Society of Scholars welcomes Professor Paula Giliker as President for 2023-24

Paula Giliker, Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Bristol Law School

Press release issued: 2 October 2023

Professor Paula Giliker, Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Bristol Law School, started her tenure as President of the Society of Legal Scholars 2023-24 on 1 October 2023.

The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) is a learned society with charitable status whose aim is the advancement of legal education and scholarship in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Professor Giliker said: “I am extremely proud to be elected the Society’s President for 2023-24. The Society has existed for 115 years and has over 2,700 members. Although legal education has changed considerably since the SLS was founded in 1908, the Society has always had at its heart the support and promotion of the interests of legal scholars.

“Our specialist subject sections enable this, and I am delighted to be hosting the 2024 Annual Conference at the University of Bristol from 3 – 5 September 2024 which will include a diverse programme across our 28 subject sections.”

The Society’s subject sections stimulate interesting discussions, publications, and subject development and are open to all SLS members to join.

Professor Giliker said: “The SLS Annual Conference is considered one of the largest and most diverse gatherings of legal academics in the UK; in 2023 over 527 delegates joined from 28 different countries.  I hope to build on this inclusive and global approach for 2024 with the conference theme: ‘Learning from Others: Lessons for Legal Scholars?’.

“As scholars, we interact with others – students; fellow academics; legal practitioners; the wider public – and the 2024 conference will reflect on the gains we can achieve from such interaction in a global academic environment. I look forward to welcoming all to the conference in the vibrant city of Bristol.”

Professor Paula Giliker is preceded by Professor Lucy Vickers (Oxford Brookes University).  Professor Giliker’s term as President will end on 30 September 2024.

Further information

The Society of Legal Scholars

The Society of Legal Scholars is a learned society with charitable status whose aim is the advancement of legal education and scholarship in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Society is the learned society for those engaged in law teaching and/or legal scholarship, with over 2,700 members throughout the UK and Ireland.

The Society is legal education’s principal representative body to the professional bodies and the Government. The SLS holds an annual conference each year, usually at the university of the President, and additionally organises and/or sponsors seminars and workshops throughout the year.

Professor Paula Giliker

Paula Giliker is Professor of Comparative Law and Co-director of the Centre for Private and Commercial Law at the University of Bristol, and specialises in private law and comparative private law. She has previously held positions at the Universities of Oxford and Queen Mary, University of London, and is a former Chair of the British Association of Comparative Law. 

Paula has written extensively on English, European and comparative contract and tort law. A leading comparative law and private law scholar, she is on the editorial board of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, on the international editorial board of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Professional Negligence and an Associate Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law.