Dr. Michael Coyle

Biography

Michael Coyle is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, Western University, where he has been a faculty member since 2000. He holds an LLB from Western University (1982) and an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School (1998). A member of the Bar in Ontario, Coyle's primary research interests focus on Indigenous rights and dispute resolution theory. He has contributed to significant inquiries, including being commissioned to write a background research paper for the Ipperwash Inquiry on Aboriginal land claims and treaty rights in Ontario. In 2005, he collaborated with a group of academics to receive a five-year SSHRC grant to examine the negotiation of Indigenous governance. In 2008, he was named a MacCormick Fellow at the University of Edinburgh Law School. His research has led to multiple SSHRC grants aimed at investigating legal paradigms governing the implementation of historical treaties and revitalizing Indigenous legal orders in Canada. Coyle has published extensively on topics related to treaties, settlement issues in Indigenous rights claims, and legal pluralism. He has co-edited notable works and authored critical articles in various law reviews, contributing significantly to the discourse on Indigenous legal matters.

Research Interests