Mr John Armour has been named as the first holder of this innovative chair in law and finance, following a generous donation from international law firm Lovells. Mr Armour, who is currently a University Senior Lecturer in Law and Fellow of Trinity Hall at Cambridge University, will be the Lovells Professor of Law and Finance. He takes up his new appointment at the University of Oxford in July, and will become a Fellow of Oriel College.
John Armour studied law (MA, BCL) at the University of Oxford before completing his LLM at Yale Law School and taking up his first post at the University of Nottingham. He has held visiting posts at various institutions including Pennsylvania Law School, the University of Bologna, and Columbia Law School. He has published widely in the fields of company law, corporate finance, and corporate insolvency. His main research interest lies in the integration of legal and economic analysis, with particular emphasis on the impact on the real economy of changes in the law governing insolvency and company law. He has been involved in policy-related projects commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Financial Services Authority, and the Insolvency Service.
Financial law is already the most popular area among research students in Oxford, and in the BCL and MJur, Britain’s leading taught graduate degrees in law. The new Chair will lead the Law Faculty in a venture with the Economics department and the Saїd Business School to create a new MSc in Law, Finance and Economics. He will also contribute to the faculty’s courses in company law, corporate finance, and insolvency.
This Chair marries one of the world’s leading business law firms with a top-ranked institution for the study of law. Oxford University’s Law Faculty has the top 5* rating in the 1996 and 2001 Research Assessments conducted by HEFCE, with members including many of the world’s leading legal scholars.
Speaking on his new appointment, Mr Armour said: ‘Interdisciplinary scholarship focusing on theories and evidence about how the law actually functions in relation to finance is of the utmost importance. Globalisation makes it more important than ever to be able to assess critically legal techniques for governing financial transactions drawn from many different legal systems. The Lovells Professorship, which is the first such appointment by a UK law school, signals Oxford's commitment to remaining at the forefront internationally in research and teaching in corporate and financial law.’
Mr David Hudd, Head of Lovells finance practice, said: ‘There is a natural link between our work at Lovells and the creation of this new Chair and course. A significant number of trainees each year join Lovells from Oxford University, and we recognise the importance of supporting institutions like Oxford to ensure high quality candidates continue to come through. This is an exciting venture for Lovells and Oxford.’
Professor Timothy Endicott, Chair of the Law Faculty Board, said: ‘We are delighted with this election. We aim to make Oxford a leading centre for teaching and research in 21st-century corporate, financial, and commercial law. John Armour’s arrival will be a vital step in a wide-ranging enhancement of the University’s strength in these areas. Lovells has been far-sighted in taking a leading role in that development, by funding the creation of this exciting new Chair. We look forward to working with Professor Armour to bring new intellectual energy to his vital field of work.’
For more information about the Oxford University law faculty, go to:www.law.ox.ac.uk