The Queen’s Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace (CLCW) continues to grow, with the appointment of an expert on labour law and competitiveness in North America and Europe.

Samuel Dahan is an adjunct faculty member at Cornell University, affiliated with Harvard Law’s Program on Negotiation, and a Référendaire at the Court of Justice of the European Union. He will be joining Queen’s Law in July 2017.

“Professor Dahan’s appointment will bring added strength to the centre and enhance our teaching and research capacity in the areas of mediation and arbitration, monetary and financial law, and international economic negotiations,” says Dean Bill Flanagan.

Working with the CLCW, Dahan aims to develop a mediation and arbitration clinic and a software platform for negotiation analysis. These initiatives are aimed at improving the lawyering and dispute resolution skills of participants.

Kevin Banks (Law), CLCW director, describes the appointment as one that will complement the expertise of Queen’s researchers already associated with the centre.

“Professor Dahan is very well-positioned to make a unique, timely and important contribution, advancing the research leadership and expertise of the CLCW while forging connections with universities and institutions such as the European Commission,” he says.

A Queen’s National Scholar, Dahan holds a PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge, graduate degrees from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne and the University of Brussels, and an LLB from the University of Nice. In 2015-2016, he was an Emile Noël Fellow at the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice at NYU Law. He has been an advisor to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Financial Affairs, has consulted for the European Commission, the OECD, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and private corporations, and clerked for the Conseil d’Etat (French Administrative Supreme Court). In addition, he has taught law and negotiation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cornell Law School, the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), ESSEC Business School and Ecole Normale Supérieure.

Dahan will not only add to the Queen’s Law’s capacity to deliver first-rate teaching in core labour and employment law subjects and courses in comparative labour and employment law. Additionally, Dahan will provide experience in negotiation and alternative dispute resolution – a field that is “more vital than ever to the practice of labour and employment law,” Professor Banks claims.

“Queen’s felt like a perfect fit for me right away for several reasons. I had heard of the law school’s reputation before my visit and I was immediately impressed with both the faculty and the students,” Dahan explains. “My discussions with members of the Queen’s faculty felt very natural, as if I were already at home, and the CLCW is a perfect base from which to undertake cutting-edge research in labour law, financial regulation and alternative dispute resolution.”