larrisa Katz

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

In an episode of the Private Law Podcast, Professor Larrisa Katz, Canada Research Chair in Private Law Theory, shares her work on the idea of ownership as an office, equity, and other topics.

Listen to the Private Law Podcast

 

Steve Lorteau

Steve Lorteau
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
The Institutional Challenges of Adjudicating Climate Change Zoning
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: steve.lorteau@mail.utoronto.ca

Steve is an SJD student at the University of Toronto and a Long-Term Appointment Professor at the University of Ottawa. Steve has a bijural education with degrees in common law and civil law from the University of Ottawa. During his legal studies, Steve participated and later coached in the Jessup International Law Moot Court competition for 3 years. In 2020, Steve completed a judicial clerkship at the Federal Court under Justice Peter Pamel. Following his clerkship, Steve completed his Master of Laws (LLM) thesis at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dean Jutta Brunnée. His SJD thesis focuses the political economy of zoning reforms.

Steve's primary research interests relate to zoning law, climate litigation, wine law, and the psychology of climate change.  Steve's research on these themes has been published in Energy Policy, Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL), Journal of Wine Research, Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law and the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law. Since 2022, he has served as the Canadian reporter for Jus Vini annual chronicles.

Steve is also interested in the real-world implications of his research, having (co)authored five op-ed pieces for The Conversation Canada and served as an expert interviewee for Reuters and The Globe and Mail, among other outlets. Steve has also advised environmental non-governmental organizations and sitting politicians on matters of climate law.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys reading, playing board games, watching sports, cooking, and discovering new wines.

Education
University of Toronto, LL.M. (Long Thesis), 2021
University of Ottawa, J.D., 2019
University of Ottawa, LL.L. (Civil Law) 2018
University of Ottawa, B.Soc.Sc. (International Development), 2018
University of Ottawa, B.A. (Philosophy), 2015
Awards and Distinctions
SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-D (2021-2024)
SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-M (2020-2021)
Robert Law Fellowship in Legal Ethics (2020-2021)
Environmental Law Essay Contest Prize, Center for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability (2019)
Me Anwar Chami Scholarship for excellence in studies in international law (2018)
Second Best Oralist, Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (2017)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Earth System Governance Project Research Fellow
Global Perspectives on Corporate Climate Legal Tactics, International Expert Group Canada
Selected Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

· Steve Lorteau, Parker Muzzerall, Audrey-Ann Deneault, Emily Huddart Kennedy, Rhéa Rocque, Nicole Racine, & Jean-François Bureau, "Do climate concerns and worries predict energy preferences? A meta-analysis" (2024) 190 Energy Policy 114149

· Steve Lorteau, “The Potential of 'State-as-Polluter' Litigation” (2023) 1 Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law 259.

· Steve Lorteau, “Canada 2022: Place of Origin Descriptors, Amarone, and More Cowbell” (2023) Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 117.

· Steve Lorteau, “Canada 2021: Disputed Territories, Comparative Advertising, and Trademarks” (2022) 1 Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 87-102.

· Steve Lorteau, “Contractual Carbon Fees: A Proposal” (2020) 15:2 McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law 176-201.

· Steve Lorteau, “A Purposive Approach to Wine Regulation: Royal Demaria v Lieutenant Governor in Council” (2019) 2 Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 231-240.

· Steve Lorteau, “La philosophie du droit systématique de l’encyclopédiste Antoine- Gaspard Boucher d’Argis [The Systematic Jurisprudence of l’Encyclopédiste Antoine-Gaspard Boucher d’Argis]” (2019) 54 Recherches sur Diderot et sur l’Encyclopédie 147-164.

· Steve Lorteau, “A Comparative Analysis of Skin-Contact Wine Definitions in Ontario and South Africa” (2018) 29:4 Journal of Wine Research 265-277.

· Steve Lorteau, “China’s South China Sea Claims as Unprecedented – Skeptical Remarks” (2018) 55 Canadian Yearbook of International Law 1-41.

Book Chapters

· Steve Lorteau & Rakhyun E Kim, “Transnational Litigation Norms” in Daniel J. Fiorino, Todd A. Eisenstadt, & Manjyot Kaur Ahluwalia, eds, Elgar Encyclopedia of Climate Policy (Cheltenham: Elgar Publishing, 2024), pp 209–212.

· Steve Lorteau, “Regulatory Controls in the Canadian Wine Sector” in Theodore Georgopoulos, ed, Administrative controls in the wine sector (Paris: Mare & Martin, 2021), pp 341-367.

Opinion Pieces

· Parker Muzzerall, Audrey-Ann Deneault, & Steve Lorteau, "Emotions may matter more than facts in shaping individual support for renewable energy, new study shows"The Conversation Canada, 20 June 2024. https://theconversation.com/emotions-may-matter-more-than-facts-in-shapi...

· Steve Lorteau, "Fossil fuel subsidies cost Canadians a lot more money than the carbon tax" The Conversation Canada, 1 April 2024. https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-subsidies-cost-canadians-a-lot-m...

· Steve Lorteau & Andrew Green,"How Canadian courts are taking on climate change" The Conversation Canada, 4 January 2024. https://theconversation.com/how-canadian-courts-are-taking-on-climate-ch...

· Steve Lorteau, Audrey-Ann Deneault, Jean-François Bureau & Nicole Racine, "Educate and Empower: The 3 Es to discuss climate change with children" The Conversation Canada, 9 July 2023. https://theconversation.com/engage-educate-and-empower-the-3-es-to-discu...

· Steve Lorteau, “For Fossil-Fuel Reliant Governments, Climate Action Should Start At Home" The Conversation Canada, 19 April 2023. https://theconversation.com/for-fossil-fuel-reliant-governments-climate-...

Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Economic Analysis of Law
Environmental Law
Feminist Analysis of Law
Intellectual Property Law
International Law
Legal Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Andrew Green
Committee Members
Larissa Katz
Kate J. Neville, Department of Political Science
External links
Twitter
SSRN
Earth System Governance Project

Book Workshop, James Penner’s Property Rights: A Re-examination (OUP)

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

On October 22, 2020, University of Toronto is hosting a workshop of international scholars to discuss property theorist and legal philosopher James Penner’s new book, Property Rights: A Re-examination (Oxford University Press).

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