Raul is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Legal Studies at the School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia). His teaching and research focus on judicial politics in comparative perspective, with an emphasis on Latin America. His work has been published in Law and Social Inquiry, The Journal of Politics, and edited volumes. He is currently writing a book on the politicization of courts through informal connections in developing democracies, covering Venezuela, Paraguay and Costa Rica.