This week, we were delighted to interview Professor Christian Twigg-Flesner, Deputy HoD and Director of Teaching and Learning, for our Warwick Law School Staff Spotlight series.

Can you provide a brief overview of your academic background and professional experience in the field of law?

I was very fortunate to be granted a studentship by the University of Sheffield to read for a PhD after completing my LL.B. there in 1997. Until then, I hadn’t given much thought to the possibility of an academic career – my plans at the time were to complete an LLM and then to qualify as a solicitor. All that changed when I embarked on my doctoral research, and the great support from my supervisor which helped me to establish many academic contracts.

Two years into my PhD, I was offered my first full-time academic post and I’ve been an academic ever since. I have worked at several UK universities over the years and climbed the academic ladder, becoming Professor at the University of Hull in 2010.

Could you describe your primary areas of research interest and expertise within the field of law? What inspired you to focus on these areas?

My primary research expertise focuses on the law relevant to transactions, i.e., Contract Law as well as relevant aspects of Commercial and Consumer Law. For much of my academic career, this has included research into European Union consumer law and the reform of UK consumer law. More recently, the pace of digitalisation has prompted me to focus on its impact on Contract and Consumer Law, in particular the prospect of AI-driven algorithmic contracts.

My interest in Consumer Law started back at School (I went to school in Germany), and was further developed by finding out about the work of the EUREGIO organisation in my then home-town. EUREGIO is a cross-border Dutch-German organisation and was pursuing all sorts of fascinating cross-border initiatives at the time, including various consumer advice initiatives.

How would you describe your teaching philosophy?

In my teaching, I seek to encourage students to develop a sense of curiosity and creativity in their studies. This is not something one can “teach”, so I try to offer a learning environment that allows for asking questions and thinking of new arguments, solutions and so on. Obviously, teaching sessions are structured and there is a module syllabus to guide what we do (and yes, the assessment, but that should be the natural culmination of engaging fully with the studies on a module), but there is always space for questions and discussions. It is important to me that students understand that studying law is not just about acquiring knowledge, but rather about developing a critical understanding of the role of law in society.

Are you currently working on any research projects or publications? Could you provide some insight not the topics and objectives of these projects?

At the moment, I’m involved in two big research projects:

The first is a UK-German collaboration funded by the AHRC and DFG and involves colleagues from the universities of Stirling, Osnabrück and Bonn. Called “From Smart Technologies to Smart Consumer Laws”, we examine what legal issues are raised by the growth of the consumer Internet of Things and the corresponding implications for the development of Consumer Law. As well as typical questions such as liability concerns, we explore novel topics such as increased personalisation or the blurring of the old distinction between goods and services. This project runs for 3 years, and we are approaching the 2-year mark.

The second project is conducted under the auspices of the European Law Institute (ELI) and involves the development of Guiding Principles and Model Rules for Algorithmic Contracts. In essence, we examine the implications of using AI-driven algorithms for automating one or more stages in the contracting lifecycle, particularly contract formation. We recently published an interim report: “EU Consumer Law and Automated Decision-Making (ADM): Is EU Consumer Law Ready for ADM?”, which has already attracted a lot of attention from legal scholars, practitioners and policy makers through Europe (not just the EU) and beyond. We plan to publish a fuller report in due course.

How can students reach out to you for academic advice or support outside of regular classes?

Like all other colleagues in the Law School, I offer weekly drop-in sessions (Advice & Feedback Hours). These are usually in-person, although I’m also happy to speak to a student on Teams during these slots. No appointment is necessary – just turn up.

Students can also email me, of course, although my current responsibilities as Deputy Head/Director for Teaching & Learning can sometimes make it difficult to respond to emails quickly.

But if you see me walking along the corridor in the Law School and you have a question, do feel free to ask me a question – unless I’m rushing to a meeting or class, I’d be more than happy to help.

Are there any university committees or initiatives that you are involved in that students should be aware of?

As Director of Teaching & Learning, I deal with various strategic and policy initiatives on all aspects of education. Often, this involves developing a School policy based on University initiatives. A current “hot topic” is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications for both what and how we teach, as well as the integrity of our assessment processes. It is important to approach AI as critically as we would approach the study of law itself, and to look beyond grand claims made at the current peak of the hype-cycle to understand the potential and limitation of what is essentially - at least at this point in time - a very impressive data analytics tool.

I have also recently joined a new working group looking into various policy issues around online assessments.

Are there any emerging legal issues or trends that you find particularly fascinating, and do you incorporate these into your teaching or research?

I have already mentioned AI a few times, as well as digitalisation – these are clearly very important issues at the present time. As well as being a key focus of my research, I include lectures and a workshop on digitalisation and AI on the new LA249 Contemporary Challenges in Contract Law module, and I am supervising dissertations at all levels (undergraduate, masters and doctoral) on aspects of digitalisation.

Another big topic right now is sustainability – a term which is really a shorthand for a wide range of concerns, including the climate emergency. Ironically, there is growing concern about the environmental impact of some digital technologies.

Beyond these two big topics, there are other legal developments which are interesting. For instance, the future of domestic Consumer Law after Brexit is anything but clear – for almost 40 years, EU law was a big driver for Consumer Law and allowed for many significant reforms of domestic consumer law. At the moment, domestic Consumer Law is lagging behind on the two big topics I just mentioned, but there is also no clarity as to what the UK’s consumer policy for the coming years might be. Right now, there’s a strange situation where legislation in the field of Consumer Law has all but taken over from the common law, but not entirely – and this creates some serious friction between two bodies of law with increasingly opposing values.

How do you stay updated on developments in the legal field?

With difficulty! I try to at least note recent relevant publications in my areas of interest, and keep an eye out for important judgments or legislative developments. Although there are various email update services available, these are not so helpful to me as they are just another email that lands in my inbox and is swamped by more important business. So I try to regularly check key journals in my field, and once in a while, I run a search on Westlaw for recent cases.

Thank you for completing our interview, Christian!