In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework exercise in 2021 Wolverhampton Law School was once again ranked in the top 50 law schools in the UK with 75% of its impactful research ranked as either world leading or internationally excellent and 73.3% of its research outputs ranked as either world leading or internationally excellent.
The Law Research Centre provides a vibrant and inclusive law research community which encourages the investigation of high quality research bringing together experienced, developing and new legal researchers. It provides a focal point for legal research employing doctrinal, empirical, comparative, interdisciplinary, feminist and socio-legal methodologies.
Members of the Law Research Centre have published numerous books (including the leading student textbooks in the areas of Equity and Trusts, Financial Services Law and Insolvency Law) and learned journal articles. Their research has been cited in Parliament, relied upon by the Government when making policy and cited with approval by the Supreme Court.
Key Areas
Strategically the Law Research Centre concentrates on two main strands of legal research:
- Commercial Law (broadly interpreted to include Corporate, Financial Services, Insolvency, Intellectual Property Law (including a feminist approach to IP Law) and International Arbitration)
- Criminal Justice (including Criminal Law and Evidence, the history of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Homelessness).
Recent research projects funded by learned societies, professional bodies, the EU or the UK Government include:
- Evaluation of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (2022) funded by HM Government
- “Hear Her Speak: a Feminist Approach to Intellectual Property Law” (2020/21) funded by the Society of Legal Scholars Research Activities Fund
- Corporate insolvency practitioners, ethics and remuneration: Not a case of moral bankruptcy? 2020 – a Special Report funded by INSOL International
- Insolvency Litigation Funding - in the best interests of creditors? 2020 – A report commissioned by Manolete Partners plc with the support of the ICAEW and the IPA
- Company Voluntary Arrangements: Evaluating Success and Failure 2018 – A report commissioned by R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals with the support of ICAEW Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
- Insolvency Litigation and the Jackson Reforms – An Update 2016- A report commissioned by R3 the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (with the support of ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS, ILA, IPA, IRS, JLT Specialty Ltd, Willis Taylor Watson)
- Empowering Women Rough Sleepers to protect themselves from Violence on the Streets 2015 - Funded by the EU Daphne Programme
- Runaway and Homeless Children who Sleep Rough 2015 - Funded by the EU Daphne Programme
- Pre-Pack Empirical Research: Characteristic and Outcome Analysis of Pre-Pack Administration Final Report to the Graham Review 2014 – A Report commissioned by the Insolvency Service part of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills
- Dr Munyaradzi (Pride) Chanakira
- Dr David Cox
- Dr Matthew Davis
- Dr Yasmin Devi-McGleish
- Dr Jake Hinks
- Luci Hyett
- Dr Neil Olley
- Dr Metka Potocnik
- Professor Peter Walton
For the latest publications please see each staff profile above.