Professor James Lee

Overview

Professor James Lee is a Senior Fellow in the Melbourne Law Masters program, teaching Equity and the World of Commerce with Professor Man Yip. He is Professor of English Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London, where he teaches several private law subjects, and is currently The School’s Acting Associate Dean for Research Impact.

James’ principal research interests are in private law, law reform and judicial reasoning in appellate courts. In particular, he has examined how adjudicative structures bear on substantive decision-making, with a focus on the United Kingdom Supreme Court. James is founding Co-Editor (with Erin Delaney and Andrew Lynch) of the book series Hart Studies on Judging and the Courts. James’ current main project explores the interrelationship between legal institutions and legal change.

With Jamie Glister, James is Co-Editor of the best-selling Trusts textbook, Hanbury and Martin: Modern Equity, the 23^rd edition of which was published in 2024. In recent years, his work has been cited by courts in England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia.

Memberships and affiliations

James is an Academic Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, and an academic member of the Property Litigation Association, Chancery Bar Association (ChBA) and the Property Bar Association (PBA). He serves on the Education and Training Committee for the Inner Temple, as Vice-Chair of the ChBA Academic Liaison Sub-Committee, and as Chair of the PBA’s Law Reform Sub-Committee. He regularly lectures on tort for the Judicial College of England and Wales. James is one of the General Editors of Legal Studies, the flagship journal of the Society of Legal Scholars.

During his career, James has held visiting research positions at several institutions, including as Professor Sir Neil MacCormick Fellow at the University of Edinburgh (2014); Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales (2018); Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford (2022); Beaufort Visiting Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (2023); Lee Kong Chian Visiting Professor at Singapore Management University (2022/23); and Borrin Visiting Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington (2024). He has been a Visiting Professor in Contract Law at the Católica Global School of Law, Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2016) and a Visiting Professor in Equity & Trusts at Hong Kong University (2018). He is an Independent Governor of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.