Dr. Leah West is an Associate Professor of International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University where she teaches public international law, national security law and counterterrorism. She completed her SJD at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2020 where her research explored the application of criminal, constitutional and international law to state conduct in cyberspace. She is also the National Administrator of the Canadian National Rounds of the Phillip C Jessup International Law Moot, serves as Counsel with Friedman Mansour LLP, and was an inaugural McCain Institute National Security & Counterterrorism Fellow.

Leah is the co-author with Craig Forcese of National Security Law (Irwin Law, 2021, 2d Ed) and co-editor with Thomas Juneau and Amarnath Amarasingam of Stress Tested: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Canadian National Security (UCP, 2021). She is also the author of several peer-reviewed articles on legal issues concerning national security and cyber operations, a regular commentator on national security matters for Canadian and international media outlets, and has testified before both the House of Commons and the Senate.

Leah previously served as Counsel with the Department of Justice in the National Security Litigation and Advisory Group where she appeared before the Federal Court in designated proceedings and the Security Intelligence Review Committee. She has also argued before and been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Before being called to the Ontario Bar in 2016, Leah clerked for the Honourable Justice Mosley of the Federal Court of Canada. Prior to attending law school, Leah served in the Canadian Armed Forces for ten years as an Armoured Officer; she deployed to Afghanistan in 2010.