David Engel

Professor at Law, University at Buffalo School of Law, State University of New York

Regional Focus: US, Thailand
Date of Comments: Session 2, January 28, 2021

Biography:

David M. Engel’s research deals with law, culture, and society in American communities and in Thailand, where he has lived, worked, and taught for many years. He is SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and a visiting professor at the Chiang Mai University Law School. His monograph, Tort, Custom, and Karma: Globalization and Legal Consciousness in Thailand, coauthored with Jaruwan S. Engel, examines the effects of global transformations on Thailand’s legal culture. Other books and articles on Thailand, drawing on ethnographic and archival methods, address issues of law and Buddhism in changing social and cultural conditions from the late nineteenth century to the present, as well as concepts of injury and personhood.  His most recent book, The Myth of the Litigious Society: Why We Don’t Sue, offers an empirically grounded explanation for the predominance of lumping among injury victims. A former President of the Law & Society Association, Engel has received the LSA’s Kalven Prize, the Legacy Award, the Article Prize, and – with Carol J. Greenhouse and Barbara Yngvesson – the Jacob Book Award.