Scott Shapiro appointed Visiting Quain Professor of Jurisprudence

Shapiro, the author of Legality, a book widely recognised as the most important work in the field of general jurisprudence for more than a generation, will join the prestigious list of previous Quain Chairs at UCL, including Glanville Williams, Lord Lloyd of Hampstead, William Twining and Ronald Dworkin.

Commenting on the appointment, Dean of UCL Laws, Professor Dame Hazel Genn said: “Scott Shapiro is one of the world’s leading legal philosophers. He is a great addition to the group of colleagues working in jurisprudence and legal theory, a field in which UCL has a distinguished history.”

Professor Shapiro’s work connects general jurisprudence with theory of action, the theory of authority, meta-ethics and constitutional theory. He is currently working on a book with his Yale colleague Oona Hathaway on the history of international law, as it has evolved from the 17th century through the present.

Professor Shapiro will also join UCL Laws Professor George Letsas as the co-convener of the newly established Yale-UCL Workshop in Legal Philosophy.