Canada-United States Law Institute

Celebrating 50 Years

For 50 years, the Canada-United States Law Institute has examined the important legal and policy issues facing the Canada-United States relationship by bringing together government officials, legal scholars, experts and practitioners from both countries. The present relationship between the two countries has raised several new challenges that require explanation, analysis and creative resolutions. 

In keeping with half a century of tradition, the Canada-United States Law Institute will hold its annual conference in 2026 on "The Future of Canada-U.S. Relations." 

This 50th anniversary conference will take place at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center (formerly the Newseum), 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., on May 11 in Washington, D.C., including a reception at the Canadian Embassy next door.  Distinguished speakers include current and former ambassadors; members of Congress and Parliament; national, provincial, state, and local government officials; journalists; and subject matter experts.  

For more information, please visit the conference website.   

Mark your calendars for this important event and join us to gain critical insights on the Canada-United States relationship.

About the Institute

U.S. National Director
Stephen Petras

Canada National Director
Chios Carmody

The Canada-United States Law Institute (CUSLI) is a bi-national, non-for-profit, multidisciplinary entity that sponsors conferences, forums, research opportunities, student internships and academic competitions. CUSLI is jointly administered by Case Western Reserve University School of Law and University of Western Ontario.

CUSLI serves as a forum where the respective governments, business communities, legal professionals, academics, non-governmental organizations and the media explore and address the issues confronting the Canada-United States relationship.

CUSLI aims to:

• establish institutional and professional linkages between Canada and the United States.
• provide its members with current resources and continuing education regarding the bilateral relationship.
• afford comparative law and research opportunities to the students and faculties at member institutions, as well as the private and public bars in each country.

History

CUSLI was jointly founded in 1976 by Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the faculty at University of Western Ontario. CWRU Professor Sidney Picker Jr. (1935–2020) was instrumental in CUSLI's formation and was the institute's first U.S. national director and advisory board chair. At its inception, CUSLI was the first academic organization in either country designed to explore legal and policy issues affecting the Canada-United States relationship and examine the countries' legal structures and processes to provide comparative law opportunities for students, academics, and practitioners at the supporting institutions and beyond.

To promote this mission, CUSLI has facilitated student and faculty exchange programs, publishes the Canada-United States Law Journal, sponsors student competitions, promotes bi-lateral academic inquiry, and organizes conferences dealing with bi-national legal and policy issues.

Of particular note, CUSLI has hosted numerous prestigious academics, public servants, and private practitioners at its various conferences and events. For example, the institute's 1979 conference hosted Canadian Supreme Court Justice Brian Dickson and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart—the first time justices of the respective courts had ever participated in such a program. Other distinguished guests have included United States and Canadian ambassadors, trade representatives, congressional representatives and ministers of Parliament.

Conference Quick Links

• 49th Annual Conference: The North American Crisis - Dismantling the World Trading Order?
• Canada-United States Law Journal
• Individual and Institutional Membership
• Conference Sponsorship Opportunities

Questions? Reach out to CUSLI Managing Fellow Ted Parran or CUSLI Managing Director Steven Paille.

Executive Committee

• Dean Paul Rose, President
  Dean, School of Law
• Michael Scharf
  Associate Dean for Global Affairs and Joseph C. Hostetler - BakerHostetler Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
• Dean Andrew Botterell, President
  Dean of Law, University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law
• Peter Gordon MacKay PC QC, Co-Chair
  Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP, formerly Canadian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Minister of National Defence, and Minister of Parliament
• The Honorable James Blanchard, Co-Chair
  Partner, DLA Piper US LLP, formerly Governor of Michigan, United States Ambassador to Canada, United States Representative
• Diane Francis
  Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, Editor-at-Large, National Post
• Martha Hall Findlay
  Formerly President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, Member of Canadian Parliament
• James Graham
  Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
• Lawrence Herman
  Principal, Herman and Associates, Counsel, Cassidy Levy Kent, Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute
• Selma M. Lussenburg
  Corporate director: MAG Silver Corp (TSX/NYSE); Ontario Power Generation; Muskoka Airport. Chair Ontario Justice Sector Internal Audit Committee; Cdn. private sector member CUSMA 31.22. Former VP Safety, Security and Governance, General Counsel and Corp. Secretary, Toronto Pearson Airport.
• Richard Newcomb
  Partner, DLA Piper US LLP, formerly Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, United States Treasury Department
• Raul Rosado
  Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel North America and Europe, The Formica Group
• Christopher Sands, PhD
  Director, Canada Institute, Senior Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies