To Diss or Not To Diss | CULSCAST Conversations | Episode 4

In this episode, we explore the third year of the Cambridge Law Tripos.We discuss the full papers in Competition Law, Conflict of Laws, Intellectual Property Law, Labour Law, Company Law, and Commercial Law, as well as a range of half papers, including Animal Rights Law, Landlord and Tenant Law, and Succession. Along the way, we share general advice on choosing papers, balancing workloads, and making the most of your final year at Cambridge.Whether you're deciding which options to take or preparing for the year ahead, this episode offers an overview of the academic opportunities available in third year and practical insights to help you navigate them.Many thanks to Jaysol Doy, Brandon Lim, Vladimir Genkovski, and Lottie Chambers for sharing their insights and experiences, and to Daniel Bates for his continued support.Follow us on our socials to stay up to date with all things CULS:📸 Instagram: @cambridgelawsoc📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camlawsoc/?locale=en_GBTo find out more about CULS or to become a member, visit our website.

In this episode, we take a closer look at the Part IB year of the Cambridge Law Tripos.We explore the compulsory papers, Contract Law and Land Law, as well as the optional papers of Administrative Law, Human Rights, and International Law. We also discuss the Year Abroad, examining the opportunities it offers for academic development, cultural immersion, and broadening legal perspectives.The episode provides an overview of the content, structure, and challenges of each paper, offering insights into what students can expect from one of the most significant years of the Cambridge Law degree.Many thanks to Jack Gower, Lizzie Mann, and Corey Tatum for their insights and friendship, and to Daniel Bates for the coffees that fuelled yours truly, as well as his support and encouragement along the way.Follow us on our socials to stay up to date with all things CULS: 📸 Instagram: @cambridgelawsoc📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camlawsoc/?locale=en_GBTo find out more about CULS or to become a member, visit our website.

In this episode, we explore the challenges, expectations, and strategies involved in writing a third-year law dissertation. From choosing a research topic and developing a strong argument to managing sources, this episode looks into what it takes to do a dissertation and whether that might be right for you! A special thank you to Jaysol Doy, Brandon Lim, for their valuable contributions, insights, and to Daniel Bates for his support in making this happen.Whether you are just beginning your dissertation journey or putting the finishing touches on your final draft, this episode offers useful guidance to help you approach the process with confidence.

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Dapo Akande, Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford.A sandwich lunch for lecture attendees will be held from 12.30 pm in the Old Library on all days.Lecture 1: 1 pm Monday 8 June - 'International Law Immunities - Do we need them?'Lecture 2: 1 pm Tuesday 9 June - 'Immunities and Prosecutions for International Crimes in Foreign Domestic Courts'Lecture 3: 1 pm Wednesday 10 June - 'Immunities and International Criminal Tribunals'

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Dapo Akande, Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford.A sandwich lunch for lecture attendees will be held from 12.30 pm in the Old Library on all days.Lecture 1: 1 pm Monday 8 June - 'International Law Immunities - Do we need them?'Lecture 2: 1 pm Tuesday 9 June - 'Immunities and Prosecutions for International Crimes in Foreign Domestic Courts'Lecture 3: 1 pm Wednesday 10 June - 'Immunities and International Criminal Tribunals'

The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual three-part lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law. This year's lecture will be given by Professor Dapo Akande, Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford.A sandwich lunch for lecture attendees will be held from 12.30 pm in the Old Library on all days.Lecture 1: 1 pm Monday 8 June - 'International Law Immunities - Do we need them?'Lecture 2: 1 pm Tuesday 9 June - 'Immunities and Prosecutions for International Crimes in Foreign Domestic Courts'Lecture 3: 1 pm Wednesday 10 June - 'Immunities and International Criminal Tribunals'

