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Staff Profile

Dr Tim Dodsworth

Senior Lecturer in Law

Background

Tim joined Newcastle University Law School as a senior lecturer in September 2021. Prior to his appointment he was a lecturer at the University of Exeter (2016-2021) and a Herbert Smith Fellow at the University of Warwick (2011-2015), where he also completed his PhD in 2015. He had previously studied at the University of Sheffield, completing an LLM in Commercial Law (2011), the LPC (2010), and his LLB (Hons.) (European, International and Comparative Law).

His main area of research focusses on comparative contract law theory and the role of vulnerability in the regulation of essential services. He is currently completing a monograph that identifies the underlying values of German and English contract law, which will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. He has written extensively on vulnerability in long-term and essential services consumer contracts, proposing new solutions to provide better protection for consumers, and is currently working on an article which re-frames the nature of essential services contracts as relational in nature.

Tim was the co-lead on an ESRC IAA funded project which used IBM’s AI computer and data supplied by the Land Registry to identify structural weaknesses and previously unidentified structures within the registration system.

Together with Severine Saintier and Maggie Hemsworth, Tim is the co-host of the podcast ‘unpacking contract law’. This features their discussions on new and old contract law cases.

Tim is module convenor for the contract law and comparative contract law courses. He was the winner of the WATEPGR (Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence) of 2014 and was nominated in the University of Exeter Guild Awards for the 'most supportive staff member',  'best lecturer' & 'best supervisor' awards in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Research

Tim’s research interests lie in the area of comparative (European) contract law. He is currently working on a book titled ‘the underlying values of German and English contract law’, looking at the values that have shaped judgments, leading to cases with differing outcomes.

Tim’s broad research interests lie in the areas of:

  •  Contract and Commercial Law (in particular the areas of ‘mistake’ and pre-contractual liability)
  • Vulnerability Theory in the context of contract/consumer law
  • Comparative European Contract Law (German and French contract law)
  • The Theory/Theories of Contract Law