Professor Lorraine Talbot

Professor Lorraine Talbot

Birmingham Law School
Professor of Company Law and Company Law in Context

Contact details

Telephone
0121 414 3631
Email
l.e.talbot@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Talbot approaches company law and corporate governance from a law in context position, with particular emphasis the corporation as a social, economic, cultural, moral and aesthetic phenomenon, and the dehumanising consequences of an identity which is distinct from the living actors. Her current research is concerned with two distinct areas; one, the company’s legal architecture and its relationship with growth and sustainability in a capitalist economy; (forthcoming article, ‘The Degrowth Tendency of the Modern Corporation’, forthcoming chapter, ‘Growth, Sustainability and Human Rights’ (Edward Elgar 2024)); and, two, how the visual arts shape the company’s identity and promote an understanding of the historical development of the company and company law, (recently published article, ‘Revealing the Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies through law and the Painted Moment’, Business History (2024), forthcoming chapter, ‘Capitalism as Personal: Brunner, Mond & Co Ltd (1881-1926)’ in The Origins of Company Law (Hart 2024)). 

Professor Talbot is also concerned with teaching company law from a law in context perspective. Her latest teaching text is the 2nd edition of Great Debates in Company Law (forthcoming Hart, April 2024) co-authored with Dr Andreas Kokkinis.

Qualifications

  • BA (hons)
  • LLM, PhD (Kent Law School)

Biography

Professor Talbot Joined Birmingham Law School in January 2018. She previously held a Chair at the University of York and was an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick.  

Teaching

  • Company Law (UG/LLM)
  • International Corporate Governance (LLM)

Postgraduate supervision

I am available to supervise in the following areas. Business History, corporate law theory, critical approaches to shareholder rights and shareholder centred governance, the socio-economic and political impact of corporate activities, growth, degrowth and corporate sustainability, the visual arts and corporations, corporations and labour, corporations and social progress, business human rights, feminism, gender and corporations and the political economy of companies.

Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

Professor Talbot approaches company law and corporate governance from a law in context position, with particular emphasis the corporation as a social, economic, cultural, moral and aesthetic phenomenon, and the dehumanising consequences of an identity which is distinct from the living actors. Her current research is concerned with two distinct areas; one, the company’s legal architecture and its relationship with growth and sustainability in a capitalist economy; (forthcoming article, ‘The Degrowth Tendency of the Modern Corporation’, forthcoming chapter, ‘Growth, Sustainability and Human Rights’ (Edward Elgar 2024)); and, two, how the visual arts shape the company’s identity and promote an understanding of the historical development of the company and company law, (recently published article, ‘Revealing the Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies through law and the Painted Moment’, Business History (2024), forthcoming chapter, ‘Capitalism as Personal: Brunner, Mond & Co Ltd (1881-1926)’ in The Origins of Company Law (Hart 2024)). 

Professor Talbot is also concerned with teaching company law from a law in context perspective. Her latest teaching text is the 2nd edition of Great Debates in Company Law (forthcoming Hart, April 2024) co-authored with Dr Andreas Kokkinis.

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Talbot, L & Kokkinis, A 2024, Great Debates in Company Law. Great Debates in Law, 2nd edn, Bloomsbury Publishing. <https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/great-debates-in-company-law-9781350440265/>

Talbot, L 2019, Great Debates in Commercial and Corporate Law (Edited by Andrew Johnston and Lorraine Talbot, 2019, 1st edition). Palgrave Macmillan.

Article

Talbot, L & Kokkinis, A 2024, 'Making the identity of beneficial owners transparent: Considerations for Japan from the English experience', Journal of Business Law.

Talbot, L 2024, 'Revealing the Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies through law and the Painted Moment', Business History. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2024.2305327

Talbot, L 2024, 'When Less is Less: The Complexities of Growth and the Degrowth Company', Journal of Law and Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12509

Talbot, L 2020, 'Why corporations inhibit social progress: a brief review of corporations from chapter 6 ‘markets, finance and corporations. Does capitalism have a future?', Review of Social Economy, vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 128-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2020.1733060

Talbot, L 2020, '‘Why corporations inhibit social progress. A brief review of corporations from chapter 6 “markets, finance and corporations. Does capitalism have a future?”’: Review of Social Economy', Review of Social Economy.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Talbot, L 2024, Looking at Clouds from both sides..? Corporate sustainability and business human rights. in Addressing the sustainability impacts of corporations. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Chapter

Talbot, L 2023, Capitalism as Personal: Brunner, Mond & Co Ltd (1881-1926). in V Barnes & J Hardman (eds), Origins of Company Law: Methods and Approaches. 1st edn, Contemporary Studies in Corporate Law, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Talbot, L 2019, Corporate governance and the political economy of the company. in B Sjåfjell & CM Bruner (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Sustainability and Corporate Governance. Cambridge University Press, pp. 86-99. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108658386.012

Talbot, L 2019, ‘Shareholders and Directors: Entitlements, Duties and the Expansion of Shareholder Wealth’ in Great Debates in Commercial and Corporate Law (Edited by Andrew Johnston and Lorraine Talbot, Palgrave 2019, 1st edition). in Great Debates in Commercial and Corporate Law (Edited by Andrew Johnston and Lorraine Talbot, Palgrave 2019, 1st edition) . Palgrave Macmillan.

Talbot, LE 2018, Capitalism, companies, why they are unfit for social purpose and how they might be reformed. in C Villers & N Beoger (eds), Shaping the Corporate Landscape: Towards Corporate Reform and Enterprise Diversity. Hart Publishing.

Deakin, S, Muniesa, F, Stern, S, Talbot, LE, Kaplinsky, R, O'Neill, MP, Ortiz, H, Sahlin, K & Schwittay, A 2018, Markets, finance and corporations: does capitalism have a future? in Rethinking Society for the 21st Century: Report of the International Panel on Social Progress. vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, pp. 225-254. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108399623.007

Other contribution

Talbot, L 2024, Less is less. capitalism, corporations and growth.. <https://journaloflawandsociety.co.uk/blog/less-is-less-capitalism-corporations-and-growth/ >

Talbot, L 2018, ‘Labour and John McDonnell are right to give workers a stake, says company law professor’. The Conversation .

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

  • Companies and corporate governance
  • Business History
  • Corporate law theory
  • Companies, company law and reform
  • Critical approaches to shareholder rights and shareholder centred governance
  • The socio-economic and political impact of corporate activities
  • Growth, degrowth and corporate sustainability
  • Visual arts and corporations
  • Corporations and labour
  • Business human rights 
  • Corporations and social progress
  • Feminism, gender and corporations
  • The political economy of companies

Expertise

  • Corporate governance and reform
  • Company Law and reform
  • Shareholder rights and shareholder centred governance
  • The impact of corporate activities: sustainability and labour 
  • Corporations and social progress, including gender issues
  • The political economy of companies