Graduate Students
Lindsay Borrows
PhD Candidate
borrows@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- Indigenous law
- Legal methods
Research Focus
Borrows’ thesis focuses on the ways in which Indigenous peoples’ own legal traditions provide sophisticated processes, principles and patterns of decision-making and dispute resolution, and on how colonization has systematically weakened the transmission and operation of these important laws. Her work examines different methods for how Indigenous legal traditions can be revitalized and applied in contemporary contexts.
Awards and Achievements
- Appointed assistant professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law
- Recipient of a Law Society of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship
Prince Ogunlana
LLM Candidate
Research Interests
- Artificial-Intelligence regulation
- Artificial-Intelligence Africa
- Artificial-Intelligence policy
Research Focus
Ogunlana’s research examines the legal frameworks for addressing artificial-intelligence-based tort feasance in Africa. It entails a functional comparative study of the treatment of the phenomenon in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Awards and Achievements
- Recipient of the Foote Graduate Award in Law
- Recipient of the Honourable ND McDermid Graduate Scholarship in Law
Victor Olusegun
LLM Candidate
volusegu@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- Insolvency
- Corporate restructuring
Research Focus
Olusegun’s thesis seeks to examine the current framework of the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and its effectiveness in restructuring financially distressed entities. It will also involve a comparative study between the restructuring framework in the CCAA and Administration in the United Kingdom.
Awards and Achievements
- Recipient of the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Graduate Excellence Scholarship
- Recipient of the Honourable ND McDermid Graduate Scholarship in Law
Casey Caines
LLM Candidate
ccaines@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- Indigenous Law
- Legal Methods
- Aboriginal Law
Research Focus
Caines' thesis examines the role of family representation systems as a catalyst for revitalizing Indigenous governance and fostering community cohesion. It also addresses how navigating the intersection of governance and kinship may play a strong role in the ongoing renewal of Canada’s multijuridical legal landscape and assist in moving forward in reconciliation in the Canadian legal system.
Awards and Achievements
- Foote Graduate Award in Law
- ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Graduate Excellence Scholarship
Lamia Farzin Ima
LLM Candidate
lamiafar@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- International Human Rights Law
- International Business Transactions
- International Trade and Investment Law
Research Focus
Farzin Ima’s research interests focus on how international human rights mechanisms protect the basic rights of undocumented individuals and how effectively international law aligns with domestic law. She will examine the existing loopholes in these laws and propose recommendations for improvement.
Awards and Achievements
- Honourable ND McDermid Graduate Scholarship in Law
- ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Graduate Excellence Scholarship
- Licensed Lawyer at District and Session Judge Court, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Jacob Schweda
PhD Student
schweda@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- Labour and Employment Law
- Constitutional Law
- Law and Political Economy
- Administrative Law
Research Focus
Schweda's research examines occupational mental injuries and how they are compensated. His work scrutinizes how the law facilitates and protects unsafe workplaces and what legal tools improve safety and justice in the workplace. He is particularly interested in critical legal approaches to workplace law.
Awards and Achievements
- ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Graduate Recruitment Scholarship
- ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Graduate Excellence Scholarship
- Honourable N.D. McDermid Graduate Scholarship
Hero Laird
LLM Candidate (they/them)
hslaird@ualberta.ca
Legal Counsel, Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge (on leave)
Research Interests
- Indigenous law
- Love
- Community-led research methods
- Access to justice
Research Focus
With reform of the legal system in mind, I ask: what might love as a legal principle teach us about renewing the multiple related legal orders in Canada, of both Indigenous and European roots? What if attention to under-explored legal principles like love can play a role in addressing the damaging impact of implicit bias and other ‘whole human’ decision-making that inevitably influences legal decision-making? To answer this question I consider love as a legal principle in Nehiyaw (Cree), Anishinaabe and European-influenced Canadian law.
Awards and Achievements
- The Law Society of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ - Viscount Bennett Scholarship
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (SSHRC) Graduate Scholarship
- Foote Graduate Award in Law
- Walter H John’s Graduate Fellowship
- ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Recruitment Scholarship
Rachel Weary
PhD Candidate
weary@ualberta.ca
Research Interests
- Debtor-creditor law
- Guarantees law
- Feminism and the law
- Pseudolaw in the commercial context
Research Focus
My research is primarily concerned with debtor-creditor law and guarantees law, with a focus on consumer issues. I am particularly interested in the intersection of debt with social marginalisation, including such issues as relationship debt and financial abuse. I am also concerned with the issue of OPCA litigants and the phenomenon of “pseudolaw” in the commercial context.
Awards and Achievements
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (SSHRC)
- Viscount Bennett Scholarship (Law Society of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥)
- Horace Harvey Medal in Law & Mr. Justice W.G. Morrow Memorial Prize (Highest Standing in Graduating Class)