S.J.D. Candidate
asingh at sjd.law.harvard.edu
Dissertation
Innovation in the List of Torts
My research investigates two interrelated issues concerning the philosophical foundations of tort law. First, how should tort law respond to calls for innovation in the list of torts? When—if ever—should courts create new torts? Second, and more abstractly, what is the relationship between the private wrongs that the law calls “torts” and interpersonal moral wrongs? Put differently, why isn’t the list of torts just identical to the list of interpersonal wrongs?
These two questions are, of course, related. Calls for innovation in the list of existing torts are often couched in highly moralized language about giving a plaintiff an adequate remedy. Such calls are thus made in the shadow of philosophical theories (or at least strong moral intuitions) about interpersonal moral wrongdoing and whether the law adequately remedies such wrongdoing. From a philosophical point of view, it is remarkable that tort law articulates a seemingly self-contained normative system of interpersonal wrongdoing. The puzzle, then, is how this system relates to morality writ large. My S.J.D. dissertation aims to develop theoretically and doctrinally satisfying answers to these questions by drawing on the resources of contractualist moral and political philosophy.
Fields of Research and Supervisors
- Private Law Theory with Professor Henry Smith, Harvard Law School, Principal Faculty Supervisor
- Tort Law & Political Philosophy with Dean John C. P. Goldberg, Harvard Law School
- Property Law & Social Justice with Professor Molly Brady, Harvard Law School
- Philosophical Foundations of Private Law with Professor Daniel Markovits, Yale Law School
Additional Research Interests
- Philosophy of Law
- Aboriginal & Indigenous Law
- Constitutional Law
Education
- Harvard Law School, S.J.D. Candidate, August 2025 – Present
- Yale Law School, LL.M. 2025
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law, J.D. 2021
- University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies, M.A. (Philosophy), 2018
- Trinity College, University of Toronto, B.A. Hons. (Philosophy), 2017
Academic Appointments and Fellowships
- Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Adjunct Professor
- Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Adjunct Professor
- University of Toronto Department of Philosophy, Adjunct Professor
Representative Publications
- ‘Declarations of Invalidity and the Metaphysics of Judicial Review’ (2025) 58:1 University of British Columbia Law Review 207-258. “Highly Recommended” on Prof. Lawrence Solum’s Legal Theory Blog.
- ‘Aboriginal Title and Equity’s Darling’ in Gerard Kennedy, Kristopher Kinsinger, and Malcolm Lavoie, eds, Private Rights and the Rule of Law (2024) 4 Supreme Court Law Review (3d) 223-259.
- ‘The Highest Suggestion in the Land: Obiter Dicta and the Modern Supreme Court of Canada’ (2024) 61:1 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 9-62.
- ‘Litigating Intentional Discrimination’ in Sophia Moreau and Cheryl Milne, eds, Litigating Equality (2024) 114 Supreme Court Law Review (2d) 309-331.
- ‘Republic of Fiji v Prasad: Revolutionary Legality and the Taxonomy of Legal Change’ (2022) 22:2 Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 117-149.
- ‘The Body as Me and Mine: The Case for Property Rights in (Attached) Body Parts’ (2021) 66:3 McGill Law Journal 565-601.
- ‘Why is Aboriginal Title Property if it Looks Like Sovereignty?’ (2021) 34:2 Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 417-460. Co-authored with Douglas Sanderson
Additional Information
- Languages: English, Punjabi
- Personal website: amitpalcsingh.com
- SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=3539409
- Twitter: https://x.com/amitpalcsingh
Last Updated: June 17, 2025