I write in private law (primarily contract), jurisprudence, and constitutional theory. My work maps the interaction between informal social norms and legal rules, revealing how private ordering and public authority continually reshape each other.

My research interests are shaped by my personal experience. I have lived through a lot of social change. Some of it found me; much of it I sought out. I was raised through South Africa’s constitutional transition, and decided to immigrate to the United States in my twenties. I’ve lived in five countries and four U.S. states, and studied or taught in five law schools across three continents.

These experiences made me curious about how informal social norms show up in legal doctrine. I am interested in asking, for instance, how longstanding practice under a contract might modify its terms; how social context shapes the scope of risk that parties can voluntarily assume; and how evolving social practices shape constitutional meaning. I am especially interested in the doctrinal puzzles that arise when one agent creates or modifies legal rules that another must then interpret and apply at a later time. My research explores how the doctrines governing this process distribute power across time. This allows me to place otherwise disparate areas of law in conversation about the interaction between the informal social ordering and legal regulation.

Before I joined Texas Law, I spent time at Michigan Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, and NYU School of Law.

I was a Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School, where I taught Contracts and a seminar on social justice and contract law.

At Chicago Law School, I was the Law & Philosophy Fellow and a Lecturer in Law, where I co-taught the Law & Philosophy Workshop with Brian Leiter. In the past, I have also taught courses in jurisprudence, introductory economics, and South African private law.

I hold Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M) degrees in Legal Theory from NYU School of Law. My dissertation, supervised by Jeremy Waldron with David Dyzenhaus and Liam Murphy serving on my committee, examined the jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart. Portions of that work have been published in Law & Philosophy, Res Publica, and the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence and Oregon Law Review. While at NYU I taught and assisted in courses on contracts and jurisprudence and co-authored a book chapter on constitutional continuity with David Dyzenhaus.

My earlier legal education and teaching experience were in South Africa. I hold a Bachelors degree in economics, a graduate law degree, and an LL.M. in contract law from the University of Stellenbosch. I also completed a program in European Legal Studies at the University of Antwerp.

Along the way, I served on a grantmaking collective in Colorado, worked as an au pair in the Netherlands, briefly attempted professional dog-walking, and discovered the perfect chocolate cake recipe.