Legal Theory Workshop

All workshops take place on Tuesdays in the Faculty Lounge (WB323) 11:30 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Faculty sponsors: Deborah Hellman and Rachel Bayefsky.

Workshops will explore legal issues from a philosophical perspective. Visiting philosophers, political theorists and law professors present their work for discussion in a Q&A format. The work for discussion will be distributed one week in advance allowing attendants to develop questions to ask during the workshop.

Spring 2025

Jan. 23

Michael S. Green
Civil procedure, conflict of laws, constitutional law, continental philosophy, federal courts, jurisprudence, philosophy of law, professional responsibility
William & Mary Law School

Jan. 30

Nate Adams
Social and political philosophy, philosophy of law
UVA Corcoran Department of Philosophy

Feb. 13

Aditi Bagchi
Contract law, law and philosophy
Fordham University School of Law

March 19

Adam Omar Hosein
Philosophy, politics and economics
Northeastern University

April 2

David Frydrych
Legal philosophy, trusts and property
Monash University

Fall 2024

Sept. 24
Chinmayi J. Sharma
Cybersecurity, platform liability, artificial intelligence, open source, internet governance, interoperability, computer crime
Fordham University Law

Oct. 8
Daniel Wodak
Metaethics, philosophy of law, social and political philosophy, philosophy of race and gender, philosophy of language, metaphysics
University of Pennsylvania

Oct. 29
Tess Wilkins-Ryan
Jurisprudence and philosophy
University of Pennsylvania

Nov. 12
Sherif Girgis
Criminal law, constitutional law, constitutional theory, law and religion, philosophy of law
University of Notre Dame Law

Dec. 3
Nina Varsava
Procedure, courts, judicial administration, legal ethics, jurisprudence
University of Wisconsin-Madison Law

Spring 2024

Jan. 23
Michael S. Green
Civil procedure, conflict of laws, constitutional law, continental philosophy, federal courts, jurisprudence, philosophy of law, professional responsibility 
William & Mary Law

Jan. 30
Nate Adams
Social and political philosophy, philosophy of law
UVA Corcoran Department of Philosophy

Feb. 13
Aditi Bagchi
Contract law, law and philosophy
Fordham University Law

Feb. 27
TBA

March 19
Adam Omar Hosein
Philosophy, politics and economics
Northeastern University

April 2
David Frydrych
Legal philosophy, trusts and property
Monash University

Spring 2023

Jan. 24
Erin Kelly
Moral philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of law 
Tufts University

Jan. 31
Matt Shapiro
Civil procedure, alternative dispute resolution, private law
Rutgers Law School

Feb. 14
Hillary Nye
Legal philosophy focusing on jurisprudential methodology, philosophical pragmatism, the rule of law
University of Alberta

Feb. 28
Felipe Jimenez
Private law, legal theory, comparative private law
University of Southern California Gould School of Law

March 21
Patrick Shin
Philosophical dimensions of problems in antidiscrimination law, issues regarding the meaning and value of diversity, equality and equal treatment
Suffolk University


Fall 2021

Sept. 21
Mihailis Diamantis (in person)
Corporate crime and criminal theory
Iowa College of Law

Oct. 5
Vincent Chiao (in person)
Criminal law, legal theory, public interest
Harvard Law School

Oct. 26
Elizabeth Emens (via Zoom, Purcell Reading Room)
Disability, employment discrimination, legal theory, contracts, sexuality
Columbia Law School

Nov. 9
Hrafn Asgeirsson (via Zoom, Purcell Reading Room)
Philosophy and law
University of Surrey, United Kingdom

Nov. 23
Sally Haslanger (via Zoom, Purcell Reading Room)
Philosophy, women and gender studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Spring 2021

Jan. 26
Gabe Mendlow, Michigan Law

Feb. 9
Erik Encarnacion, Texas Law

Feb. 23
Tommie Shelby, Harvard University 

March 16
Gabbrielle Johnson, Claremont McKenna College

March 30
Hrafn Asgeirsson, University of Surrey

April 13
Wendy Salkin, Stanford University


Spring 2020

Jan. 28
Seana Shiffrin, UCLA School of Law


Fall 2019

Oct. 22 
Scott Altman, USC Gould School of Law 

Nov. 5 
Michele Moody-Adams, Columbia University

Nov. 22
Melissa Schwartzberg, New York University * Location: Main Grounds, Monroe Hall, Room 118, 2-3:30 p.m.

Dec. 3
Jonathan Quong, University of Southern California


Spring 2019

Jan. 29
David Plunkett, Dartmouth (Philosophy) 
Conceptual Ethics and the Methodology of Normative Inquiry


Fall 2018

Sept. 18 
Genevieve Lakier, University of Chicago 
The First Amendment's Real Lochner Problem

Oct. 16    
Lara Buchak, UC Berkeley (Philosophy) 
Consistency

Nov. 6 
Niko Kolodny, Berkeley (Philosophy)
Official Corruption

Nov. 20 
Kim Mutcherson, Rutgers
Finding Justice in the Business of Making Babies

Dec. 4
Larissa Katz, Toronto
The Function of Equity


Spring 2018          

Jan. 23
Saba Bazargan-Forward, UC San Diego
The Identity-Enactment Account of Associative Duties

April 24
Elizabeth Brake, Arizona State
Marriage, Contract and Care: The Exploitation of Caring Labor


Fall 2017

Oct. 3  
John Oberdiek, Rutgers 
Imposing Risk and the Aims of Tort Theory        

Oct. 17
Aditi Bagchi, Fordham
Lying and Cheating, or Self-Help and Civil Disobedience?

Oct. 24
Jon Elster, Columbia
The Political Psychology of Constitution-Making

Nov. 14
Erin Beeghly, Utah
Failing to Treat Persons as Individuals

Dec. 5
Dick Fallon, Harvard
Strict Judicial Scrutiny and the Nature of Constitutional Rights


Spring 2016

Feb. 15
Brookes Brown, Clemson (Philosophy)
An Incoherent Doctrine for an Incoherent Concept

March 21
Elizabeth Barnes, UVA (Philosophy)
Bad-Difference and Mere-Difference

April 25
Frances Kamm, Harvard (Philosophy)
Torture: Rescue, Prevention and Punishment