Join us for our 2024-25 signature lectures at Allard Law

We're delighted to announce the speakers for the Peter A. Allard School of Law's 2024-25 signature lectures. 

This year's exceptional speakers will explore topics ranging from the challenges of regulating AI to the question of 'ownership' after death. Learn more and register now.

Madam Justice Southin graduated from the law school in 1952 and was called to the bar in 1953. Over the years, she earned a tremendous reputation with the Bench, her colleagues and litigants for her representation of a wide range of clients in a very broad litigation practice. This annual lecture pays tribute to her legacy by reminding others to pay heed to two important influences – law of equity and legal history – on the legal profession.

Speaker: Irit Samet - Posthumous Trust: From Dead Hand to Mortality Management

Irit Samet is a professor at The Dickson Poon School of Law, which she joined in 2008. She was previously a lecturer in law at Mansfield College, Oxford (2006-2007) and a lecturer at the University of Essex (2008). She read law and philosophy in Israel and completed her doctorate at Oxford. Her main research interests lie in the law of equity, property law and the theory of private law.

Professor Samet will discuss the tension between an owner's desire to influence the afterlife of their property through trusts and the beneficiaries’ perspective – that a posthumous trust can be an exercise in overcontrol or an expression of a pathological refusal to reconcile to the fact of one’s mortality.

Learn more and register for the Madam Justice Mary Southin Lecture.

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October 10, 2024 - Douglas McK Brown Lecture

The Douglas McK. Brown Lecture was established to honour one of Canada's most distinguished counsel and one of British Columbia's most eminent citizens. Douglas McK. Brown was born in Vancouver in 1912 and educated at the University of British Columbia and in Cambridge, England. For many years he taught at the law school, in addition to his busy practice in the firm of Russell & DuMoulin and his many public interests.

Speaker: Aziz Z. Huq - The Geopolitics of AI Regulation

Aziz Z. Huq is a scholar of US and comparative constitutional law. His recent work concerns democratic backsliding and the regulation of AI. His award-winning scholarship is published in several books and in leading law, social science, and political science journals. He also writes for Politico, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many other non-specialist publications.

In his lecture, entitled "the Geopolitics of AI Regulation," Professor Huq will explore recent efforts to regulate artificial intelligence. How might the current global, geopolitical environment shape the possibilities of national AI regulation? Is effective regulation even possible against a context of increasingly sharp bipolar conflict between the United States and China? Professor Huq will discuss frameworks for thinking about these questions and posit likely pathways for the future of AI regulation. 

Learn more and register for the Douglas McK Brown Lecture.

October 24, 2024 - The Walter S. Owen Lecture 

The Walter S. Owen Lecture was established in honour of The Hon. Walter S. Owen, O.C., Q.C., LL.D., K. St., one of Vancouver's most prominent lawyers, businessmen and philanthropists. The Walter S. Owen Lecture is a public expression by the Visiting Professor who holds the Chair, of the Faculty's wish to commemorate Mr. Owen, and to thank those whose contributions enabled the Lecture to be endowed.

Speaker: Laverne Jacobs 

Laverne Jacobs is a Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law and a former Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies). She teaches, researches and writes in the areas of disability rights law, administrative law, human rights law, and administrative justice. Her work is characterized by an interest in the everyday work of the administrative justice system and in the lived experiences of the people who use it.

Learn more and register for the The Walter S. Owen Lecture.

January 23, 2025 - J. Donald Mawhinney Lecture

The J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics was established in honour of J. Donald Mawhinney to recognize his outstanding contributions to British Columbia's legal community, his commitment to legal education and his dedication to practicing with the very highest standard of professional ethics. Each year the law school hosts an individual from the judiciary, the practice of law or academia to come to UBC as the J. Donald Mawhinney Lecturer.

Speaker: Florence Ashley - A Healthy Disrespect for the Law

Florence Ashley is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre. They hold BCL/JD and LLM degrees from McGill University and an SJD from the University of Toronto and served as the first openly transfeminine clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada.

In their lecture, Professor Ashley will explore the question of whether jurists owe respect and reverence to the law. While some argue as much, pointing to the legal profession’s unique role within the legal system, they argue that disrespect can in fact be an effective tool for challenging injustice – and that jurists should entertain a healthy disrespect for the law given the widespread and foundational nature of injustice in the Canadian legal system. 

Learn more and register for the J. Donald Mawhinney Lecture.

March 12, 2025 - Law at UBC Distinguished Speaker Series

Launched in 2022, the Law at UBC Distinguished Speaker Series welcomes exceptional scholars from faculties and departments across UBC whose work engages with law. The aim of this series is to build and strengthen interdisciplinary connections between the Peter A. Allard School of Law community and scholars from across the university.

Speaker: Kimberley Brownlee

Kimberley Brownlee holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political & Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Her current work focuses on loneliness, belonging, social human rights, and freedom of association. Her past work focused on civil disobedience, punishment, and restorative justice.

Learn more and register for the Law at UBC Distinguished Speaker Series.