IBIL is delighted to welcome not one, but two new Research Assistants to the Institute, April Wells and James Hall. This is the first time IBIL have had two Research Assistants working together, so we are excited to see how the year ahead goes.
April joined the team this month after graduating with distinction in her LLM from UCL Faculty of Laws in September. Her research focused on the state of copyright law post-Brexit, and whether harmonisation of the law in this area with EU standards was desirable or not. Before her studies at UCL, April studied for her BA in Law at the University of Cambridge, Newnham College.
April has been gaining practical experience of the law through a number of avenues, including an internship at Guy Carpenter, mini-pupillages at 3 New Square and the Coroners’ Court, and through marshalling at IPEC and the High Court. She has started her Bar Training Course with BPP alongside this role, and she hopes to partake in further work experience over the coming years. In her (somewhat limited) spare time, April enjoys playing instruments, writing music, and teaching karate.
James also graduated with a distinction from last year’s LLM class at UCL. Stemming from his interest in fine art and its intersection with law, his research investigated the possibility of copyright subsistence in works of performance art, a historically neglected area of copyright study. This is James’ fifth consecutive year at UCL, having also studied for his LLB here.
James is working towards the goal of becoming a solicitor, studying his SQE next year and beginning a training contract with Stephenson Harwood LLP in the autumn of 2027. With his interest in the law’s interaction with clients from creative backgrounds, he hopes to gain more experience of IP practice, as well as working in a range of other fascinating fields of law. In his spare time, James is an avid reader and quizzer, both as a contestant (reaching the 2024/25 University Challenge final) and as a host as founder of UCL Quiz Society.
April and James will be working as Research Assistants for this academic year, supporting IBIL’s co-directors with research, administration, event organisation, and moot experience.