Profile
I went to school in the Rhineland in Germany. Following National Service, I studied Law, Philosophy, and Latin at the universities of Cologne, Hamburg, and Edinburgh. I am a fully qualified German lawyer, and practiced mostly in private law. I obtained my doctorate from the University of Bonn with a thesis on European competition law, and my habilitation from the University of Munich with a thesis on comparative Anglo-German personal property law. I also graduated LLM from the University of Edinburgh, and was conferred an MA by the University of Oxford. I held posts in Oxford (1997-2003); Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich (2003-2008); and York (2008-2013). I returned to Oxford in 2013.
College teaching
At Lincoln, I teach ‘A Roman Introduction to Private Law’. This first-year undergraduate course focuses on the private law of the Roman Empire, but also serves as a platform for comparing English, French, and German law. These are the most widespread legal systems around the world, and in different ways they all relate to Roman law. In the first year of the degree programme, I also teach English contract law. In the third year, I teach British company law, as well as the law of the European Union. At postgraduate level, I am involved in the teaching of European and of comparative courses.
- Research
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My research focuses on the law of the internal market of the European Union, especially on the free movement of goods (including the customs union and taxation), the freedom to provide services, and the freedom of establishment for companies. Besides these, I have done extensive research in comparative Anglo-German law of intangibles, that is, membership rights (shares in companies, and membership in partnerships), book debts (especially those arising from commercial contracts), and intellectual property rights (primarily considered as items of property). I also write on competition law.
- Select publications
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'Stranded: "German" Ltds Post-Brexit – The Private Company Limited by Shares – a European Success Story', in Fabian Amtenbrink, Gareth Davies, Dimitry Kochenov, Justin Lindeboom (eds), The Internal Market and the Future of European Integration. Essays in Honour of Laurence W. Gormley, Cambridge University Press 2019, 619–636.
'Horizontality: The Application of the Four Freedoms to Restrictions Imposed by Private Parties', in Koutrakos/Snell (eds): Research Handbook on the Law of the EU’s Internal Market, Cheltenham 2017, 54–81.
Übertragung und Belastung unkörperlicher Gegenstände im deutschen und englischen Privatrecht, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, xxi + 709 pp.
Always at Your Service (Within Limits): The ECJ’s Case Law on Article 56 TFEU, 2006–11, (2011) 36 EL Rev. 615–650.
The Awkward Selling of a Good Idea, or a Traditionalist Interpretation of Keck, (2003) 22 Yearbook of European Law 249–322.
Positions
- Berrow Foundation Professor of Law
- Professor of European and Comparative Law
- Associate Fellow for Alumni Relations
- Data Protection Officer
Contact Details
- 01865 279782