I gained an LLB (Hons) from Exeter University in 1982 and hold the dual-qualifications of solicitor and barrister, having been called to the Bar in 1985 and admitted as a Solicitor in 1989; in 1994 I was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Indirect Taxation. I am currently an academic and do not practice in any of these capacities. In 2004, I was awarded a PhD for an inter-disciplinary thesis on The Early Development of Company Law in England and Wales: Values and Efficiency. I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2007. I am an Associate Professor in Bournemouth University’s Business School.

I speak and publish on company law and corporate governance. Journals in which I have published include Accountancy, the Company Lawyer, the International Company and Commercial Law Review, the Journal of Banking Regulation, the Journal of Corporate Law Studies and the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics. I have led research projects on corporate governance issues for the Top Pay Research Group and the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. In 2009 I received a Seldon Award for Excellence in respect of The Legal Foundations of Free Markets (2008).

I have been a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Legal Scholars and of its Research Sub-Committee. I am a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Disclosure and Governance and have been a Consulting Editor (Company Law) for the Journal of ADR, Mediation and Negotiation. I am currently a patron and academic advisor to the Cambridge University Transforming Business project; other roles have included membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Consultative Panel for its Reporting with Integrity project and membership of the Relational Finance Group.