Professor Jonathan Harris read law at Jesus College, Oxford. He was appointed to a Lectureship at the University of Birmingham in 1995. He joined the University of Nottingham as a Reader in Law in 2000. In January 2002, he returned to Birmingham University as Professor of International Commercial Law. He was Deputy Head of School 2006-2009.

His principal research interest is in the field of Private International Law. He is one of the authors of the 14th edition of the classic work on the subject, Dicey, Morris and Collins, The Conflict of Laws (published in September 2006) and has responsibility for eight chapters.The first supplement to the 14th edition was published in 2007 and the second supplement in 2008.

Professor Jonathan Harris is the co-editor (with Prof. Paul Beaumont of Aberdeen University) of the Journal of Private International Law, which was launched in 2005 and is now published three times per year. Regular international conferences are held under auspices of the journal. A highly successful conference was held at the University of Birmingham on 26-27 June 2007, with a keynote address by Lord Hope of Craighead. Further journal conferences were held at Herbert Smith, London (2008) and at New York University (2009).

In 2005, Professor Harris's book, International Sale of Goods in the Conflict of Laws (Oxford University Press) was published. This monograph, co-authored with Professor James Fawcett (Nottingham University) and Professor Michael Bridge (London School of Economics) is the first book devoted to the subject and is some 1,500 pages in length.

Professor Harris also has a particular interest in the law of international trusts. His book, The Hague Trusts Convention, was published by Hart Publishing of Oxford in 2002 and is the first book published in England on the subject. He is a contributor of two chapters to J Glasson and G Thomas (eds), The International Trust (Jordans, 1st ed 2002; 2nd ed 2006). He has provided advice to offshore legislators on the drafting of private international law rules applicable to international trusts. He is also on the editorial board of the Journal of International Trust and Corporate Planning.

Professor Harris contributed to the sixteenth and seventeenth editions of Underhill and Hayton, Law Relating to Trusts and Trustees. He was also a major contributor to the second edition of Product Liability (Oxford University Press, 2004) by Professor John Miller and Dr Richard Goldberg.

Professor Harris has also published numerous articles on private international law, including several pieces in Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review, European Law Review, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, British Yearbook of International Law, Current Legal Problems, Journal of International Trust and Corporate Planning and Civil Justice Quarterly, as well as contributing chapters to a substantial number of edited books.

Professor Harris is currently retained as legal advisor to the Ministry of Justice on the proposed European Regulation on Cross-Border Succession and Wills. In this capacity, he gave evidence to the North Committee on Private International Law in September 2007; and to the House of Lords Select Committee on European Union Law in October 2007 (see the Report of Evidence to House of Lords European Union Committee, 2nd Report of 2007-8, HL Paper 12. He also presented his views to the European Commission at meetings in Brussels in December 2007 and in June 2008.

Professor Harris regularly speaks on key developments in private international law. Recent addresses include:

• "Recognition of Foreign Judgments in Breach of Arbitration Agreements", at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (chaired by Mr Justice Colman).
• "Mandatory Rules, Public Policy and the Rome I Regulation" at the University of Verona, Italy.
• "The Proposed EU Regulation on Succession and Wills" at the European Research Academy, Trier, Germany.
• "The Rome I Regulation: Should the UK Opt-In?"' at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (chaired by Lady Justice Arden);
• "English law and European Concepts of Private International Law" at the European University Institute, Florence;
• "The Rome I Regulation: Current Developments" at the Bar European Group annual conference in Rome (chaired by Lord Justice Laws);
• "The Future of Private International Law in England and Wales", at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (chaired by Lord Mance).

Teaching & Administrative Responsibilities

Teaching:

• Course leader for LLB and LLM Commercial Conflict of Laws Courses;
• Equity and Trusts

Administration:

• Director of Research since 2003, responsible for overseeing research activity in the School. Compiled the Law School's return for the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008
• Deputy Head of the Law School since 2006

Other professional appointments

• Professor Harris is a practising barrister at Serle Court in London, where he holds a tenancy.
• He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Selected Recent Publications

Books:

• The Hague Trusts Convention (Hart Publishing, 2002)
• International Sale of Goods in the Conflict of Laws (OUP, 2005 with Prof. James Fawcett and Prof. Michael Bridge)
• Dicey, Morris and Collins, the Conflict of Laws (Sweet and Maxwell, 14th ed, 2006; first supplement 2007; second supplement 2008). Responsible for eight chapters.
• Contributor to Underhill and Hayton, Law Relating to Trusts and Trustees (Butterworths, 16th edition, 2003; and 17th edition, 2006)
• Contributor to C Miller and R Goldberg, Product Liability (OUP, 2nd ed, 2004)
• Author of two chapters in J Glasson and G Thomas (eds) The International Trust (Jordans, 1st edition, 2002; and 2nd edition 2006)

Selected Recent Articles and Chapters in Books:

• “The Brussels I Regulation, the ECJ and the Rulebook”, (2008) 124 Law Quarterly Review 523-529.
• “The Proposed EU Regulation on Succession and Wills: Prospects and Challenges”, (2008) 22 Trust Law International 181-235.
• “Understanding the English Response to the Europeanization of Private International Law”, (2008) 4 Journal of Private International Law 347.
• "Sale of Goods and the Relentless March of the Brussels I Regulation", (2007) 123 Law Quarterly Review 522
• "Comity Overcomes Statutory Resistance", [2007] Jersey and Guernsey Law Review 184
• "The Recognition and Enforcement of US Class Action Judgments in England", in (2006) 22 Contratto e Impresa/ Europa, 617
• "Stays of Proceedings and the Brussels Convention", (2005) 54 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 933
• "Does Choice of Law Make Any Sense?" in J Holder, C O'Cinneide and M Freeman, Current Legal Problems 2004, OUP: 2005
• "Tracing and the Conflict of Laws" in J Crawford and V Lowe, British Yearbook of International Law 2002,  Clarendon Press: 2003