My primary, current research focus is on the justiciability of socio-economic rights, an interest that grew out of my comparative work on socio-economic entitlements in South Africa and the US. Under the aegis of Northeastern's Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, I plan to convene a group of judges and activist-academics from the US, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Ireland and other countries where I am developing contacts to explore global developments in this burgeoning field.

My ongoing work on the impact of immigration flows on social welfare systems continues, with particular emphasis on developments in the European Union and North America.

It was difficult to pick just one case as my "most interesting." I was a litigator for 17 years before joining the full-time faculty at Northeastern, practicing in both the First and Seventh Circuits. The one I settled on involves another Northeastern faculty member, Peter Enrich. In 1981, the Massachusetts legislature failed to enact the state budget by July 1, the onset of the fiscal year. As a result, the Mass. Department of Public Welfare stopped sending AFDC benefits to all welfare recipients in the commonwealth. For most of the recipients and their families, this meager source of income was their only means of subsistence. Peter was then a law student interning at Mass. Law Reform Institute, where I was practicing. In three week's time, the two of us and another MLRI attorney: 1) filed a complaint and motion for a temporary restraining order in federal district court, 2) briefed and argued the TRO motion which was denied by Judge Tauro, 3) appealed to the First Circuit, which ruled that it had jurisdiction over the case because the denial below of the TRO was effectively a denial of a preliminary injunction, and 4) briefed and argued the case before the First Circuit which granted plaintiffs a preliminary injunction, the relief sought. Coalition for Basic Human Needs v. King, 654 F.2d 838 (1st Cir. 1981). The court ruled that the supremacy of the federal statute requiring timely payment of welfare benefits trumped the state appropriation process. The state moved for a stay of the injunction pending appeal to the Supreme Court. We were preparing briefs and argument before Circuit Justice Brennan when the Legislature belatedly enacted the budget, mooting the case.

International Poverty Law: An Emerging Discourse (Zed Press, 2006) (edited collection).

"Issues and Challenges in Addressing Poverty and Legal Rights: A Comparative United States/South African Analysis," 21 s 436 (2005).

"Law and Poverty," The Polyscopic Landscape of Poverty Research (Research Council of Norway, 2005).

"Poor Women's Work Experiences: Gaps in the 'Work-Family' Discussion," in Joanne Conaghan & Kerry Rittich, eds., Labour Law, Work and Family: Critical and Comparative Perspectives , Oxford University Press, 2005.

Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard. Fugard, a South African, is one of the world's greatest dramatists. Tsotsi is a novel he wrote during the apartheid era but did not publish until very recently. The novel follows a week in the life of a teenage gang leader living in Soweto. The book captures the violence and pain of this period, but ultimately it is an incredibly heart-breaking story of dignity and humanity. A movie film version of Tsotsi won awards in 2005. I recommend it highly, but be advised that the film version makes significant changes in the story, including transposing it into present-day, post-apartheid South Africa.

I'm a movie fanatic. I love gardening (both flowers and vegetables). Finally, there is nothing as relaxing as reading a book in my front porch swing.

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