Dr John Sorabji
I am an Associate Professor of law with a particular focus on civil justice, procedure, and the structure of legal systems. My academic background reflects a longstanding interest in how legal rules operate in practice—how courts function, how disputes are resolved, and how procedural frameworks shape access to justice. I studied law with the intention of understanding not only what the law is, but how it works and how it might be improved. That curiosity continues to guide my research and teaching.
Before coming to Pembroke, I developed my academic career through research and teaching in civil justice and procedural law, alongside collaborative work with practitioners and judges. My work often sits at the intersection of theory and practice, engaging with both doctrinal questions and real-world legal reform. I am particularly interested in how procedural systems can be designed to ensure fairness, efficiency, and accessibility, and in the challenges posed by modern developments such as digital justice and evolving dispute resolution processes.
At Pembroke, I am involved in teaching students across different stages of their legal studies. I particularly enjoy small-group teaching, where there is space to explore ideas in depth, challenge assumptions, and help students develop their own analytical voice. Teaching is a central part of what I do, and I value the opportunity to support students as they gain confidence in working with complex legal concepts and arguments.
What I find most rewarding about my subject is that it lies at the heart of how law is experienced. Procedural law is sometimes seen as technical or secondary, but in reality it determines whether legal rights can be effectively realised. I am drawn to the intellectual challenge of this area, as well as its practical significance—procedural rules shape outcomes, influence behaviour, and reflect deeper values about justice and fairness.
Being part of Pembroke is particularly meaningful because of its strong sense of academic community. It is a place where teaching, research, and collegial exchange come together in a genuinely supportive and stimulating environment. I value the opportunity to contribute to that community while continuing to develop my research and engage with students who are starting to form their own perspectives on the law.
John is an Associate Professor of Law at University College London. His expertise is in civil procedural law and alternative dispute resolution. He is particularly interested in access to and the delivery of effective civil justice. He is co-founder and co-director of UCL Laws' Centre for Dispute Resolution. Outside academia he was previously the Deputy Private Secretary to HM King Charles III and before that the Principal Legal Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and the Master of the Rolls. In both roles he provided advice on, amongst other things, constitutional issues. He has particularly advised on a wide range of issues concerning judicial governance.
John is a member of the Civil Justice Council of England and Wales, a statutory non-departmental advisory body that is required to keep the civil justice system under scrutiny. As such he has been a member of its Pre-Action Protocols Working Party, is a member of its standing committees on Data and Futures. He co-chaired the Working Party on Litigation Funding, and was primarily responsible for devising its recommendations and drafting its Interim and Final Reports. He is also a member of its AI Working Group and co-chair of its Civil Cases in the Magistrate's Courts Working Party.
He has also been a Visiting Professor at Université Pantheon-Assas, the University of Freiburg and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is also a former member of the European Law Institute’s Executive Committee and Governing Council, having been one of its founders. He has been a governor of the Expert Witness Institute and acted as an expert for the Venice Commission. Most recently, has also been appointed as an expert for the Council of Europe's Consultative Council of European Judges and was responsible for preparing its Opinion No. 26 on the use of assistive technology by the judiciary and its Opinion No. 29 on the Use of AI in the Judicial Process, as well as an expert for the Council of Europe's Consultative Council of European Prosecutors, in respect of which he was responsible for surveying the use of AI by prosecutorial authorities in the Council's member states. He has also provided advice to a range of organisations, including the Law Society of Nigeria concerning the reform of court administration. He has also given expert evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards concerning the management of judges' conflicts of interest and outside activities and the Justice Select Committee on Access to Justice.
He is the author of English Civil Justice after Woolf and Jackson (2014), and A Model Code of Civil Procedure for England and Wales (2024). He is also General Editor and a co-author of Foskett on Compromise, (8th, 9th and 10th editions), the leading practitioner guide to settlement, and not least the mechanics of mediation. He is a contributor to Civil Litigation in a Comparative Context, Zuckerman on Civil Procedure, and the ELI-UNIDROT Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. He is also the General Editor of Civil Procedure (The White Book), the leading commentary on the Civil Procedure Rules, which is published annually.
