Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This event was organised by the UCL Centre for Ethics & Law and took place on Wednesday 15 October 2025 at UCL Faculty of Laws.
The UCL Centre for Ethics & Law is delighted to invite you to join this distinguished conversation between Professor John Lowry and Lady Arden of Heswall, as they explore Lady Arden's transformative influence on modern company law.
Lady Arden's remarkable career spans her pioneering role as the first female Chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales, her instrumental participation in the Company Law Review Steering Group that produced the Companies Act 2006, and her distinguished judicial service culminating in the UK Supreme Court. An early advocate of law and economics, Lady Arden championed economic efficiency as the cornerstone of effective corporate regulation, whilst maintaining an unwavering commitment to principled yet pragmatic legal development.
This engaging discussion will examine Lady Arden's dual legacy as both reformer and judge, exploring landmark cases such as Murad v A-Saraj, Item Software v Fassihi, and BTI v Sequana, where her reasoning demonstrates the careful balance between legal certainty and commercial practicality. The conversation will explore how Lady Arden's approach to directors' duties, fiduciary obligations, and corporate governance reflects her core belief that company law must serve both economic efficiency and societal needs. The conversation will illuminate Lady Arden’s approach of harnessing rigorous legal principle while remaining responsive to modern commercial realities, offering valuable insights for practitioners, academics, and students interested in the evolution of corporate law and judicial reasoning.
This event was organised by the UCL Centre for Ethics & Law and took place on Wednesday 15 October 2025 at UCL Faculty of Laws.
The UCL Centre for Ethics & Law is delighted to invite you to join this distinguished conversation between Professor John Lowry and Lady Arden of Heswall, as they explore Lady Arden's transformative influence on modern company law.
Lady Arden's remarkable career spans her pioneering role as the first female Chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales, her instrumental participation in the Company Law Review Steering Group that produced the Companies Act 2006, and her distinguished judicial service culminating in the UK Supreme Court. An early advocate of law and economics, Lady Arden championed economic efficiency as the cornerstone of effective corporate regulation, whilst maintaining an unwavering commitment to principled yet pragmatic legal development.
This engaging discussion will examine Lady Arden's dual legacy as both reformer and judge, exploring landmark cases such as Murad v A-Saraj, Item Software v Fassihi, and BTI v Sequana, where her reasoning demonstrates the careful balance between legal certainty and commercial practicality. The conversation will explore how Lady Arden's approach to directors' duties, fiduciary obligations, and corporate governance reflects her core belief that company law must serve both economic efficiency and societal needs. The conversation will illuminate Lady Arden’s approach of harnessing rigorous legal principle while remaining responsive to modern commercial realities, offering valuable insights for practitioners, academics, and students interested in the evolution of corporate law and judicial reasoning.
