Research students

Farhana Hamid-Butt – PhD Fellow

Farhana is a doctoral student in Law at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on succession law in England and Wales. In particular, she is exploring how to overcome the challenges posed to established succession law principles by blockchain technology, namely cryptoassets and smart contracts. Her research is jointly supervised by Dr Brian Sloan and Dr Emma Lees.

Prior to commencing her PhD at Cambridge, Farhana completed her LLB at the University of Warwick, where she graduated with first-class honours. She subsequently read for a Bachelor in Civil Law and an MPhil in Law at the University of Oxford. Her MPhil thesis was entitled 'Smart Contracts, A Challenge to The Law of Succession'. Farhana also interned at the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network in Singapore, where she drafted segments of the first edition of the ‘Social Investment Landscape in Asia’ report.

In addition to her research, Farhana supervises on the Land Law course at the University of Cambridge.

She can be contacted at fh399@cam.ac.uk

Emma Scott – PhD Fellow

Emma Scott is a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Cambridge, supervised by Professor Stephen Gilmore. Emma specialises in family law with a particular interest in judicial decision-making and children’s rights. Her PhD research explores the concept of Gillick competence, focusing on how Australian judges apply the Gillick test in cases of children seeking gender-affirming care.

Before commencing her PhD, Emma was a solicitor in Australia specialising in family law. She also worked as a legal associate to judges in Division 1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. In 2022, she completed her LLM at the University of Sydney, including a dissertation examining whether 'no-fault divorce' hindered victims of family violence seeking property adjustment.

Ira Chadha-Sridhar – PhD Fellow

Ira is a PhD Candidate and Cambridge International Scholar at the University of Cambridge. Ira’s broad research interests are in jurisprudence and doctrinal areas such as family law and law and medicine. Her work – on the ethics of care – explores questions at the intersections of these fields.

Before her PhD at Cambridge, Ira worked as a Lecturer in Law at O.P. Jindal Global University, India where she taught Family Law and Jurisprudence. Prior to this, Ira completed her LLM at Cambridge and a B.A.LL.B from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata, India. During the LLM, she graduated second in her year at Cambridge and was awarded a First Class in all four of her papers. She was also awarded the Law Faculty’s George Long Prize for Jurisprudence.

Ira’s PhD thesis, supervised by Dr. Lars Vinx, explores the relevance of the ‘ethics of care’ for debates in contemporary legal philosophy. Her work provides a conceptual account of caring and of duties and obligations of care. This exploration in care theory then informs the philosophical discussion on political obligation. Ira has presented her research at the Faculty of Philosophy's Political Philosophy Workshop, the Cambridge Legal Theory Discussion Group, the LSE Political Theory Graduate Workshop and two editions of the Young Scholar's Workshop at Humboldt University in Berlin. She has most recently published a paper on the role of vagueness in the law, as a feminist value.

Matt Hasler – PhD Fellow

Matt Hasler is studying for a PhD in Law (Churchill College, Open-Oxford Cambridge AHRC DTP – Churchill College Studentship), under the supervision of Professors Claire Fenton-Glynn and Matthew Kramer. His research focuses on the relationship between moral and legal obligations in family law.

Matt holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, a BPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and an LLM from the University of Cambridge. Matt’s academic prizes and scholarships include the Craig Taylor Prize (awarded by the Cambridge Faculty of Philosophy), the Wright Rogers Law Scholarship, and the George Long Prize for Jurisprudence (both awarded by the Cambridge Faculty of Law).

Before commencing the PhD Matt practised as a solicitor of England & Wales for just under six years. He specialised in divorce, financial remedies on relationship breakdown, proceedings under the Children Act, and domestic abuse proceedings under the Family Law Act 1996.

Outside of family law Matt has academic interests in jurisprudence, moral and political philosophy, law and economics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

He can be contacted on mjh213@cam.ac.uk.

Frederique Joosten – PhD Fellow

Frederique Joosten is undertaking a PhD in Law under the supervision of Dr. Claire Fenton-Glynn (John Hall PhD Studentship in Family Law). Her research focuses on reconceptualising the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child through the lens of critical feminist and queer theory. With a particular interest in LGBTQIA+ issues, she explores how to create more empowering and inclusive approaches within children’s rights. The central themes of the thesis include ‘best interests of the child’, trans health care and gender identity.

Prior to her PhD, Frederique completed the LLB at University College London. Subsequently, she attended the London School of Economics and Political Science to undertake an LLM with a specialism in international human rights law. In addition to her academic pursuits, Frederique has conducted legal work in the NGO sector (SOS Children’s Villages) and acted as a pro bono student adviser focusing on welfare benefits (UCL integrated Legal Advice Clinic).

In addition to her research, Frederique also teaches the undergraduate Family Law course at the University of Cambridge and University College London.

She can be contacted on fhmj3@cam.ac.uk.

Matt Jordan – PhD Fellow

Matt Jordan is a doctoral student in Law at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge. His research uses the sociological concept of liminality to analyse the legal and regulatory architecture governing the human body throughout the life cycle. His research is supervised by Prof. Claire Fenton-Glynn.

Prior to commencing PhD study, Matt completed a BA in Law at Downing College, University of Cambridge, before joining the Centre for Law, Medicine and Life Sciences as a Research Assistant (and later Collaborative Research Projects Co-ordinator). He then obtained an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics from the University of Edinburgh, graduating with distinction. Matt also sits on the Steering Committee of Cambridge Reproduction, a strategic research initiative at the University of Cambridge.

Matt has authored and provided editorial assistance for publications across a range of issues in family law, intellectual property law, and medical law. Select topics include international surrogacy arrangements, the formal recognition of adult relationships and legal gender, patent drafting strategy, patent landscaping in life sciences, and intellectual property issues in biobanking.

A full list of publications and presentations is available on his Faculty profile page.

He can be contacted at mrj38@cam.ac.uk.

Callum Neill – Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies

Callum is a research student studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies at Magdalene College. His research project will compare the financial remedy (divorce) regimes of England and Scotland and identify the underlying reasons for their differences. His research is jointly supervised by Dr Anna Heenan and Dr Brian Sloan.

Callum is a recently qualified solicitor and has over 3 years' experience working in family law as a paralegal and trainee solicitor. He also briefly practised as a qualified solicitor in family law before commencing his research at Cambridge. He has previously studied for LLB and LLM degrees, as well as completing the Legal Practice Course. His LLM dissertation focussed on the impact of Prest v Petrodel Resources Limited and others on the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil in family law proceedings.

Tejas Rao – PhD Fellow

Tejas Rao is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, where he is a Nehru Trust Scholar, and Research Assistant at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. He is also Manager at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law.

He holds an LLM from the University of Cambridge (as JN Tata Scholar), and a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from the Gujarat National Law University. With a cross-cutting interest across the Sustainable Development Goals, Tejas focuses on advancing targets set out therein, volunteering time as Operations Co-Lead with Project EduAccess, which aims to improve the representation in higher education of marginalized communities in South Asia. He has previously taught at SOAS, University of London, and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, and has worked with several members of the International Law Commission.

His PhD research examines narratives and the political economy of international law-making, with a specific focus on epistemic communities and international environmental law under the supervision of Dr. Markus Gehring.