Impact and engagement

2019

• Dr Sarah Brown appeared on Channel 4’s Christmas Sales: Supershoppers Special (30 December 2019)
• Professor Surya Subedi moderated the panel ‘Challenges to the International Legal Order and Possibilities for the Future’ at the Doha Forum (14-15 December 2019)
• Professor Pinar Akman authored the Word Economic Forum White Paper Competition Policy in a Globalized, Digitalized Economy, commissioned by its Platform for Shaping the Future of Trade and Global Economic Interdependence (11 December 2019)
• Fifa Rahman co-chaired the meeting “Reinvigorating Global Health Agencies to address Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines”, Paris (9-11 December 2019)
• Professor Pinar Akman spoke on ‘Digitalization and Competition Law and Policy’ at the Istanbul Competition Forum co-organised by UNCTAD and the Turkish Competition Authority (25 November 2019)
• Comments from Professor Andrew Keay’s book ‘Director’s Duties’ (3rd ed.) were approved in the High Court judgment of Sharp v Blank [2019] EWHC 3096 (Ch) at [630] (15 November 2019)
• Dr Konstantinos Stylianou gave a personnel training seminar for the Hellenic Competition Commission on the application of competition law to cryptocurrency and blockchainmarkets (November 2019)
• Professor Gerard McCormack publishing a Briefing Paper Why ‘doing business’ with the World Bank may be bad for you (November 2019)
• Professor Pinar Akman authoring a White Paper on Competition Policy in a Globalized, Digitalized Economy for the World Economic Forum including a set of policy recommendations to inform competition policy in digital markets (July-December 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman providing competition law training to judges from the Georgian judiciary in Kakheti, Georgia, funded by a European Union aid to support the Competition Agency of Georgia (9 November 2019).
• Professor Rita de la Feria being quoted by the Financial Times Special Report ‘How we will live in 2050’ on the potential future of tax administration (5 November 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the European Data Summit 2019 organised by Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin to discuss the application of competition law in digital markets (23-25 October 2019).
• Professor Peter Whelan presenting his work to the Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Centre, Oman (14 October 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the Global Competition Review Live 2nd Annual IP, Antitrust and Innovation event on the ‘Digital platforms, data, innovation and market power’ panel (8 October 2019).
• Professor Joan Loughrey’s AHRC Research Grant being quoted in project co-investigator Professor Terry McNulty’s (University of Liverpool) letter to the Financial Times which drew comparisons between their research and the Supreme Court’s ruling of the UK Government’s proroguing of parliament in September 2019 (2 October 2019).
• Dr Suren Gomtsian contributing a blog post on the Oxford Business Law Blog on shareholder engagement by large institutional investors (29 August 2019).
• Professor Gerard McCormack contributing to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions’ (Eurofound) forthcoming white paper on ‘Debt Settlement and Debt Advisory Services’ (20 August 2019).
• Dr Suren Gomtsian’s research on shareholder engagement by large institutional investors being referred to by the Financial Times (4 August 2019).
• Dr Suren Gomtsian’s research on shareholder engagement by large institutional investors being reported by the Financial Times and the Institute of Directors (29 July 2019).
• Professor Rita de la Feria’s comments sought by the Financial Times on VAT evasion and avoidance (29 July 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking the Tenth Meeting of the UNCTAD Research Partnership Platform on competition and consumer protection policies in the digital era at the United Nations, Geneva, (10 July 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the World Economic Forum on competition policy in a globalized, digitalized economy and leading the workshop ‘Digitalization and International Economic Policy: Tax, Competition, Trade and Investment’ in Geneva (8 July 2019).
• Dr Colin Mackie undertaking consultancy and advisory work between November 2018 and January 2019 for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in relation to the implementation of the polluter-pays principle in the Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (July 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman appointed by the World Economic Forum to author a White Paper on Competition Policy in a Globalized, Digitalized Economy (July 2019).
• Professor Joan Loughrey writing in Modern Law Magazine Issue 43 on ethical risk and culture in the legal profession (28 June 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman’s interview by BBC Radio Leeds/BBC Look North on Leeds City Council practices (24 June 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking as an invited speaker at an international conference on the digital economy and economic concentration jointly organized by the Israeli Competition Authority, Tel Aviv University and Haifa University in Tel Aviv, where she spoke about online platforms and two-sided markets (11-12 June 2019).
