The Legal Side of Climate Action

Learn about global climate-law justice with Ecojustice! Hear from various lawyers and professionals about the current state of climate law, current litigation cases, and challenges facing climate lawyers.

A Conversation with Dean Brunnée - International Environmental Law (ELC x ILS)

A conversation with Dean Brunnée on the topic of international environmental law. This is a collaboration event between the Environmental Law Club and the International Law Society

Hai Tran

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Land Taking Conflict in East Asian Postsocialist Countries as The Misapplication of Institutional Reform
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: phuchai.tran@mail.utoronto.ca

Hai Tran is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law. He holds a dear interest in the historical evolution of land law, and property rights in general. His doctoral thesis is the explanation of the unique and turbulent property rights compromise between socialist and free market legal norms in postsocialist East Asia. With his research, he seeks to solve the welfare question for the public regarding land redistribution and de-escalate the new ideological cold war of the 21st century. This is tied to his broader investigation of the developments of legal institutions in developing countries which are often ideologically nonconforming and self-contradicting.

Beyond his academic endeavor at the University of Toronto, he is an active member of social activism. He has been involved with the feminist HeForShe project in Japan; CPRE for the protection of the English countryside; Power For People and Repowering London to campaign for and build the capacity of community energy groups in the U.K.

Education
S.J.D University of Toronto (2023-present)
LL.M. King’s College London, United Kingdom (2021-2022)
LL.B. Nagoya University, Japan (2017-2021)
Awards and Distinctions
Best undergraduate thesis, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law (2021)
JASSO Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Student (2020-2021)
Selected Publications
Tran, Phuc Hai. “Vietnam’s Land Law Evolution” East Asia Forum, March 13, 2024. https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/03/14/vietnams-land-law-evolution/.
 
Tran, Phuc Hai. “Vietnam’s High-stakes Economic Pivot” East Asia Forum, February 12, 2025. https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/02/12/vietnams-high-stakes-economic-pivot/.
Research Interests
Civil Law
Comparative Law
Environmental Law
Law and Globalization
Legal History
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Mariana Mota Prado
Committee Members
Larissa Katz
Kerry Rittich
External links
Academia.edu

U of T Law event, March 2 & 3, delves into climate change from a legal and policy perspective

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Man in a suit holding a green leaf

How is climate change affecting the law, and the role of law in society?

On March 2 & 3, the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, aims to broaden legal and policy discussions and explore how climate change is impacting law, and the legal profession at Law in a Changing World: The Climate Crisis.

Acclaimed scholar John Borrows named The Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

John BorrowsIn January, Professor John Borrows will begin teaching a new course to all first-year U of T Law students that addresses the intersection of Indigenous Peoples’ laws with Canada's laws (photo by David Ball)

UofT Law Environmental Law Career Panel

The Environmental Law Club's Careers in Environmental Law panel is this Wednesday, Nov. 10th at 12:30pm on zoom. 

Panel includes: 

Rick Lindgren – Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) 

Jesse Baker – Osler 

Julia Croome - Ecojustice

Registration here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSec7uh6qyv9p0tt1EhL7TiV3jcurq2VgvOMGa0I-mbVqSIsqg/viewform

Steve Lorteau

Steve Lorteau
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
The Institutional Challenges of Adjudicating Climate Change Zoning
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: steve.lorteau@mail.utoronto.ca

Steve is an SJD student at the University of Toronto and a Long-Term Appointment Professor at the University of Ottawa. Steve has a bijural education with degrees in common law and civil law from the University of Ottawa. During his legal studies, Steve participated and later coached in the Jessup International Law Moot Court competition for 3 years. In 2020, Steve completed a judicial clerkship at the Federal Court under Justice Peter Pamel. Following his clerkship, Steve completed his Master of Laws (LLM) thesis at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dean Jutta Brunnée. His SJD thesis focuses the political economy of zoning reforms.

Steve's primary research interests relate to zoning law, climate litigation, wine law, and the psychology of climate change.  Steve's research on these themes has been published in Energy Policy, Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL), Journal of Wine Research, Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law and the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law. Since 2022, he has served as the Canadian reporter for Jus Vini annual chronicles.

Steve is also interested in the real-world implications of his research, having (co)authored five op-ed pieces for The Conversation Canada and served as an expert interviewee for Reuters and The Globe and Mail, among other outlets. Steve has also advised environmental non-governmental organizations and sitting politicians on matters of climate law.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys reading, playing board games, watching sports, cooking, and discovering new wines.

