We’re incredibly proud to be celebrating our Allard Law grads – including four new PhD graduates!
Newly minted Drs. Andrew Luesley, Oludolapo Makinde, Tayo Olarewaju and David Watson took the time to reflect on their research and their time at Allard Law.
Dr. Andrew Luesley
Your dissertation looks at the legal regulation of smart contracts. What drew you to this topic?
Smart contracts are essentially self-executing agreements written in computer code: when certain conditions are met, they automatically carry out their terms, without any human needing to step in. They're already being used in financial transactions and beyond, but our legal frameworks haven't fully caught up.
Having Bruce MacDougall as my supervisor pushed me to pick a topic at the frontier of what we know, and this felt like exactly that kind of challenge. I hope my dissertation helps broaden how we think about contract law, making it a more equitable tool that genuinely increases access to justice, rather than something seen as only serving powerful interests. Contract law affects everyone, and it should work for everyone.
Tell us about one of your favourite memories from your time at Allard Law.
Two memories stand out. I used to meet with Professor MacDougall during his office hours, and I'd inevitably overstay my appointment, still deep in conversation as he needed to leave for class. I'd walk with him down the stairs and to his class, still picking his brain until the last possible moment. Those conversations shaped how I think about law.
The other memory involves the Allard Library while I was still a master’s student. A Student-Not-Actually-In-Law school (“SNAIL”) held the door open for me and waited, even though I was several paces behind her. That small act of kindness, along with her obvious style, caught my attention. I saw her working in the library for weeks before I finally managed to strike up a conversation, and eventually we had our first coffee at Great Dane. It was on another coffee date together at Great Dane that I received my PhD acceptance email. We've been together ever since and are now married.
Dr. Oludolapo Makinde
Your dissertation considers how AI tools can help tackle corporate corruption. What drew you to this topic?
I was thinking about corruption and how the focus is often on public corruption, but corporations also deal with this issue. Also, in my first year as a PhD student, Prof. Janis Sarra had encouraged us to think about how we can make our research more interdisciplinary.
I took on this challenge. I did some research and found that interest in AI as a tool to tackle public corruption was emerging, and I thought it would be equally valuable to understand its use cases and limitations in the private sector.
Now, having conducted the research, I’m working to disseminate my findings, which I hope will be useful for other academics, civil society organizations and even corporations, in understanding how AI is being leveraged in the corporate anti-corruption context, as there’s very limited information on this publicly.
What's your advice for law students who are thinking about one day doing a PhD?
The research and writing aspect of the PhD is important – but it’s easy to get hyper-focused on it. Making out time to relax and do the activities you enjoy is also essential to avoid burnout. Also, Allard Law and UBC have quite a number of opportunities for networking, mentorship, and career development, and I encourage every PhD student to take advantage of them.
Dr. Tayo Olarewaju
Your research looks at the relationship between land and international criminal law. What drew you to this topic?
The project actually evolved quite a bit over time. I initially set out to examine the international responsibility regime applicable to Canadian mining corporations operating in Africa. However, through further reading and ongoing discussions with my supervisory committee, I began to see how central land was to many of these issues. That led me to shift focus toward land grabbing and its relationship with international criminal law. What drew me in was how underexplored this connection is, despite land being such a critical factor in conflict and broader patterns of harm.
I hope my research promotes a deeper understanding of international crimes and more effective accountability mechanisms.. Too often, legal frameworks focus narrowly on individual acts without fully engaging with the underlying conditions that enable atrocities in the mining sector. By highlighting the role of land grabbing, I hope to show that international criminal law has untapped potential to address a root causes and impact of atrocity.
How does it feel to have just finished your PhD?
It feels incredibly rewarding. My PhD research was such a long-term commitment that finishing it almost feels like stepping out of a different phase of life altogether. There’s a real sense of accomplishment in seeing years of research, writing, and persistence come together. At the same time, it’s also a moment of reflection—thinking about everything that went into the process, the challenges along the way, and how much I’ve grown both intellectually and personally.
Dr. David Watson
Your thesis looks at how the U.S. and the E.U. regulate the names of food and drink products. What drew you to this topic?
I have spent a significant part of my career advising on food and drink regulation. It’s an area of trade law that impacts everyone, even though we often don’t realise it in the grocery store. The product names that can be used on labels are often dictated by international trade agreements, which results in some unprincipled outcomes.
For example, following an agreement with the EU, a product may only be labelled “Feta cheese” in Canada if it is made in Greece or by a producer outside Greece that was already using the name on the Canadian market before October 2013. The US opposes these kinds of agreements to preserve market access, making it difficult for countries to appease both sides and manage their trade relationships.
My dissertation examines how countries balance competing commitments and the legal risks involved. I hope it helps governments and academics better understand these risks and how the law governing product names develops.
Why did you decide to pursue a PhD at Allard Law?
I applied to Allard Law because of the diverse expertise of its faculty. Not all law schools have expertise in international trade law, but I was fortunate to be paired with Professor Ljiljana Biuković as my supervisor. I was also very excited at the prospect of returning to Vancouver, a city I love, after having completed an international exchange program at UBC during my undergraduate studies many years ago.