• Professor Fiona Smith’s participation in ‘Sharing legal knowledge: Working with Parliament, Business and Farmers on Brexit’, Policy Engagement in Practice, N8 Policy Week (10 June 2019).
• Professor Fiona Smith speaking to policy advisers, Westminster MPs, Head of the Food Standards Agency, DEFRA at the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum Policy Conference: ‘Food regulation in the UK - adapting to the new regulatory framework and priorities post-Brexit’, London (4 June 2019).
• The University of Leeds Interdisciplinary Global Food and Environment Institute being internally launched where Professor Fiona Smith, the Associate Director with responsibility for university research on agrifood supply chains, spoke about the university’s research on the topic (3 June 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking as an invited speaker at the Slovak Competition Authority’s international conference on ‘Current Trends in Slovak and European Competition Law’, organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of Comenius University, in Bratislava, where she spoke on a panel concerning vertical restraints in competition law (22 May 2019).
• Professor Gerard McCormack acting as the national reporter for CERIL (Conference for European Restructuring and Insolvency Law) project on ‘Harmonisation of Transactional Avoidance Laws and Insolvency Proceedings in Europe’, launch symposium in Amsterdam (9 May 2019).
• Professor Gerard McCormack’s participation as external adviser and expert evaluator at JCOERE (Judicial co-operation for economic recovery in Europe) meetings at the University of Florence (6-7 May 2019).
• Professor Roger Halson’s monograph Liquidated Damages and Penalty Clauses being cited by the President of the New Zealand Court of Appeal in 127 Hobson Street Ltd v Honey Bees Preschool Ltd [2019] NZCA 122 and described as ‘excellent text’ (April 2019).
• Professor Joan Loughrey’s response to the Consultation on the use of non-disclosure agreements in situations of workplace harassment or discrimination, organized by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (April 2019).
• Dr Suren Gomtsian’s response to the Consultation on the Proposed Revision of the UK Stewardship Code (April 2019).
• Professor Rita de la Feria’s interview to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on the impact of the Panama Papers Leaks (March 2019), which also resulted in extensive printed media coverage worldwide. (April 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking legal ethical challenges raised by Artificial Intelligence disruption in business at the Leeds Digital Festival, on a panel organised by the collaborative platform AI Tech UK (26 April 2019).
• Dr Konstantinos Stylianou co-authoring a response to the Financial Conduct Authority's public consultation on the regulation of cryptoassets (24 April 2019).
• The Peruvian Competition Authority, Indecopi Oficial, publishing Professor Peter Whelan’s two-part keynote lecture on cartel criminalisation which was delivered at the Authority as an e-book (in Spanish) (3 April 2019).
• Professor Rita de la Feria’s various meetings and engagement with Brazilian stakeholders in the context of the ongoing Brazilian tax reform. (March 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman’s oral evidence being cited in the Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications on ‘Regulating in a digital world’ in the context of recommendations for a reformed application of competition law in digital markets (9 March 2019).
• The Angolan Parliament’s approval of the new VAT law, which Professor Rita de la Feria assisted drafting, at the direct request of the Angolan Government, and the IMF. The law is expected to inter into force on 1 October 2019. (February 2019).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the inaugural OECD Competition Open Day in Paris where she spoke on a panel on vertical restraints in e-commerce and discussed some of her recent research findings in the area of online vertical restraints and platform most-favoured-customer clauses. The Open Day was attended by over 350 delegates and the webcast of the conference was watched in 45 countries (27 February 2019).
• Dr Subhajit Basu discussing the challenges of regulating Artificial Intelligence with Risk Group (8 February 2019).
• Professor Gerard McCormack’s seminar on schemes of arrangement to the Singapore Judicial College at the Supreme Court of Singapore (23 January 2019).
• Professor Whelan providing oral evidence to the Competition Law Review Committee, which was set up by the Indian Government to review and propose amendments to its Competition Act (18 January 2019).
• Professor Gerard McCormack authored a blogpost for Harvard Law School’s Bankruptcy Roundtable on Singapore’s restructuring and insolvency laws (15 January 2019).

