Maya Steinitz

Biography

Professor Maya Steinitz teaches civil procedure, international arbitration, international business transactions and corporations. Her research focuses on a wide range of topics including the intersection of civil litigation and corporate law, public and business international law, transnational dispute resolution, and the global legal profession. She is one of the nation’s leading experts on litigation finance. 

Her articles have been published by leading law reviews and law journals published by Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Vanderbilt Law School, Oxford University, and others. She has recently published a book about cross-border mass tort litigation titled “The Case for an International Court of Civil Justice” (Cambridge University Press 2019) and her next monograph, “Litigation Finance, Law Firm Ownership & The Future of the Legal Profession” has been accepted for publication by Cambridge University Press. She has recently been elected as a Member of the American Law Institute and testified before the Congressional House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Prior to joining Boston University Law School, Professor Steinitz held a dual appointment as an Associate-in-Law and Lecturer at Columbia Law School, where she taught a course on The Legal Aspects of the Israeli – Palestinian Conflict, and served as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to joining academia, Professor Steinitz served as a litigator at Latham & Watkins, LLP (2003-2009) and Flemming, Zulack & Williamson LLP (2001-2002). She also clerked for the Hon. Esther Hayut, currently the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court (1998-1999). 

While in private practice, Professor Steinitz led the representation of the emerging government of Southern Sudan in drafting its national and sub-national constitutions and provided legal advice on various aspects of the Sudanese peace process in what The Deal described as “one of the most ambitious international pro bono undertaking ever by a commercial law firm.” 

Today, Professor Steinitz remains active in international dispute resolution. She regularly serves as an arbitrator, expert, and counsel in international and domestic arbitrations and has served as a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and on the inaugural bench of the Israeli-Palestinian ICC Jerusalem Arbitration Center (JAC). She has also served as an expert witness and consultant to law firms, litigation finance firms, NGOs, and the United Nations on matters including litigation finance, international arbitration, and transitional justice. 

Professor Steinitz has been interviewed and cited by scores of leading news outlets globally, including CBS 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, NBC, NPR, The Atlantic, The Chicago Tribune, Reuters, Bloomberg, and the American Lawyer. 

Professor Steinitz’s publications are available on Social Science Research Network.