Every seven years I get a year off of teaching and running the university (i.e. service) to focus exclusively on researching and writing. And so it is that as of July 2026 I am on sabbatical. This year I will be a Visiting Professor at two of the world’s great universities.
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Firstly, I will be a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University, Faculty of Law’s Institute for European and Comparative Law. During my time at Oxford I will be developing a multi-year SSHRC funded research project on comparative EU / Canada labour and employment law. The basic idea is to examine what Canada would need to do in terms of compliance with EU labour and social law were it to consider building closer ties to the EU in such a manner that compliance with EU laws were required. It’s a hypothetical, although there has been significant noise surrounding the possibility of Canada joining the EU in some capacity. In any event, a deep dive into comparative EU/Canada labour and employment law is a worthwhile exercise in its own right for reasons that comparative law is always valuable.
I am also a Visiting Professor in 2026-27 at the London School of Economics Law School. I’m very excited about returning
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to LSE, where I did graduated law studies about 25 years ago! In addition to working on the EU project, I will also be completing a book on collective labour relations and a couple of law review articles exploring comparative UK strike law and wrongful dismissal law.
So, lots on the go in an exciting year. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with my UK and European labour law friends. I will post the occasional comparative law piece on this blog as inspiration hits.
Cheers, David