Levi Boor, alumnus of Erasmus School of Law, has won the Bear Impulse Thesis Award 2022 with his thesis 'Compensation for forfeited undeclared income'. Levi wrote his thesis in 2021 to complete his master's degree in Liability and Insurance. Moreover, with his thesis, he contributed to the thesis book of the Young Masters series called 'Public Private Law'. The Beer Impulse Foundation annually awards a thesis prize to encourage young talent interested in liability and personal injury law.
Public goals and interests versus private law relationships
“My thesis questions whether an accident victim can claim compensation for missing out on income from undeclared work.” Levi primarily decided to write a thesis about public goals and interests in private law relationships. His specific case raises an interesting issue that puts the interplay between public and private interests on edge. “The (private law) principle of compensation clashes here with public goals like combating undeclared work and interests like paying taxes to benefit public funds. The question then is which side should prevail.” Moreover, Levi wrote his thesis when there was much debate going on in the legal literature on the subject. “So, I thought it would be nice to give my own view”, he says.
However, Levi was unaware that he was writing a thesis that would later win an award. “When you spend months working on a thesis like this, the thought of winning an award with it is the last thing that comes to mind. I had not seen the thesis prize coming at all! I was already delighted and surprised when I heard that I was on the shortlist of the three candidates”, says Levi.
"As supervisors, we are extremely proud that Levi has won this award with his beautiful thesis.”
The jury of the Beer impuls Foundation jury was impressed by the thesis. “The thesis is well written”, they stated. In addition, according to the jury, the thesis is of “topical and practical importance”. Boor's former thesis supervisors - Koen Swinnen, Marnix Hebly and Liesbeth Enneking - also praise Levi's research. “As supervisors, we are extremely proud that Levi has won this prize with his beautiful thesis”, Enneking says. “A top achievement, especially since he wrote his thesis as part of our thesis book project as a chapter for the Public Private Law anthology - published by Boomjuridsch Publishers - and was therefore allowed only 7000 words. Levi grabbed this challenge with both hands and proves that it is possible to put down a rock-solid story in relatively few words!”
A hot topic
When asked how Levi envisions the future of both his thesis and himself, he replies: “At the moment, compensation for lost income from undeclared work is still a hot topic in the personal injury industry. The question at the centre of my thesis still engages in daily practice.” Therefore, Levi closely follows new judgements by judges or legal publications around this topic: “Secretly, anyway, also a bit in the hope that I will see my thesis reflected in them.”
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