2018

• Professor Pinar Akman providing training to over thirty national judges from EU Member States on the topic of antitrust enforcement in digital markets, and, specifically on the role of data in defining markets for ‘free’ online services, data-related abuses and privacy concerns. The training was co-funded by the European Union and organised by the Academy of European Law in Duesseldorf (14 December 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the 17th OECD Global Forum on Competition in Paris where she presented her research on the role of ‘fairness’ in competition law to an audience of high-level competition officials from over 100 authorities and organisations worldwide (29 November 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the Swedish Competition Authority’s Annual Pros and Cons Conference in Stockholm where she discussed the law on anticompetitive rebates and the Intel case in the context of the EU prohibition of abuse of a dominant position (9 November 2018).
• Dr Paul Wragg speaking to the All-Party Parliamentary Group in the House of Lords about Parliamentary privilege and the Rule of Law. He was invited following publication of an influential article on the leading media law blog site (31 October 2018).
• Professor Peter Whelan's work on cartel criminalisation being quoted and endorsed in the New Zealand Parliament during the second reading of its Commerce (Criminalisation of Cartels) Amendment Bill (25 October 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the US Federal Trade Commission’s Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in 21st Century where she discussed issues of multi-sided platforms and exclusionary conduct such as predatory pricing, vertical restraints and most-favoured-nation clauses (17 October 2018).
• Professor Joan Loughrey speaking about her research on compliance in law firms as an invited panel member at Law Society of England and Wales Risk and Compliance Autumn Conference 2018 (13 September 2018).
• Professor Rita de la Feria speaking at a press conference in Angola, following her 9 days visit to the country to assist the tax authorities with drafting the new Angolan VAT law (30 July 2018).
• Dr Konstantinos Stylianou speaking at a press conference to members of the international media on the European Commission’s decision in the Google Android case (18 July 2018).
• Joint evidence by Dr Joanne Hawkins, Prof Mike Bradshaw, Dr Matthew Cotton, Dr Darrick Evanson cited by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee in their inquiry on planning guidance and fracking (HC 767, 5 July 2018) at para 87.
• Professor Graham Dutfield authoring a policy paper for the Switzerland-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development on “Sustainable development Goal 2.5: Ending Hunger and Malnutrition: How policies affecting trade and markets can help maintain genetic diversity” (July 2018).
• Professor Whelan's arguments cited and responded to in the Departmental Report of the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, which was submitted to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee of the New Zealand Parliament. The Departmental Report can be found here (27 June 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman giving evidence to the House of Lords on competition and internet regulation (26 June 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman speaking at the OECD Competition Committee Meeting on the implications of e-commerce for competition policy (6 June 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman providing training to judges from EU Member States on online pricing restraints and competition law (5 June 2018).
• Professor Andrew Keay’s work being cited by the English Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal approved and applied passages in Keay, McPherson and Keay’s Law of Company Liquidation (4th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, 2017) in JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov [2018] EWCA Civ 1176, [2019] BCC 96 at [14] (May 2018).
• Professor Andrew Keay’s work being referred to by the Scotland’s Court of Session. The Court of Session (Outer House) referred to and accepted comments in Keay, ‘Directors’ duties and creditors’ interests’ (2014) 130 LQR 443 in Caley Oils Ltd v Alexander [2018] CSOH 42 at [53] (April 2018).
• Professor Rita de la Feria giving oral evidence to the European Parliament at the hearing on the European Commission's proposals for a definitive VAT regime (24 April 2018).
• Professor Andrew Keay speaking to legal practitioners and judges at the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association conference held at the LSE about the Harmonisation of Transactional Avoidance in the EU (20 April 2018).
• Professor Peter Whelan delivering a keynote address on his research at the Peruvian competition authority (INDECOPI) in Lima, Peru (6 April 2018).
• Professor Peter Whelan delivering guest lectures on his research at both the National Economic Prosecutor's Office of Chile and the Competition Tribunal of Chile in Santiago, Chile (2 April 2018). 
• Dr Konstantinos Stylianou's co-authored study on human rights and online terms of service being cited in United Nations Human Rights Council report and Council of Europe report (April 2018).
• Professor Peter Whelan participating in a roundtable discussion at the Supreme Court of Latvia with the Chief Justice of Latvia and a number of senior judges which focused on his research on cartel enforcement (23 March 2018).
• Professor Pinar Akman debating live at an Intelligence Squared debate on the motion ‘Break up the Tech Giants’ in London (17 January 2018) which was later broadcast by BBC World to a global audience of 70 million (2018).
• Professors Gerard McCormack, Andrew Keay, and Sarah Brown delivering research commissioned by the European Commission on the need for the new 2019 European Directive on business restructuring, insolvency and debt discharge. The research has been used by the European Commission as a framework of analysis for determining whether general insolvency law reforms should be applied to the sphere of bank insolvency, and by the European Central Bank in pressing for reform on insolvency and restructuring law (2018).

