91Ö±²¥

This is the second in a new public lecture series, Trinity Minds on Hot Topics, designed to spark meaningful conversations on timely issues while showcasing experts within the Trinity Community.

Thursday, March 5, 2026
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
91Ö±²¥ – Seeley Hall

PANELISTS:

Ljiljana Stanic ’10
Ljiljana is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, where her practice focuses on complex commercial and shareholder disputes, including securities litigation, fraud, and fiduciary and trust-related matters. She also advises domestic and international clients on international trade, sanctions, and export control compliance and enforcement.

Michael A. Smith ’87
Michael is a partner at Broadfield Law in New York, where his practice focuses on capital markets, cross-border M&A, fund formation, and Islamic finance. He advises private equity firms, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and natural resource companies on complex international transactions across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Amb. Dr. Namira Negm, leading expert
Amb. Dr. Namira Negm is a leading international law scholar and diplomat whose career has been dedicated to strengthening multilateral legal institutions. She is the first Director of the African Migration Observatory and Honorary President of the African Society for International Law. More details can be found .

Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, leading expert
Olabisi D. Akinkugbe is the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law and Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. A scholar of public international law and international economic law, his research examines issues at the intersection of human rights, law and development, international courts, and regional economic integration in Africa and the Global South. More details can be found .

Margaret E. (Peggy) McGuiness, leading expert
Professor McGuinness researches and teaches in the areas of international law and international human rights law, and she has published widely on the subjects of international human rights law, international security and the resolution of armed conflict, and the role and influence of international law in the United States. Her current research examines U.S. diplomacy and its influence on international human rights governance. More details can be found .

MODERATOR:

David Hughes
David Hughes teaches in the Ethics, Society & Law program at 91Ö±²¥, University of Toronto and in the first-year program at Osgoode Hall Law School. From 2022 to 2024, he was an Assistant Professor at the Canadian Forces College. Before that, he was the Trebek Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa. He holds a PhD from Osgoode Hall Law School, during which time he spent two years at the University of Michigan Law School as a Grotius Research Fellow. David has written about various topics and themes relating to international law, which have appeared in several leading journals.

Registration is required to enjoy this free event.