Professor Alastair Hudson

National Teaching Fellow 2008 Alastair Hudson is Professor of Equity & Finance Law at the University of Southampton. He was previously Professor of Equity and Law at Queen Mary, University of London, where he had taught since being appointed as a lecturer in law in 1997. Alastair is the author of ten books to date: Securities Law (1e, 2008); Understanding Equity & Trusts (3e, 2008); Equity & Trusts (5e, 2007); The Law on Financial Derivatives (4e, 2006); The Law of Trusts (1e, 2004, with Geraint Thomas); The Law on Investment Entities (1e, 2000); Towards a Just Society: Law, Labour and Legal Aid (1e, 2000); Principles of Equity & Trusts (1e. 1999); Swaps, Restitution and Trusts (1999); The Law on Homelessness (1e, 1997). He has also edited four collections of essays: New Perspectives on Property Law, Human Rights and the Home (2004); New Perspectives on Property Law, Obligations and Restitution (2004); Modern Financial Techniques, Derivatives and Law (2000); Credit Derivatives: legal, regulatory and accounting issues (1999); he has contributed to the encyclopaedias Palmers Company Law (ed. Morse) and Taxation of Derivatives Instruments (ed. Conlon and Aquilino) for a number of years; and has written a number of essays and articles. He is currently working on a new book on The Law of Finance for publication in 2009 which will be the first comprehensive textbook on the law of finance as a separate academic discipline. His teaching is informed by his research. Law is about words and concepts, and so published research can itself become part of the primary materials. Alastair's research has been cited in courts in a number of jurisdictions. His teaching style is informed by enthusiasm for his subject and by a determination to connect with his students. By marrying research in frontier areas of the law with new courses in those fields, research and teaching become mutually reinforcing. As one student put it: He was born to teach and lecture. Importantly, given his commitment to pastoral care, another student considered that: "He cares. He cares about what he's doing. Not only about the subject but about the students." Using online technology, including his own website and a large number of podcasts to support his published research, has also connected well with both undergraduate and postgraduate students. As one student put it: "His book and his website are absolutely amazing." For a number of years, Alastair acted as special advisor to the British Labour Party's front bench on legal and constitutional affairs. He can still recall the moment when he decided to be an academic. I remember very clearly sitting in my personal tutors room €œ the late and much-missed Jeffrey Price, late one November afternoon as it was starting to get dark. There was a real sense of collegiality as the academics buzzed in and out of one another's rooms talking about teaching, about research ideas, and gossiping happily. It struck me that I had found the perfect blend of being engaged in intellectual activity, belonging to a supportive community, and devoting myself to the law I loved. So I decided to become an academic then and there. Teaching and my research, are my vocation." Alastair was awarded UK Law Teacher of the Year in 2008 by the UK Centre for Legal Education (HEA) at Warwick, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.