Biography
Dr. Powell is the Fr. Topel, SJ Endowed Scholar, Professor of Law, and SJD Program Director at Seattle University School of Law. His main areas of research are law and religion (with particular interests in Catholic social thought and Islamic legal theory) and corporate law. His most recent scholarship has explored comparative constitutionalism, originalism, secularism, and ethical corporate governance. He has served as the Chair of both the AALS Section on Islamic Law and the Islamic Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. He was formerly the Chair of the Conference on Catholic Legal Thought. Dr. Powell was a corporate associate at Coudert Brothers and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department. He has graduate degrees in philosophy, law, and Near Eastern studies. He reads and speaks a number of languages including Arabic, Turkish and Farsi.
Publications
- Framing Religious Constitutionalism
Work in Progress
- The Relevance of Catholic Social Thought for Law
Fortchoming in the Seattle J. of Soc. Just. (2025)
- A Case For Sectarian Education
__ J. of Muslim Philanthropy & Civ. Soc. ___ ( 2025 Forthcoming)
- Fallout and Fiduciary Duty
21 UC Law Bus. J. 55 (2024)
- Religious Originalism
69 Wayne L. Rev. 311 (2024);
- Islamic Constitutionalism in Comparative Perspective
38 Arab Law Quarterly 430 (2024)
- A Reflection on “Spirit of the Corporation”
45 Seattle University Law Review 291 (2022)
- The Cambridge Handbook on Investor Protections, chapter on “Investor Protection in Muslim Countries” Cambridge University Press (2022).
- Religious Parties and the Politics of Civil Liberties by Vineeta Yadav, 64 J. of Church and State 510 (2022).
- Spirit of the Corporation, 44 Seattle University Law Review 371 (2021).
- Social Justice and Islamic Jurisprudence, 17 Seattle J. of Soc. Just. 1 (2019).
- The Politics of Secularism: Religion, Diversity, and Institutional Change in France and Turkey by Murat Akan 60 J. of Church and State 736 (2018).
- Laudato Si: Engaging Islamic Tradition and Implications for Legal Thought, 40 Seattle U. L. Rev. 1293 (2017).
- SHARIʿA IN THE SECULAR STATE: Evolving Perceptions of Law and Religion in Turkey (Routledge 2016).
- Does Shariʿa Play a Role in Turkey? 41 PEPPERDINE LAW REVIEW 1101 (2014).
- Comparative Insights Regarding Religion and Democracy in a Muslim Context. DEMOCRACY, CULTURE, AND CATHOLICISM: INTERNATIONAL VOICES, GLOBAL INTERPRETATIONS (Fordham University Press 2015).
- The Possible Advantages of Islamic Financial Jurisprudence: An Empirical Study of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index. 19 FORDHAM JOURNAL OF CORPORATE & FINANCIAL LAW 393 (2014).
- Evolving Views of Islamic Law in Turkey. 28 JOURNAL OF LAW AND RELIGION 467 (2013).
- Shari'a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World. Ed. Robert W. Hefner. 28 JOURNAL OF LAW AND RELIGION 287 (2013).
- Islamic Law and Civil Code: The Law of Property in Egypt by Richard A. Debs. 132 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY 335 (2012).
- Fethullah Gülen. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAMIC LAW (2012).
- Forgiveness in Islamic Ethics and Jurisprudence. 4 BERKELEY J. OF MID. EAST. & ISLAMIC L. 17 (2011).
- The Study of Secularism and Religion in the Constitution and Contemporary Politics Of Turkey: The Rise Of Interdisciplinarity and the Decline of Methodology? 7 ST. THOMAS LAW J. 714 (2010).
- Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey by M. Hakan Yavuz. 33 POL. & LEG. ANTHRO. REV. 396 (2010).
- Forgiveness in Islamic Jurisprudence and Its Role in Intercommunal Relations. ISLAMIC LAW & LAW OF THE MUSLIM WORLD EJOURNAL (2010).
- Zakat: Drawing Insights for Legal Theory and Economic Policy from Islamic Jurisprudence, 7 PITTSBURGH TAX REV. 43 (2010).
- Book Review: FAITH & LAW: HOW RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS FROM CALVINISM TO ISLAM VIEW AMERICAN LAW. Edited by Robert F. Cochran, Jr., THEOLOGICAL STUDIES (2009).
- Theology in Public Reason and Legal Discourse: A Case for the Preferential Option for the Poor, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 15 wlj 327 (2009).
- Catharine MacKinnon May Not Be Enough: Legal Change and Religion in Catholic and Sunni Jurisprudence, 8 Geo. J. Gender & L. 1 (2007).
- The Enron Trial Drama: A New Case for Stakeholder Theory, 38 U. Tol. L. Rev. 1087 (2007).
- Toward Reconciliation in the Middle East: A Framework for Christian-Muslim Dialogue Using Natural Law Tradition, 2 Loy. Int'l L. Rev. 1 (2005).
- Beyond Lane: Who is Protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Who Should Be?, 82 Denv. U.L. Rev. 25 (2004).