In this talk, I’ll focus on multiple dimension of the global housing crisis - affordability, homelessness, loss of homes due to climate crisis, mass destruction of homes or domicide during conflict, migration and the idea of a home, the contestation over land, and the persistence of forced evictions, discrimination and increasing segregation - from an international legal perspective. Drawing on my work as UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to adequate housing, the key focus will be to ask how much international law matters to bring solutions to these aspects of the global housing crisis and how much international law itself is part of the root causes of these dimension of the housing crisis.Speaker: Balakrishnan Rajagopal is Associate Professor of Law and Development at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. He founded the Program on Human Rights and Justice at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the Displacement Research and Action Network. He is recognized as a leading participant in the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) Network of scholars and is one of its founders, and is recognized as a leading global commentator on issues concerning the global South.Prof Rajagopal is visiting the University of Cambridge this term as the Leverhulme Professor.Chair: Dr Joanna GomulaThis lecture was delivered on 22 May 2026 as part of the Centre's Friday Lunchtime Lecture series.

Speaker: Lisa P. Ramsey, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of LawProfessor Lisa P. Ramsey, Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and an expert on trademark law, will be speaking on her new book, Trademarks and Free Speech: Conflicts and Resolutions (CUP: 2026). This book explores how trademark laws can conflict with the right to freedom of expression and proposes a framework for evaluating free speech challenges to trademark registration and enforcement laws. It also explains why granting trademark rights in informational terms, political messages, widely used phrases, decorative product features, and other language and designs with substantial pre-existing communicative value can harm free expression and fair competition. Lisa Ramsey encourages governments to not register or protect broad trademark rights in these types of inherently valuable expression. She also recommends that trademark statutes explicitly allow certain informational, expressive, and decorative fair uses of another’s trademark, and proposes other speech-protective and pro-competitive reforms of trademark law for consideration by legislatures, courts, and trademark offices in the United States, Europe, and other countries.You can order a copy of the book from CUP’s website here, using the code RAMSEY25 at checkout for a 20% discount.Biography: Lisa P. Ramsey is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where she teaches and writes in the intellectual property law area. She is an expert on trademark law and has given presentations on this topic to attorneys, professors, and students throughout the United States and around the world. Professor Ramsey’s scholarship focuses on potential conflicts between trademark laws and free speech rights, and explains how trademark protection of certain inherently valuable words, symbols, and product features can harm fair competition and freedom of expression. In 2024, she testified at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Intellectual Property Subcommittee about the First Amendment implications of a proposed anti-impersonation law targeted at unauthorized digital replicas called the No FAKES Act. She has also talked about free speech limits on trademark rights on panels at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023 and 2024. Professor Ramsey is an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and worked on the subcommittee that updated the International Trademark Association’s Model Trademark Law Guidelines in 2019. Before joining the USD law faculty in 2004, she was an intellectual property litigator at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In July 2025, she was named a Women of Influence in Law 2025 Honoree by the San Diego Business Journal. Information about her publications is available on her website at www.lisapramsey.com.For more information see:https://www.cipil.law.cam.ac.uk/seminars-and-events/cipil-seminars

The Centre for European Legal Studies and the Centre for Public Law held a book launch and panel discussion on Dr Mohamed Moussa's recent monograph: Federal Impartiality: Navigating Divisive Rights in the EU and the US (Hart, 2026)Panel MembersChairProfessor Catherine Barnard (Cambridge), Chair of European LawDiscussantProfessor Mark Tushnet (Harvard), William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Emeritus

The Cambridge Pro Bono Project (CPP) hosted the annual lecture featuring Saul Lehrfreund MBE on Thursday 7th May 2026. Saul is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Death Penalty Project, an international legal action charity based at Simons Muirhead & Burton LLP in London.The Cambridge Pro Bono Project is a research centre that draws on the subject-matter expertise of graduate researchers and Faculty experts to produce reports on a wide range of public interest matters. Every year, we invite distinguished speakers to address our researchers, staff, and students at the University of Cambridge. For more information about the Cambridge Pro Bono Project, see https://www.cpp.law.cam.ac.uk/ Twitter (https://twitter.com/Cam_ProBono) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CamProBono).