Brigitte Leal

Brigitte Leal is a Chilean legal scholar currently pursuing her PhD in Law at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Law under supervisors Professor Peter Cane and Professor Jonathan Morgan. She holds concurrent academic appointments as a law professor at Universidad de Chile (currently on leave) and has served as guest lecturer at multiple Chilean institutions including Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Universidad Diego Portales.

• PhD in Law candidate, University of Cambridge, Darwin College (2019-)
• LLM in Legal Theory, New York University School of Law, Hauser Global Scholar (2018)
• LLB, Universidad de Chile (summa cum laude, 2014)

Her research integrates environmental law, climate governance, and administrative theory with a focus on corporate liability for atmospheric damage. Her work employs comparative legal analysis between Chilean frameworks and international practices, particularly examining how tort law and regulatory systems address industrial pollution. This institutional approach reveals critical gaps in current environmental accountability mechanisms while proposing innovative remediation pathways.

Leal's publication portfolio demonstrates consistent engagement with regulatory evolution, particularly in administrative oversight systems. Her scholarship traces historical developments in inspection powers while analyzing contemporary challenges in public-private regulatory collaboration. The recurring theme across her work is the transformation of state authority in risk management contexts, with significant contributions to understanding how legal frameworks adapt to emerging environmental threats.

• Cambridge International Trust Scholarship (2019-)
• Hauser Global Program Scholarship, NYU (2017-2018)
• Constitutional Court of Chile Award for best undergraduate thesis (2014)
• House of Representatives of Chile Award for best thesis project (2013)

As convenor of the Cambridge Legal Theory Discussion Group (2021-2022) and general editor of the Cambridge International Law Journal (2019-2020), Leal actively shapes academic discourse. Her prior clerkship at Chile's Constitutional Court (2014-2017) provides practical grounding for her theoretical work. Current research examines industrial air pollution liability within Chile's climate litigation framework, positioning her at the intersection of environmental policy and legal innovation.