Stephen Alexander Smith (1958 – November 29, 2022) was a Canadian legal scholar and writer.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Toronto and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

in 1981. Thereafter, he received a law degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and then a DPhil from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

under the supervision of

Joseph Raz Joseph Raz (; he, יוסף רז; born Zaltsman; 21 March 19392 May 2022) was an Israeli legal, moral and political philosopher. He was an advocate of legal positivism and is known for his conception of perfectionist liberalism. Raz spent mos ...

Legal career

In 1989, he served as a law clerk for

Brian Dickson Robert George Brian Dickson (May 25, 1916 – October 17, 1998) was a Canadian lawyer, military officer and judge. He was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973, and subsequently appointed the 15th Chief Jus ...

when he was

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...

Academic career

As an academic, Smith focused on torts law. He was a former faculty member of

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

. He joined

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

in 1998 as an associate professor and was promoted to a full professor in 2004. In 2009, he was named a James McGill Professor in the faculty.

Awards and recognition

In February 2008, Smith received a

Killam Research Fellowship Killam is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Clements Killam (1849–1908), Canadian lawyer * Amasa Emerson Killam (1834–1922), Canadian politician * Dorothy J. Killam (1900–1965), Canadian philanthropist * Eva Ki ...

from the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

for his project "Court Orders and the Replication, Transformation and Creations of Rights". He was named New Zealand Law Foundation Distinguished Fellow of 2017 and visited all six

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

law faculties in the fall of 2017. In 2020, he was named to the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of the Social Sciences).

Personal life and death

Smith was married and had 3 children. He died on November 29, 2022, at the age of 64.

Publications

* ''Contract Theory'' (2004) * ''Atiyah's Introduction to the Law of Contract'', 6th ed (2005) * ''Rights, Wrongs, and Injustices: The Structure of Remedial Law'' (2019)

References

External links

Professor Stephen A. Smith, Faculty of Law, McGill University
1958 births 2022 deaths Canadian legal writers Canadian legal scholars Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Toronto alumni Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford McGill University Faculty of Law faculty {{Canada-law-bio-stub