The BLS Researchers: Professor Joanna Gray

Professor Joanna Gray has been writing about and lecturing on law and finance for longer than she cares to remember. She has been at Birmingham Law School for three years now.

Career: I started out as a ….medical student at Oxford University …what went wrong???

Favourite piece that she’s written: Not an academic piece it was actually a practice note when training to be a solicitor in the City. On the tax status of zoo animal waste and involved considering both the law of charitable trusts and some interesting tax law cases too. It is my favourite piece as it was just such a weird client enquiry to work on and the end product of my research note made everyone laugh so much – even a partner who never ever smiled! Sadly this was in the days before PCs on desks so I no longer have a copy but they’ll be in a Law Firm document archive somewhere.

Trickiest project embarked on: Unravelling the mandatory fund diversification rules affecting Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities, Personal Equity Plans and Personal Pension Products to try to understand their potential effects on institutional investor passivity in corporate governance. (see J. Gray, ‘Personal Finance and Corporate Governance: The Missing Link: Product Regulation and Policy Conflicts’, Journal of Corporate Law Studies Volume 4, 2004 - Issue 1

First spark of interest in law: A second year module on European Economic Community Law in 1980 (despite having recently voted to leave the EU!) – then a course only a minority of students took but it was the extremely well taught part on competition law flicked a switch of interest in how law interacts with and helps shape business environments and economic systems.

Favourite time of the year: One of the many joys of living in England is all four of its seasons – each has its own special charm.

What will leave the biggest mark on her area 50 years from now: No single event but the developments in ICT have been and continue to be transformative.

Academic book to take to a desert island: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin as have always wanted to read the whole thing.

Number of things on to-do list today: I do have to write them as my memory is now fading but I don’t want to today as its too scary….lots and lots – only some will get done.

Last thing she read: “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Berbery.

At weekends she: gets out of Birmingham whenever possible to fresher air with Border Terrier in tow.

Advice to live and die by: Work to live don’t live to work. And have as much fun as possible (we really are not here long at all!) while being kind to others at all times.