Professor Christian Twigg-Flesner has been appointed as Chair of International Commercial Law at Warwick Law School, starting 1^st September 2017.

Joining for the launch year of Warwick’s newest LLM, Professor Twigg-Flesner will have oversight of the strategic development of the Law School’s postgraduate programme in International Commercial Law.

“I am excited about joining Warwick and taking up this position,” Christian said. “International Commercial Law is a fascinating area of law to study, not least because it touches so many different legal systems and requires one to develop a global approach to law.”

The last 7 years saw Christian as Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Hull (UK), having previously been a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader. Familiar with directive and strategic responsibilities, he was also Head of Hull University’s Law School in 2012-2014, where he pushed forward a major review of the School’s undergraduate curriculum.

Before joining Hull, he worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and lecturer at the University of Sheffield, and also as lecturer at Nottingham Trent University (1999-2002). He read law at the University of Sheffield, where he also studied for a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (2000) and his PhD (2002).

Christian said: “I came to study law by accident. My initial plans were to study history but my older sister suggested I consider a law degree instead, and I’ve never looked back.

“Law is a subject which develops analytical and problem-solving skills and requires one to adapt constantly to changing circumstances.”

His PhD was in Consumer Law, the area he then focused his research career on after completing his doctorate.

“Consumer Law affects everyone – we are all consumers, and this was one area of law I was interested in even before I started my studies.

“It is also a subject with strong European, comparative and international dimensions, which soon brought me into contact with scholars from around the European Union”.

Christian’s expertise as a Consumer Lawyer led to his involvement in European research networks, exposing him more to the field of European Contract Law, which soon became a second major strand of his research activities. He is now widely acknowledged as a leading scholar on both EU Consumer and Contract Law.

Christian discovered an appetite for Commercial Law as an undergraduate at Sheffield, where he was taught by the late Professor Robert Bradgate and Warwick’s own Fiona Smith. Today, his research focuses on two key areas: the impact of the digital economy on commercial and consumer law, and the process of harmonisation of international commercial law.

Recent papers include the contract law aspects of 3D printing and the extent to which the disruptive effect of new business models in the digital economy has disrupted current law.

Christian is also working on a longer-term project on the concept of harmonisation in the context of both European Consumer & Contract Law and Transnational Commercial Law.

Head of Warwick Law School, Professor Roger Leng said: “Christian will strengthen our Commercial Law team, providing leadership for our new LLM and will introduce our students to his pioneering research through his new module in “International Commerce in a Digital Economy.”

In his spare time, Christian and his husband Paul like to travel and explore new museums, dine out, or just relax in front of the TV. Christian also enjoys playing the guitar. “Although I’ve pretty much given up hopes for a career as a stadium rocker, I still like to pick up one of my guitars – although usually only when no-one is around. But who knows…”

“For me, this is a great time to be joining Warwick, which is the perfect Law School for my research and teaching interests,” concluded Christian. I have known several colleagues from Warwick for many years, and hope to settle in quickly.

“I am already looking forward to welcoming the first International Commercial Law LLM cohort in October.”