College Position

Vice-Master and Director of Studies in Law 

University Position

Professor, Faculty of Law

University Department

Law

Subject

Law

Research Interests

Contract and Tort, particularly remedies and professional negligence

You were the first in your family to go to university. Tell us a few other headlines about your early life. 

I was born in Romford, Essex, the eldest of three daughters, in a very loving family. I attended state school and then went on to study law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. My sisters and I were very academic, which surprised my parents — my father left school at 15, and my mother at 16! 

You knew you wanted to be a lawyer long before you came to university – how did this come about? 

Two things influenced me. I used to come home for lunch while at primary school, and watched a courtroom drama on ITV called Crown Court. It had a scripted trial but a real public jury, and I found it captivating. I was also a voracious reader and loved detective stories, also solving lateral thinking puzzles. So I made my decision at a very young age and, somewhat unusually, never wavered from it. 

Your academic career in law wasn’t so straightforward, though. How did you become an academic? 

As a undergraduate I did very well academically, and in the Big Bang era City law firms were very proactive in recruitment. In 1989 I joined Slaughter and May: it is an outstanding law firm and I learned a huge amount about how the law operates in a transactional context, but life in the City wasn’t for me and I missed academic law. I applied for a college teaching officer post at Selwyn almost exactly 30 years ago, where I was interviewed by a daunting but welcoming panel, including Sir David Harrison, Michael Tilby and John Spencer. To my great pleasure, I was offered the job, went on to gain a university lectureship in the Law Faculty two years later, and have been here ever since. I took my PhD in 2010 by an unusual route too — by virtue of published work, pursuant to the university’s Special Regulations. 

And last year you became a Professor. What’s keeping you busy these days? 

I’m very interested in the intersection between the law of contract and the law of tort, both of which are core subjects that all undergraduates have to study, and which I thoroughly enjoy lecturing. I publish research in these fields, and am proud that my textbook on the Law of Contract is now in its 11th edition. Teaching students, however, is really where my heart is. I love interacting with young minds, helping them blossom and ward off imposter syndrome. I think it helps them to know that I struggled with it as a student — and to this day, really! 

You’re passionate about how the law affects people too. What should our readers know about your current projects? 

Last year, I gave a public lecture on the common law’s inadequate response to gambling addiction and suicide; the relevant precedent is out of date, as it pre-dates both the Gambling Act and the arrival of internet and mobile gambling. Much of my time at the moment is taken up with the forthcoming mastership election, which I chair as Vice-Master, but I recently gave a lecture to the Commercial Court and am organising a symposium on an important milestone in the law of contract in the autumn. 

Music is another important aspect of your life. What do you do in your free time? 

When I was a student at Corpus, I was a choral exhibitioner — one day I’ll find the time to rejoin a really good chamber choir. Meanwhile, I’m proud that in 2020 I set up Selwyn Voices, a choir open to the whole Selwyn community, which performs a concert once a term. Students, fellows and staff are on a wholly equal footing, and it is such a fabulous source of well-being. Outside college, I love the company of my three wonderful children. My eldest has just submitted his PhD in Cambridge, my youngest has just finished her finals at Oxford, and in between is my very special daughter Amy who has Down syndrome. As a family we love attending musicals and plays at the theatre, cooking and relaxing together (jigsaws have become popular, since the pandemic!)

As you celebrate 30 years at Selwyn, what’s your favourite thing about the college? 

Somehow Selwyn manages to be academically outstanding, but also friendly, welcoming and truly collegiate, a fellowship without cliques or divisions. So after 30 years, it’s still an extraordinary place to work.