2017

• Dr Paul Wragg designing and writing standards code and accompanying guidance as a member of the code committee of IMPRESS, the UK’s only recognised press regulator. This code is used by press members and the public in complaints about ethical breaches (2017).
• Dr Colin Mackie being a member of a project team led by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (Irish EPA) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which, between December 2015 and December 2017 developed guidance documents for operators and regulators on the issue of financial provision (e.g. insurance, bonds and guarantees) for environmental liabilities (2017).
• Professor Andrew Keay's work Keay and McPherson Company Liquidation (Sweet and Maxwell, 2017, 4th ed) has been cited in numerous cases, including the UK Supreme Court in English Court of Appeal in Akers v Samba Financial Group [2017] UKSC 6, the English Court of Appeal in JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov [2018] EWCA Civ 1176, the Supreme Court of New Zealand in David Browne Contractors Ltd v Petterson [2017] NZSC 116, the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Finnigan v Ellis [2017] NZCA 488 the High Court of England and Wales in both Smile Stylist Ltd v Harte Solutions Ltd [2017] EWHC 2971 (Ch) and Hussein v Haus of Vanity Ltd [2017] EWHC 2615 (Ch) and the Western Australian Court of Appeal in Frigger v Kitay [2017] WASCA 139 (2017).
• Professor Graham Dutfield being appointed to the Expert Working Group on Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources, at the Canada-based think tank Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) (2017).
• Professor Peter Whelan having his book on cartel criminalisation relied upon and cited in a judgment rendered by the Competition Tribunal of Chile: Judgment No. 160/2017 (28 December 2017).
• Professor Rita de la Feria writing an op-ed to the Guardian on how to tax multinationals (13 December 2017).
• Professor Rita de la Feria working with BBC Panorama and the Guardian on the Paradise Paper leaks (6 November 2017).
• Professor Pinar Akman giving evidence to the House of Lords on Brexit and competition (12 October 2017).
• Professor Peter Whelan presenting his research at both the Annual Conference (Porto, Portugal) and the Annual Cartel Workshop (Ottawa, Canada) of the International Competition Network (10 May 2017 and 6 October 2017). 
• Professor Peter Whelan delivering a keynote address on his research at the Kenyan Competition Authority in Nairobi, Kenya (29 September 2017). 
• Professor Joan Loughrey speaking about her research on the role of compliance officers in law firms as an invited discussant at Clyde and Co Annual Compliance Officer Conference, London (attended by Compliance personnel of top 50 London law firms) (16 May 2017).
• Dr Joanne Hawkins speaking to the North West Agricultural Society about the legal implications of shale gas exploration for landowners (4 May 2017).
• Professor Andrew Keay’s work on enlightened shareholder value and derivative actions cited by the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report in relation to its inquiry into Corporate Governance (third session of 2016-17, HC 702) (April 2017).
  Professor Duncan Sheehan organising a conference in conjunction with the Secured Transactions Law Reform Project with academic and practitioner speakers, and representatives from BEIS and the Law Commission (6 January 2017).

2016

• Professor Duncan Sheehan submitting a response to the Law Commission’s consultation paper on Bills of Sale on behalf of the Chancery Bar Association, which was cited in agreement in the Law Commission Bills of Sale Consultation Responses – Analysis (2016) and in subsequent report Bills of Sale (Law Comm no 369 2016).
• Professor Duncan Sheehan responding to the consultation on the 13th programme of law reform for the Law Commission (2016).
• Professor Andrew Keay speaking to EC officers, legal and insolvency practitioners and officers of governments of Member States at the European Commission’s conference "Convergence of Insolvency Frameworks within the European Union – the Way Forward" in Brussels about Avoidance Actions in EU Insolvencies (12 July 2016).
• Dr Joanne Hawkins speaking to members of Medact (an NGO which campaigns for global health on issues related to conflict, poverty and the environment) on health and fracking (10 June 2016).
• Dr Joanne Hawkins speaking to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors on her article outlining legal and regulatory issues relating to fracking (28 April 2016).
• Professor Duncan Sheehan participating in a meeting of the Secured Transactions Code Advisory Group of the City of London Law Society (5 January 2016).  
• Professors Gerard McCormack, Andrew Keay, and Sarah Brown co-authoring major report on Restructuring, Second Chance, Over-indebtedness and Insolvency, which heavily influences European Commission's proposal for a Directive on preventive restructuring frameworks, second chance and measures to increase the  efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures (January 2016).
• Professor Peter Whelan having his work on hub-and-spoke cartels quoted in a reply  submitted to the Competition Tribunal of Chile by counsel for Walmart Chile in the case Requerimiento de la Fiscalía Nacional Económica en contra de Cencosud S.A. y otras, Rol C-304-2016 (2016).