Graham Virgo | |
---|---|
Born | Graham John Virgo 8 June 1966 |
Occupation(s) | Professor of English Private Law and Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge [1] |
Spouse | The Rev Dr Carolyn John-Baptist Hammond [2] [3] |
Children | 2 |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Lawyer |
Sub-discipline | Law of restitution,unjust enrichment,law of mistake |
Institutions | Downing College,Cambridge |
Main interests | Law of restitution,Law of contract,Equity,trusts,criminal law |
Notable works | The Principles of the Law of Restitution,The Principles of Equity and Trusts,Equity &Trusts:Cases and Materials |
Website | University of Cambridge |
Graham John Virgo KC (Hon) (born 8 June 1966) is an English legal academic,barrister and university administrator,who is Professor of English Private Law at the University of Cambridge and Master of Downing College,Cambridge. [4] [1] He is frequently cited in the English courts and those of other common law jurisdictions,and known for his contributions to the law of restitution and the teaching of law. [5] He was previously Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge and assumed the role of Master of Downing College,Cambridge,on 1 October 2023. [6] [7]
Virgo completed his secondary education at John Cleveland College (now The Hinckley School),a comprehensive school in Hinckley,Leicestershire. [8] [9] In 1983,he applied to read law at Downing College,Cambridge,where he was interviewed by Charles Harpum,John Hopkins,and David Lloyd Jones. [9] Later,Hopkins suggested that Virgo consider Coward Chance (which in 1987 merged with Clifford Turner to form Clifford Chance) as a firm to work for. [9]
Virgo graduated from Cambridge in 1987 with first-class honours. The following year,he graduated at the top of his class from Christ Church,Oxford with a first-class honours BCL degree,and winning the Vinerian Scholarship. Upon graduation,Virgo decided on a career at the Bar,but while at Bar school,he received a letter from Hopkins suggesting that he return to Downing College to teach,which he accepted.
In 2003,Virgo was promoted to Reader in Law. [10] In 2007,he was appointed to a personal Professorship of English Private Law at the University of Cambridge. [11] [12] In 2008,he was elected an Academic Bencher at Lincoln's Inn. In 2012,he was appointed Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Law,University of Cambridge. [13] He stepped down from this role in 2014. [14]
Virgo's research interests are in criminal law,restitution,the law of contract,equity and trusts. [15] He described the decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in Bank of Cyprus UK Ltd v Menelaou as "the worst decision in the history of the Supreme Court,betraying such ignorance of the law and legal principle and such confusion about the nature of judging", [16] prompting Lord Neuberger,who had delivered the leading judgment,to lament the article as "over-the top" in his retirement lecture at Oxford. [17] In 2009,he delivered a paper at the Law Society of England and Wales titled The Law of Unjust Enrichment in the House of Lords:Judging the Judges. [18]
Virgo is credited with contributions to the growing law of restitution in the United Kingdom. In 2014,he was the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Law Fellow at the University of Melbourne law school. [14] Virgo was the New Zealand Law Foundation's Distinguished Visiting Fellow in 2016,during which he gave lectures at various universities including the University of Auckland,University of Canterbury,University of Otago and University of Waikato. [19] In 2017,he was appointed Queen's counsel (honoris causa) in recognition of his work in restitution. [5] In 2019,he was the Jones Day Visiting Professor in Commercial Law at Singapore Management University. [20] [21] His work has been frequently cited in the English courts,including in the Supreme Court,and has shaped the direction of the law of unjust enrichment,mistake,and other related areas of restitution. [22]
Virgo has described his teaching and pastoral style as being influenced by his former Tutor,John Hopkins. [9] In particular,he describes having learnt how to interview,supervise,and develop a genuine fondness for his students from him. In 2002,he was awarded the Pilkington Prize from the University of Cambridge in recognition of outstanding teaching in Law. On 1 April 2003,he was appointed Senior Tutor of Downing College, [23] a role which gave him responsibility over both educational matters and the overall well-being of the students at the College. He stayed in this role until 2013. [23] When he stepped down as Senior Tutor,he described the students of Downing College as having made his time as Senior Tutor "the happiest of [his] life". [23] In 2004,he was appointed Director of Studies for Law at Downing College. [14] He stepped down as Director of Studies in 2014. [14]
In 2013,Virgo engaged in a debate with Lord Sumption at the University of Cambridge on the topic "Those Who Wish to Practise Law Should Not Study Law at University",arguing against the motion. [24] That year,Virgo was also a finalist for both the OUP Law Teacher of the Year and the LawCareers.net Law Teacher of the Year Award. [25] In 2017,when he was appointed Queen's counsel (honoris causa),the announcement celebrated his "significant contribution to the teaching of law." [5]
On 30 November 2022 Downing College announced that Virgo would succeed Alan Bookbinder as Master of the College on 1 October 2023. [26]
He was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Education in 2014,with responsibility for developing education policy and strategy for the University. [25] Virgo has addressed problems of sexual misconduct within the University of Cambridge [27] and suggested that the University may phase out the traditional academic 1st/2.i/2.ii/3rd system with a US-style GPA system in an attempt to stem grade inflation. [28]
In 2019,Virgo was criticised after he was reported to have said that the lack of Afro-Caribbean hairdressers in Cambridge led to fewer black students to apply to the University,although he later said his remarks had been misunderstood. [29] [30]
In 2021,Virgo was criticized by Professor David Abulafia,emeritus professor of Mediterranean history at the University of Cambridge,for his support of the "Report+Support" university reporting system,which allowed users to anonymously report members of the University for 'micro-aggressions' before it was withdrawn by the University. [31]
He is keenly interested in drama [2] and is the Vice-Chair of the dramatic society the Gamlingay Players. [32]
Virgo is married to the Rev Dr Carolyn Hammond,Director of Studies in Theology and Dean of Gonville and Caius College,Cambridge. [2] [3] He has two children,Elizabeth and Jonathan. [2]
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800,it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869,and is often described as the oldest of the new colleges and the newest of the old. Downing College was formed "for the encouragement of the study of Law and Medicine and of the cognate subjects of Moral and Natural Science",and has developed a reputation amongst Cambridge colleges for Law and Medicine.
