Upcoming Events
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Litigating Corporate Purpose: Climate Change & the Courts 12:00pm 2/13
Litigating Corporate Purpose: Climate Change & the Courts
Thursday, February 13th, 2025
12:00 PM - 01:15 PM
Abstract
Registrants will receive a copy of the paper prior to the event.
Since the advent of corporate personhood, there has been a debate about whether the corporation’s underlying purpose is to maximize shareholder wealth or, otherwise, to make decisions for the betterment of, among others, its employees, customers, and the environment. This paper analyses the role that courts—particularly in common law jurisdictions—can play to fashion a more expansive corporate purpose that extends beyond the traditional notion of shareholder wealth maximization. The first in a series of papers that will consider various topics around ‘litigating corporate purpose’, this paper zeroes in on climate change and how courts are not just a possible avenue to affirm a more socially-conscious corporate purpose, but a necessary one given the continued absence of meaningful legislation or multilateral treaty-based efforts to curtail corporate climate impacts.
Focusing on Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and recent Dutch litigation against Shell, this paper advocates for ‘judicial climate governance’, which is the ability for courts to lay the grooves for future corporate behaviour in a way that will mitigate and even reverse climate impacts. Judicial decisions cannot per se alter corporate purpose from a shareholder maximization model to a broader stakeholder model. But, judicial decisions can require corporations to compensate stakeholders for harm incurred from climate-related impacts. Such decisions can, in turn, cajole corporations to promulgate more climate-friendly policies with the knowledge that inordinate greenhouse gas emissions may result in extensive—and even debilitating—compensatory awards from the courts.About the Speaker
Hassan M. Ahmad is an Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School where he researches and teaches on topics related to corporate governance, business and human rights, transnational law, tort law, international law and climate change litigation. He also served as a full-time Replacement Professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law (Common Law Section). He holds an SJD from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, an LLM from the University of California, Berkeley, and a JD from Osgoode Hall. Prior to entering academia, Professor Ahmad worked at the International Criminal Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and as a private practice civil and class actions litigator in Toronto.Professor Ahmad’s research has been recognized by a number of prestigious scholarly organizations, including the American Society of International Law and the American Society of Comparative Law. He is the co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Litigating Business and Human Rights Violations: Themes, Perspectives, and Prospects (Cambridge, University Press, forthcoming). His work has also appeared in leading Canadian and foreign journals such as the American Journal of International Law, The American Journal of Comparative Law, Berkeley Journal of International Law, UBC Law Review, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Queen’s Law Journal, and Transnational Legal Theory, among several others. He has also published several book chapters in edited volumes. At the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Professor Ahmad won teaching awards for in-person and online teaching as well as for his mentorship of JD and graduate students.
Discussant
Comments for this workshop will be facilitated by our discussant, Professor Aaron Dhir (UConn School of Law).
Sponsors
This event is co-sponsored by the Business & Human Rights Initiative (BHRI), a partnership founded by Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the UConn School of Business, and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Contact Information:
Alex Branzell, Events & Communications Coordinator, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut
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Dialogue in the Classroom for Instructors: Strategies for Building Engagement and Empathy (Virtual) 10:00am 2/14
Dialogue in the Classroom for Instructors: Strategies for Building Engagement and Empathy (Virtual)
Friday, February 14th, 2025
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Structured dialogues increase student engagement and foster inclusive learning environments. By incorporating dialogic modalities into the classroom, students can learn to communicate across difference and navigate challenging conversations, while engaging deeply with course content. In this collaborative workshop, participants will:
- Gain firsthand experience by participating in a structured dialogue
- Learn to build the foundation for a successful dialogue in diverse classroom contexts
- Explore a wide range of models and share ideas
This event is hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative, a program of Dodd Human Rights Impact in collaboration with Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
This workshop is primarily forInstructors in the Classroom.
Contact Information:
Saah Agyemang Badu, Graduate Assistant
Democracy & Dialogues Initiative, Gladstein Family Human Rights InstituteMore -
Encounters: 100% Democracy - The Case for Universal Voting 10:00am 2/15
Encounters: 100% Democracy - The Case for Universal Voting
Saturday, February 15th, 2025
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Connecticut’s Old State House
When it comes to voting, the United States lags behind other democracies, with barely over half of all eligible voters participating in most major elections. The 2024 presidential election saw around 64% of voter turnout, and smaller local elections saw even lower numbers. Meanwhile, twenty-six countries around the world require all eligible voters to participate in elections by law. Australia, for instance, has required citizens to cast a ballot since 1924 and had over 90% voter turnout in their last major election. Some advocates around the United States are calling for ’100% Democracy’, or universal voting.
This is an election process where every eligible citizen has the right to vote and full opportunities to do so—but also the duty to vote, a requirement to participate in our national choices. If Americans must pay taxes and serve on juries, why not require every eligible American to vote as well? Could this be the next step in our great democratic experiment? How would universal voting work in our country? And what would be the results? Join us for an informed and collaborative exploration of these critical and fascinating questions!
Encounters programs dive deep into subjects through facilitated, small-group dialogues followed by a question-and-answer style conversation with University faculty and community partners. Resources are provided beforehand to encourage informed and informal dialogue. The aim is to develop a forum for respectful and challenging dialogue. Coffee and lunch will be provided.
This event is sponsored by Connecticut’s Old State House and UConn’s Democracy and Dialogues Initiative
Contact Information:
Saah Agyemang Badu, Graduate Assistant
Democracy & Dialogues Initiative, Gladstein Family Human Rights InstituteMore
Contact Us
E-mail: | hrtssymposium@gmail.com |
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