Pitman Potter is Professor of Law and Director of Chinese Legal Studies at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, Director of UBC’s Institute of Asian Research. He is an internationally acclaimed scholar of Law in the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. His research extends to many areas of Chinese law and policy including business regulation, foreign trade and investment, contracts, property law (including intellectual property), dispute resolution, and human rights. He has published many books on PRC law and governance, including
Assessing Treaty Performance in China: Trade and Human Rights(Vancouver: UBC Press, 2014)and
The Legal System of the People’s Republic of China (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013).His new book on China’s international human rights activism is forthcoming from UBC Press. Potter has also published over one hundred articles and essays.
Professor Potter’s research has supported significant legal reform and policy advancement. In Canada, his work has supported integrated approaches to trade and human rights. The impacts of his work also spans across Asia — from food-security law and education systems in rural India to housing policies in Shanghai.
Pitmanserved as Director of UBC’s Institute of Asian Research 1999-2008, and also held the HSBC Chair in Asian Research (1999- 2016). He has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work. In 2015, Professor Potter was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2008, he received the UBC Law Faculty Alumni Association Award for Research. He received a Killam Research Award from the University in 1994, as well as the UBC Distinguished University Scholar Award and the George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Research Award in 2003.
Outside of academia, Professor Potter served as a Chinese business law consultant for Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (formerly Ladner Downs) from 1995 to 2017. He also practiced as a Chartered Arbitrator handling trade and investment disputes involving China. Professor Potter served on the Boards of Directors of several public institutions, including the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada where he is currently a Distinguished Fellow and the Canada-China Business Council where he is currently Senior Advisor. Dr. Potter is a Deacon in the Anglican Church of Canada (Diocese of New Westminster) (https://pbpotterministries.wordpress.com)