Education
University of Toronto, LL.M. (Long Thesis), 2021
University of Ottawa, J.D., 2019
University of Ottawa, LL.L. (Civil Law) 2018
University of Ottawa, B.Soc.Sc. (International Development), 2018
University of Ottawa, B.A. (Philosophy), 2015
Awards and Distinctions
SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-D (2021-2024)
SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS-M (2020-2021)
Robert Law Fellowship in Legal Ethics (2020-2021)
Environmental Law Essay Contest Prize, Center for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability (2019)
Me Anwar Chami Scholarship for excellence in studies in international law (2018)
Second Best Oralist, Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition (2017)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Earth System Governance Project Research Fellow
Global Perspectives on Corporate Climate Legal Tactics, International Expert Group Canada
Selected Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

· Steve Lorteau, Parker Muzzerall, Audrey-Ann Deneault, Emily Huddart Kennedy, Rhéa Rocque, Nicole Racine, & Jean-François Bureau, "Do climate concerns and worries predict energy preferences? A meta-analysis" (2024) 190 Energy Policy 114149

· Steve Lorteau, “The Potential of 'State-as-Polluter' Litigation” (2023) 1 Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law 259.

· Steve Lorteau, “Canada 2022: Place of Origin Descriptors, Amarone, and More Cowbell” (2023) Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 117.

· Steve Lorteau, “Canada 2021: Disputed Territories, Comparative Advertising, and Trademarks” (2022) 1 Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 87-102.

· Steve Lorteau, “Contractual Carbon Fees: A Proposal” (2020) 15:2 McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law 176-201.

· Steve Lorteau, “A Purposive Approach to Wine Regulation: Royal Demaria v Lieutenant Governor in Council” (2019) 2 Jus Vini: Journal of Wine & Spirits Law 231-240.

· Steve Lorteau, “La philosophie du droit systématique de l’encyclopédiste Antoine- Gaspard Boucher d’Argis [The Systematic Jurisprudence of l’Encyclopédiste Antoine-Gaspard Boucher d’Argis]” (2019) 54 Recherches sur Diderot et sur l’Encyclopédie 147-164.

· Steve Lorteau, “A Comparative Analysis of Skin-Contact Wine Definitions in Ontario and South Africa” (2018) 29:4 Journal of Wine Research 265-277.

· Steve Lorteau, “China’s South China Sea Claims as Unprecedented – Skeptical Remarks” (2018) 55 Canadian Yearbook of International Law 1-41.

Book Chapters

· Steve Lorteau & Rakhyun E Kim, “Transnational Litigation Norms” in Daniel J. Fiorino, Todd A. Eisenstadt, & Manjyot Kaur Ahluwalia, eds, Elgar Encyclopedia of Climate Policy (Cheltenham: Elgar Publishing, 2024), pp 209–212.

· Steve Lorteau, “Regulatory Controls in the Canadian Wine Sector” in Theodore Georgopoulos, ed, Administrative controls in the wine sector (Paris: Mare & Martin, 2021), pp 341-367.

Opinion Pieces

· Parker Muzzerall, Audrey-Ann Deneault, & Steve Lorteau, "Emotions may matter more than facts in shaping individual support for renewable energy, new study shows"The Conversation Canada, 20 June 2024. https://theconversation.com/emotions-may-matter-more-than-facts-in-shapi...

· Steve Lorteau, "Fossil fuel subsidies cost Canadians a lot more money than the carbon tax" The Conversation Canada, 1 April 2024. https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-subsidies-cost-canadians-a-lot-m...

· Steve Lorteau & Andrew Green,"How Canadian courts are taking on climate change" The Conversation Canada, 4 January 2024. https://theconversation.com/how-canadian-courts-are-taking-on-climate-ch...

· Steve Lorteau, Audrey-Ann Deneault, Jean-François Bureau & Nicole Racine, "Educate and Empower: The 3 Es to discuss climate change with children" The Conversation Canada, 9 July 2023. https://theconversation.com/engage-educate-and-empower-the-3-es-to-discu...

· Steve Lorteau, “For Fossil-Fuel Reliant Governments, Climate Action Should Start At Home" The Conversation Canada, 19 April 2023. https://theconversation.com/for-fossil-fuel-reliant-governments-climate-...

Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Economic Analysis of Law
Environmental Law
Feminist Analysis of Law
Intellectual Property Law
International Law
Legal Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Andrew Green
Committee Members
Larissa Katz
Kate J. Neville, Department of Political Science
External links
Twitter
SSRN
Earth System Governance Project

U of T Environmental Law Club presents: Bennett Jones Virtual Firm Tour

University of Toronto Environmental Law Club

presents

Bennett Jones LLP Virtual Firm Tour

Wednesday, March 24, 2021
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

The University of Toronto Environmental Law Club will be hosting a virtual firm tour with Bennett Jones LLP. We encourage U of T law students who are interested in learning about Bennett Jones and/or corporate-side environmental law to join!

Pages