Undergrad: University of Alberta (BA) Law: University of Victoria (JD) Masters: Columbia University, Law (LLM) Doctorate: Columbia University, Law (JSD)
2005! Time flies.
What courses will you be teaching at Allard in 2019-2020?
One course, a seminar in second term called Innovations in Governance and Regulatory Design. I call it the “Innovations Seminar” and this year, it is focused on the changing nature of the legal profession.
I write about financial regulation (securities regulation, systemic risk, some banking law), always from a public law perspective. In other words, I am a scholar of regulation and regulatory theory, whose examples tend to draw from financial regulation. I coauthor the leading Canadian text in the field of Securities Regulation. I have also written about novel remedies in Administrative Law (including corporate monitorships), principles-based regulation, and especially about the ways in which innovation presents challenges for regulation. My most recent book is “Innovation and the State: Finance, Regulation, and Justice” (2017). New projects include two international collaborations dealing with social inclusion and finance, and climate change finance.
What is or was your non-law dream job?
If I had had any talent I would have been a concert pianist. Or a really brilliant woodworker.
How can you have a favourite judicial decision? You could like a decision because it’s socially and morally important, or elegantly crafted, or because it captures something essential about Canadian law and society, or because it made you think differently. But among my favourite quotes from good cases is this one, per McLachlin J. (as she then was) in dissent: “The Charter is not some holy grail which only judicial initiates of the superior courts may touch. The Charter belongs to the people.” Cooper v. Canada (Human Rights Commission), [1996] 3 S.C.R. 854 at para 70.
How can you have a favourite book or movie? I don’t, but in the non-fiction category I’m very enthusiastic about Melanie Mitchell, “Complexity: A Guided Tour” (2009). The fiction book that is sticking with me most at the moment is David Szalay, “What a Man Is” (2016).
You can walk straight down to the beach from Allard Hall. Walk north, cross Chancellor Boulevard, follow the path straight on and down through the trees. It doesn’t take too long and it is a wonderful break.
A warm welcome! Bring your curiosity, your goodwill, and your full selves to this project, and these will be some of the most formative and important years of your lives. We look forward to meeting you.
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