A list of John’s publications is available here: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/35662-john-sorabji/publications
Dr John Sorabji
I am an Associate Professor of law with a particular focus on civil justice, procedure, and the structure of legal systems. My academic background reflects a longstanding interest in how legal rules operate in practice—how courts function, how disputes are resolved, and how procedural frameworks shape access to justice. I studied law with the intention of understanding not only what the law is, but how it works and how it might be improved. That curiosity continues to guide my research and teaching.
Before coming to Pembroke, I developed my academic career through research and teaching in civil justice and procedural law, alongside collaborative work with practitioners and judges. My work often sits at the intersection of theory and practice, engaging with both doctrinal questions and real-world legal reform. I am particularly interested in how procedural systems can be designed to ensure fairness, efficiency, and accessibility, and in the challenges posed by modern developments such as digital justice and evolving dispute resolution processes.
At Pembroke, I am involved in teaching students across different stages of their legal studies. I particularly enjoy small-group teaching, where there is space to explore ideas in depth, challenge assumptions, and help students develop their own analytical voice. Teaching is a central part of what I do, and I value the opportunity to support students as they gain confidence in working with complex legal concepts and arguments.
What I find most rewarding about my subject is that it lies at the heart of how law is experienced. Procedural law is sometimes seen as technical or secondary, but in reality it determines whether legal rights can be effectively realised. I am drawn to the intellectual challenge of this area, as well as its practical significance—procedural rules shape outcomes, influence behaviour, and reflect deeper values about justice and fairness.
Being part of Pembroke is particularly meaningful because of its strong sense of academic community. It is a place where teaching, research, and collegial exchange come together in a genuinely supportive and stimulating environment. I value the opportunity to contribute to that community while continuing to develop my research and engage with students who are starting to form their own perspectives on the law.
John is an Associate Professor of Law at University College London. His expertise is in civil procedural law and alternative dispute resolution. He is particularly interested in access to and the delivery of effective civil justice. He is co-founder and co-director of UCL Laws' Centre for Dispute Resolution. Outside academia he was previously the Deputy Private Secretary to HM King Charles III and before that the Principal Legal Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and the Master of the Rolls. In both roles he provided advice on, amongst other things, constitutional issues. He has particularly advised on a wide range of issues concerning judicial governance.
John is a member of the Civil Justice Council of England and Wales, a statutory non-departmental advisory body that is required to keep the civil justice system under scrutiny. As such he has been a member of its Pre-Action Protocols Working Party, is a member of its standing committees on Data and Futures. He co-chaired the Working Party on Litigation Funding, and was primarily responsible for devising its recommendations and drafting its Interim and Final Reports. He is also a member of its AI Working Group and co-chair of its Civil Cases in the Magistrate's Courts Working Party.
He has also been a Visiting Professor at Université Pantheon-Assas, the University of Freiburg and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is also a former member of the European Law Institute’s Executive Committee and Governing Council, having been one of its founders. He has been a governor of the Expert Witness Institute and acted as an expert for the Venice Commission. Most recently, has also been appointed as an expert for the Council of Europe's Consultative Council of European Judges and was responsible for preparing its Opinion No. 26 on the use of assistive technology by the judiciary and its Opinion No. 29 on the Use of AI in the Judicial Process, as well as an expert for the Council of Europe's Consultative Council of European Prosecutors, in respect of which he was responsible for surveying the use of AI by prosecutorial authorities in the Council's member states. He has also provided advice to a range of organisations, including the Law Society of Nigeria concerning the reform of court administration. He has also given expert evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards concerning the management of judges' conflicts of interest and outside activities and the Justice Select Committee on Access to Justice.
He is the author of English Civil Justice after Woolf and Jackson (2014), and A Model Code of Civil Procedure for England and Wales (2024). He is also General Editor and a co-author of Foskett on Compromise, (8th, 9th and 10th editions), the leading practitioner guide to settlement, and not least the mechanics of mediation. He is a contributor to Civil Litigation in a Comparative Context, Zuckerman on Civil Procedure, and the ELI-UNIDROT Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. He is also the General Editor of Civil Procedure (The White Book), the leading commentary on the Civil Procedure Rules, which is published annually.
A list of John’s publications is available here: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/35662-john-sorabji/publications