Maya Steinitz

Professor Maya Steinitz is a leading scholar of civil procedure, international law, and the future of the legal profession, and teaches litigation finance and the future of the legal profession at Harvard Law School and civil procedure and international law at Boston University. Her research focuses on a wide range of topics including the intersection of civil litigation and corporate law, public and business international law, transnational dispute resolution, and the global legal profession.

Her articles have been published by leading law reviews and journals published by Harvard, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Vanderbilt Law Schools and Oxford University. Her book about transnational mass tort litigation, “The Case for an International Court of Civil Justice,” was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019 and her next monograph, “Litigation Finance, Law Firm Ownership, and The Future of the Legal Profession” has been accepted for publication by Cambridge University Press.

Professor Steinitz has been interviewed and cited by scores of leading news outlets globally, including CBS 60 Minutes, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, NBC, NPR, The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune, Reuters, Bloomberg, and The American Lawyer.

Professor Steinitz’s expertise in international law and dispute resolution is further exemplified by her significant engagement with the Middle East. This includes teaching appointments at Columbia Law School, where she co-taught a course on The Legal Aspects of the Israeli – Palestinian Conflict, designed as an “impartial, dispassionate look” at the legal issues from both sides. She also taught as a Visiting Professor at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she taught courses in international dispute resolution. She was also a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration, was instrumental to the establishment of the Israeli-Palestinian ICC Jerusalem Arbitration Center (JAC) and served on its inaugural bench. Her scholarship includes an in-progress monograph on the governance of holy sites in Jerusalem. Her recent service includes service on Boston University’s working group on antisemitism.

While in private practice, she led the representation of the emerging government of Southern Sudan in drafting its national and sub-national constitutions and provided legal advice on various aspects of the Sudanese peace process, in a representation which The American Lawyer described as “one of the most ambitious international pro bono undertaking ever by a commercial law firm.”

Professor Steinitz is a seasoned arbitrator with extensive experience in both private and public law, having served in over 100 arbitrations. Her representative matters include complex multibillion-dollar commercial disputes, sensitive NATO contracting, and a maritime boundary dispute.

A sought-after expert in litigation finance and the future of law firms, Professor Steinitz regularly advises and speaks to AmLaw 100 firms, Fortune 500 corporations, institutional investors, and governments across the U.S. and internationally.

Before joining academia, Professor Steinitz served as a litigator at Latham & Watkins, LLP (2003-2009) and Flemming, Zulack & Williamson LLP (2001-2002). She also clerked for the Hon. Esther Hayut, former Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court (1998-1999).