Professor Andera Tosato wins SEALS 2026 Call for Papers

Andrea Tosato, Homer R. Mitchell Endowed Professor in Commercial and Insurance Law, has won the Southeastern Association of American Law Schools (SEALS) 2026 Call for Papers competition.

The winning paper, “Bankrupt Crypto Organizations,” co-authored with Professor Kara Bruce (University of North Carolina School of Law) and Professor Christopher Odinet (Texas A&M University School of Law), was honored at the SEALS 2026 Conference last week. 

“Bankrupt Crypto Organizations” is the first comprehensive study of the ramifications of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) becoming insolvent. DAOs are blockchain-based entities, governed by smart contracts rather than by traditional corporate hierarchies. Today, there are an estimated 20,000 DAOs that hold twenty billion dollars in assets, yet no one had examined how they would fare under American bankruptcy law. 

The article highlights the inherent conflict between the defining commitment of DAOs and the compulsory nature of a court-supervised bankruptcy case, imagines a blockchain-native alternative, and explains why private ordering can never fully replicate what bankruptcy law offers.

Tosato’s work strives to push the conversation about digital assets beyond regulation and toward the private law questions that will become urgent in the next market downturn.

“I am delighted that Bankrupt Crypto Organizations has received the 2026 SEALS Submission of the Year Award,” Tosato said. “It is a genuine honor to see the committee recognize a paper working at the intersection of private law and new technologies, a field I am really passionate about. I could not have asked for better collaborators than Kara Bruce and Chris Odinet, and I am grateful to SMU Dedman School of Law for its continued support.”

Tosato is a leading private law scholar with internationally recognized expertise in the intersection between commercial law and new technologies. Tosato is coming off a year full of innovative legal research and publications, including his new book “Digital Commercial Law: Private Law in the Age of Tokens, Platforms, and Automation”. 

“Professor Tosato exemplifies the high standard of faculty scholarship we have at Dedman Law,” said Jason P. Nance. “From his scholarly work to educating the next generation of lawyers, we are honored to have him at SMU.” 

“Bankrupt Crypto Organizations” is published in the 104 North Carolina Law Review 657 (2026). To learn more about Professor Tosato’s work, visit his faculty profile.