Research Centres, Initiatives & Journals

LLM Student Position in International Accountability: Paths to Justice

Dr. Sujith Xavier, through the Transnational Law and Justice Network at the Faculty of Law University of Windsor, in partnership with Dr. Kate Cronin-Furman (University College London, Politics) and a human rights NGO, is looking for an LLM student with research interests in international law, international criminal law and transitional justice with a focus on the global South.

"The ideal candidate for this position will have a demonstrated interest in the pursuit of justice for mass atrocities, as well as an interest in understanding the role and impacts of international legal institutions in the global South." The candidate must meet the criteria for admission to the Windsor Law LLM program and be offered admission to that program for September 2021 (The Windsor Law LLM program application deadline is  March 15, 2021; the application is available at this website: http://www.uwindsor.ca/graduate-llm. Please indicate in your application that you are interested in this opportunity.). Funding of $16,000/year will be provided.

The successful applicant will conduct legal research as part of their LLM thesis. They will also contribute to a larger team project titled “International Accountability: Paths to Justice”. This project is co-directed by Drs. Xavier and Cronin-Furman through SSHRC Partnership Engage funding. The ideal student should be able to work both independently and as a member of an interdisciplinary team. The LLM student will be supervised by Dr. Xavier and Dr. Cronin-Furman.

Students admitted to either the one-year LLM or the two-year LLM with Certificate in University Teaching & Learning are eligible although students in the one-year LLM program are preferred.

Additional questions may be directed to The Windsor Law LLM Program: gradlawinfo@uwindsor.ca

Windsor Law LTEC Lab faculty members do cutting-edge research in the fields of entrepreneurship, legal clinics, and intellectual property law, law and robotics, e-commerce, algorithms, blockchain technology, and consumer protection.

Students choosing to do an LLM at Windsor Law in any of those areas, will be part of a vibrant community of dynamic scholars, be exposed to the work performed at the International Intellectual Property Clinic, the first of its kind, or the EPICentre (the University of Windsor’s Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre) and have the chance to partake the seminars and workshops organized by Windsor Law LTEC Lab throughout the year.

For research centred on the intersection between innovation, entrepreneurship and intellectual property law, the successful applicant will have the opportunity to pursue multidisciplinary research and have access to business opportunities incubated at the EPICentre or supported through the International Intellectual Property Clinic, and to meet faculty in law, business, computer sciences, engineering, as well as entrepreneurs, legal practitioners and legal clinic students. These environments provide fertile ground for ground-breaking theoretical or empirical research.

Areas of research opportunities include:

• Innovation, entrepreneurship and intellectual property: lead faculty members are Professor Myra Tawfik (innovation, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property) and Professor Wissam Aoun (intellectual property, patents, and IP legal clinic work).
• Regulation of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and consumer protection: lead faculty member is Professor Muharem Kianieff
• E-commerce, social media, algorithms, big data, and consumer protection: lead faculty member is Professor Pascale Chapdelaine

These law and technology research areas touch upon important issues that receive increased attention at various levels of government and international organizations worldwide, e.g., innovation and intellectual property literacy, on how the law is shaped and disrupted by new technologies, and on how the law can or should intervene through various models of regulation.

These research areas also raise important issues of access to justice and transnationalism (e.g. access of student entrepreneurs to intellectual property literacy, autonomous vehicles, and accessibility, development of best practices to counter consumer deception in online environments). Successful LLM applicants will benefit from the vast expertise of Windsor Law faculty on access to justice and transnationalism, two institutional themes that are core to Windsor Law faculty teaching and scholarship.

For more information about these exciting LLM research opportunities, please contact Professor Laverne Jacobs, the Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) ljacobs@uwindsor.ca, or the professors indicated above.