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay,Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican monks,and the College Hall is built on the foundations of the monastery's nave. Emmanuel is one of the 16 "old colleges",which were founded before the 17th century.
The Knightbridge Professorship of Philosophy is the senior professorship in philosophy at the University of Cambridge. There have been 22 Knightbridge professors,the incumbent being Rae Langton.
John Alan Hopkins was an English legal academic known for developing Downing College's reputation for law. He was a Fellow of Downing College,Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow of Hughes Hall,Cambridge.
Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton,Baron Etherton,is a British retired judge and member of the House of Lords. He was the Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice from 2016 to 2021 and Chancellor of the High Court from 2013 to 2016.
Robert Lionel Archibald Goff,Baron Goff of Chieveley,was an English barrister and judge who was Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary,the equivalent of today's President of the Supreme Court. Best known for establishing unjust enrichment as a branch of English law,he has been described by Andrew Burrows as "the greatest judge of modern times". Goff was the original co-author of Goff &Jones,the leading English law textbook on restitution and unjust enrichment,first published in 1966. He practised as a commercial barrister from 1951 to 1975,following which he began his career as a judge. He was appointed to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords in 1986.
Stephen John Toope is a Canadian legal scholar,academic administrator and a scholar specializing in human rights,public international law and international relations. In November 2022,he was appointed as the fifth President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Prior to this,he served for five years as the 346th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Arnold Duncan McNair,1st Baron McNair was a British jurist and judge of the International Court of Justice and later the first president of the European Court of Human Rights.
Dame Nancy Jane Rothwell is a British physiologist. She has served as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester since July 2010,having served as Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor until January 2010.
William James Stirling was a physicist who served as the first Provost of Imperial College London. He was appointed to this role in August 2013 and retired in August 2018.
William Walsh was successively Professor of Education,Professor of Commonwealth Literature and Acting Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds.
John Green was an English clergyman and academic. He became the chaplain of Charles Seymour,6th Duke of Somerset,and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Gareth Hywel Jones,QC,FBA was a Welsh academic and longtime fellow of Trinity College,Cambridge,and Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge.
David Clarke is deputy vice-chancellor and Professor of Law at Bristol University.
A Restatement of the English Law of Unjust Enrichment is a legal treatise by Andrew Burrows,written in collaboration with an advisory group of academics,judges and practitioners. The treatise takes the form of a restatement that is akin to the American Law Institute's highly influential Restatements of the Law. Restatements are very rare in common law jurisdictions other than the United States.
Brian Westerdale Downs was an English literary scholar and linguist. He served as Master of Christ's College,Cambridge,from 1950 to 1963 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1955 to 1957. From 1950 to 1960,he was the Professor of Scandinavian Studies at Cambridge.
Evelyn Algernon Valentine Ebsworth,was a British chemist and academic. He was the Crum Brown Professor of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh from 1967 to 1990,and Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University from 1990 to 1998.
Goff and Jones on the Law of Unjust Enrichment is the leading authoritative English law textbook on restitution and unjust enrichment. First written by Robert Goff and Gareth Jones,it is presently in its tenth edition. It is published by Sweet &Maxwell and forms part of the Common Law Library.
Alan Peter Bookbinder is a British journalist,charity executive,and academic administrator. From October 2018 to 2023,he served as Master of Downing College,Cambridge. He previously worked for the BBC,and was Director of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts from 2006 to 2018.
Paul S Davies is an English barrister and academic notable for having been published in many areas of private law,particularly commercial law. He has been the chair in Commercial Law at the Faculty of Law,University College London since 2017 and has practised as a barrister at Essex Court Chambers since 2021.
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