UCL Laws hosts conference on Contract Law and the Unexpected

On Friday 16 May 2025, the UCL Private Law Group hosted a one-day conference at Bentham House exploring the theme of Contract Law and the Unexpected. Organised by Professor Paul Davies and Associate Professor Magda Raczynska, the event brought together leading academics, practitioners and members of the judiciary to examine how contract law responds to unforeseen risks and disruptive events.

The conference explored how commercial contracts deal with uncertainty, particularly when unexpected events or risks arise during the life of a contract. These may include things that cannot be fully controlled by the parties, and whose nature is hard to predict or prepare for.

One way of managing such uncertainty is through traditional legal doctrines such as variation or frustration. But under English law, these doctrines are traditionally limited.  A more common and usually preferable approach is to include specific contractual clauses that can modify, suspend, or end a party’s obligations, or at least create space to renegotiate the terms. Examples of these clauses include material adverse change (or effect) clauses, hardship clauses, performance clauses, termination or suspension clauses, remedies clauses, and variation clauses.

These clauses raise a number of legal questions regarding their interpretation, enforceability, and effect. Further questions arise when such clauses fail to operate as intended, when discretion is contractually allocated to one party to determine whether a relevant event or risk has occurred, and when including such clauses might change the legal options otherwise available under general contract law principles. These issues have been thrown into sharp relief by recent developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic, public health crises, the economic downturn, and Brexit—all of which caused widespread disruption to businesses, workers, and supply chains.

At the conference, twelve leading academics presented papers that addressed these issues. Each paper was discussed by a practitioner, with the sessions chaired by a judge. The event was well-attended by students, academics, legal practitioners, and judges, and provoked lively and thought-provoking discussions throughout the day.

“As a co-organiser, it was pleasing to hear that the conference resonated so well with those who took part,” said Associate Professor Magda Raczynska. “This shows a genuine need for a high-quality intellectual exchange between academics, practitioners and members of the judiciary in the legal world today.”

Attendees shared similarly positive views. One professor described the day as “such an interesting and engaging event with thoughtful commentators and distinguished chairs. It brings out the very best in the debates that follow the academic papers.” A UCL LLM student said: “It was a privilege to attend such an intellectually stimulating and well-curated event.”

A full programme, including speaker details, is available on the event page.

An edited volume of the conference proceedings will be published by Hart Bloomsbury in 2026. A link to the book will be added on this page once available. 

Find out more

• Read Professor Paul Davies’ UCL Profile
• Read Dr Magda Raczynska’s UCL Profile
• Explore the full conference programme and speaker line-up
• Learn more about the UCL Private Law Group