Norman Stephan Kinsella (; born 1965) is an American

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

, author, and

deontological In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: + ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, ...

anarcho-capitalist Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enfo ...

. His legal works have been published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, Oceana Publications,

Mises Institute Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). I ...

Quid Pro Books
and others.

Education

Born in

Prairieville, Louisiana Prairieville is a census-designated place in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is south of Baton Rouge and north of Gonzales. Prairieville is an expanding bedroom suburb of Baton Rouge. Its name is derived from the once plentiful ...

, he attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 n ...

where he earned

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

(BS) and

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

(MS) degrees in electrical engineering, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

(JD) from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center (formerly known as LSU Law Center). He also obtained an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

Career

Kinsella was general counsel of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., of

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...

from 2000 to 2012 and is currently in private practice in Houston, Texas. He was formerly an adjunct scholar of the

Ludwig von Mises Institute Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). It ...

, a

right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

think-tank for the promotion of

Rothbardian Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...

political thought and the

Austrian School The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian scho ...

of economics, where he was Book Review Editor for the ''

Journal of Libertarian Studies Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). It wa ...

'' and a faculty member of the Mises Academy. Kinsella also founded the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF) of which he currently is the Director. In May 2022 he was elected to the Libertarian Party Judicial Committee, but was subsequently disqualified due to being two months short of the 4 year Libertarian Party membership requirement to hold the office. As of August 2022, he is eligible and it's believed that he'll be appointed by the LP Judicial Committee to fill the vacancy caused by his ineligible run in May 2022.

Publications

Kinsella's legal publications include books and articles about

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

law,

contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to t ...

, e-commerce law,

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, and other topics.

Views

Kinsella is a strong opponent of

, arguing that patents and copyrights should not form part of a proper libertarian law code. He is a proponent of

Hans-Hermann Hoppe Hans-Hermann Hoppe (; ; born 2 September 1949) is a German-American economist of the Austrian School, philosopher and political theorist. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Senior Fellow of ...

's theory on

argumentation ethics Hans-Hermann Hoppe (; ; born 2 September 1949) is a German-American economist of the Austrian School, philosopher and political theorist. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Senior Fellow of t ...

. He is an atheist, having previously been a devout Catholic.

Books

*
International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner's Guide
', Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2020) (with Noah D. Rubins and Thomas N. Papanastasiou) *
Louisiana Civil Law Dictionary
' (Quid Pro Books, 2011) (with Gregory Rome) *
Law in a Libertarian World: Legal Foundations of a Free Society
' (Papinian Press, 2021) * ''Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk''. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications. 1997. . (with Paul E. Comeaux) * ''Online Contract Formation''. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications. 2004. . . (with Andrew F. Simpson) *
Against Intellectual Property
'. Ludwig von Mises Institute. 2008. . * . (with Teresa C. Tucker, co-editor)

Articles

by Ilana Mercer, Stephan Kinsella, and James DeLong (''

Insight on the News ''Insight on the News'' (also called ''Insight'') was an American conservative print and online news magazine. It was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate founded by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Mo ...

'', 21 May 2001)
''Against Intellectual Property''
(

, Spring 2001) olume 15, no. 2, p. 1–53

References

External links

KinsellaLaw
Kinsella's legal website
StephanKinsella.com
Kinsella's libertarian website

from

LewRockwell.com Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant. A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit dedicated to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Stephan 1965 births Living people American anarcho-capitalists American atheists American legal scholars American libertarians American male bloggers American bloggers Intellectual property activism Libertarian theorists Louisiana lawyers Louisiana State University alumni Mises Institute people American patent attorneys People from Prairieville, Louisiana Philosophers of law Texas lawyers