Summaiya Zaidi

Summaiya Zaidi photo
Supervisor

Dissertation Title

Legal Education in Pakistan: Traditions and Transitions

Dissertation Topic

The dissertation explores the practice-focus approach of legal education in Pakistan by studying the intervention of the Supreme Court of Pakistan through judgment dated August 31, 2018. The research methodology situates itself within the intersections of law, history, and sociology to understand the colonial context of legal education in Pakistan. The research design includes archival work, legislative and case law reviews, focus groups, and interviews.

Education

2012: LLM - School of Oriental & African Studies

2009: BA/LLB - Lahore University of Management Sciences

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - LA&PS, York University (2019-2022)

Teaching Assistant, Law and Society - LA&PS, York University (2017-2018)

Course Instructor, Legal Systems and Methods - L’ecole Advanced Studies in Law, Karachi (2015-2017)

Course Instructor, Administrative Law - Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education in Law, Karachi (2016-2017)

Course Instructor, Commercial Law - Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi (2014-2015)

Course Instructor, Constitutional Law (US and UK) -Hamdard University, School of Law, Karachi (2010-2011)

Professional Experience

Research Assistant - LA&PS, York University (2018-2020)

Research Assistant - LA&PS, York University (2019)

Awards
  • Sidney Peck Scholarship Award, Osgoode Hall Law School (2020)
  • Vivien Poy Asian Research Award, YCAR (2020)
  • MITACs Research Award (2020)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019)
  • Hon. William Z Estey Teaching Fellowship in Legal Research and Writing, Osgoode Hall Law School( 2019)
  • Recipient of Harry W. Arthurs Fellowship Grant, Osgoode Hall Law School (2017, 2018)
Presentation
  • “A Privileged Practice: A Study of the Legal Profession in Pakistan”, (Paper Presentation at the Asian Legal History Conference, July 2021)
  • “The First Women Judges in the Superior Judiciary in Pakistan” (Panel Presentation in the CRN22 at the Law & Society Association, May 2021)
  • “Legal Education in Pakistan” (Paper Presentation at the 39th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society, December 2020)
  • “Colonial Structures and Continuing Hierarchies in Pakistani Legal Education” (Paper Presentation at the Law & Society: Graduate Students & Early Career Workshop, Denver USA, May 2020)
  • “Legal Education in Pakistan: A Purely Practitioners’ Perspective?” (Paper Presentation at the South Asia Legal Studies Workshop, Madison Wisconsin USA, October 2019)
  • “Women-in-Law: Gender Biases and Resistance in Pakistani Courts” (Paper Presentation at the Law & Society Association, Washington DC USA, May 2019)