Dr Sharon Thompson
Senior Lecturer in Law
- Email:
- thompsons20@cardiff.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- +44(0)29 2087 4362
- Location:
- 1.18, Law Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
I joined Cardiff Law School as a Lecturer in 2015 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017. I was previously a Lecturer in Law at Keele University (2013-2015). I currently lecture on Family Law, Equity & Trusts and Legal History and am module leader of Equity & Trusts. I am also research seminar co-ordinator for the Law department.
I completed the LL.B. with first class honours in 2009 and was awarded my PhD in 2013 at Queen's University Belfast. I research the areas of divorce, family property, prenuptial agreements, and mid-twentieth century legal history, with a particular focus on feminist perspectives.
In 2015 I published a book with Hart Publishing titled Prenuptial Agreements and the Presumption of Free Choice: Issues of Power in Theory and Practice, which was shortlisted for the Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship in 2017 and both the SLSA Hart Socio-Legal Book Prize and the SLSA Socio-Legal prize for Early Career Academics in 2016. The book has been cited and applied by the High Court of Australia in Thorne v Kennedy [2017] HCA 49.
In 2018, I was awarded a small grant by the SLSA for my project 'The Married Women's Association: The Twentieth Century Campaigns that Family Law Forgot'. This project aims to take a socio-legal and historical approach to tell the untold story of the Married Women's Association and its campaigns for economic equality in marriage.
I am on the editorial board of Feminist Legal Studies and am co-editor of case notes for Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. I am a member of the Network on Family Regulation and Society (comprised of Family Law academics from the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Cardiff). I co-lead three research groups at Cardiff (Law and Gender, Law and History and Family Law) and received an Outstanding Contribution Award for research in 2016 from the University. I have been interviewed by BBC News, BBC Radio Stoke and Lexis Nexis about my work on prenuptial agreements. I was also a Visiting Fellow in 2014 at City University Hong Kong.
I am willing to supervise prospective PhD candidates in my areas of expertise, which include Family Law, Property Law and Feminist Legal Theory.
Twitter:
Education and qualifications
- 2015: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
- 2015: Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Keele University.
- 2013: PhD. Queen’s University Belfast.
- 2009: Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) First Class Honours. Queen’s University Belfast.
Career overview
- 2018 – present: Editorial board member, Feminist Legal Studies.
- 2017 – present: Senior Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University.
- 2015 – present: Co-editor of case notes, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law.
- 2015 – 2017: Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University.
- 2014: Visiting Fellow, City University Hong Kong.
- 2013 – 2015: Lecturer in Law, Keele University.
- 2009 – 2013: Law Tutor, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast.
Honours and awards
- Participant on Cardiff Futures Programme, 2016/17.
- Outstanding Contribution Award for excellence in research, Cardiff University, 2016.
- Visiting Fellow, City University Hong Kong, 2014.
- Travel Award, Emily Sarah Montgomery Scholarship, 2011.
- Travel Award, County Antrim Grand Jury Bursary, 2010.
- Conference paper prize, School of Law Postgraduate Research Conference, Queen’s University Belfast, 2010.
- Law Society Prize, Queen’s University Belfast, 2009.
- McKane Medal and Scholarship (Law and Philosophy), Queen’s University Belfast, 2009.
- Foundation Scholarship (awarded to top three students in year one), Queen’s University Belfast, 2007.
- McKane Medal and Scholarship (Jurisprudence), Queen’s University Belfast, 2007.
Professional memberships
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy
- Member of the GW4 Network on Family Regulation and Society.
- Member of the International Society of Family Lawyers.
- Member of the Research Committee on Sociology of Law International Working Group on the Legal Professions.
- Member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.
- Member of the Society of Legal Scholars.
Speaking engagements
Forthcoming
- 'The Significance of the 'Gold-Digging' Trope for Family Law Reform', University of Bristol, 25th October 2017.
- 'The Gold-Digging Trope in Family Law', University of Warwick, 11th October 2017.
Previous
- 'Gold-Digging and Family Law Reform', NUI Galway, 9th February 2018.
- 'The Significance of the 'Gold-Digging' Trope for Family Law Reform', University of Bristol, 25th October 2017.
- 'The Gold-Digging Trope in Family Law', University of Warwick, 11th October 2017.
- ''Gold-digging' on divorce: myth, power and financial inequity', SLS Conference 2017, University College Dublin, 5th-8th September 2017.
- ''Gold-Diggers' of Family Law', ISFL World Conference, Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, 26th July 2017.
- 'Relational Autonomy and Religious Tribunals', University of Glasgow, 15th June 2017
- '“We want prenup!” The Gold-Digging Trope in Family Law', University of Durham, 20th February 2017.
- ‘The Married Women’s Association’s Fight for Wives’ Right to Housekeeping Savings’, SLS Annual Conference, University of Oxford, 6th-9th September 2016.
- ‘Feminist Relational Contract Theory as Method: Addressing Patterns of Power in Nuptial Agreements’, Working Group on Legal Professions, Andorra, 6th -9th July 2016.
- ‘Are Methods in Law a Feminist Issue?’ Gender Rules Conference, Cardiff University, 20th June 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uucl1JlraH0.
- ‘Good housekeeping? The Married Women’s Association, Women’s Right to Housekeeping, and the Value of Work in the Home’, SLSA Annual Conference, Lancaster University, 5th-7th April 2016.
- ‘The Married Women’s Property Act 1964’, Women’s Legal Landmarks workshop, University of Reading, 19th-20th November 2015.
- ‘In Defence of the Gold-Digger’, Radically Rethinking Marriage Conference, Oñati, Spain, 16th -17th July 2015.
- ‘Prenuptial Agreements, Gendered Power and the Potential Impact of Same-Sex Marriage’, Staff seminar, Keele University, 4th February 2015.
- ‘Judging Prenuptial Agreements: Rethinking Autonomy and Recognising Power’, SLS Conference 2014, University of Nottingham, 9th-12th September 2014.
- ‘Prenuptial Agreements and the Presumption of Free Choice: Issues of Power in Theory and Practice’, SLSA Conference 2012, De Montford University, Leicester, 3rd April 2012.
- ‘Prenuptial Agreements since Radmacher v Granatino’, 3rdAnnual School of Law Postgraduate Research Conference, Queen’s University Belfast, 20th May 2011.
- ‘Prenuptial Agreements and the Meaning of “Fairness” since Radmacher v Granatino’, SLSA Conference 2011, University of Sussex, 13th April 2011.
- ‘Prenuptial Agreements and the Conceptualisation of Marriage’, 2nd Annual School of Law Postgraduate Research Conference, Queen’s University Belfast, 10th May 2010.
- ‘Contract Marriage – the Implications for Prenuptial Agreements’, Scottish Young Researcher’s Colloquium, University of Dundee, 23rd April 2010.
Committees and reviewing
- Law School Research Seminar Co-ordinator.
- Co-director of Family Law Research Group.
- Co-director of Law and History Research Group.
- Co-director of Law and Gender Research Group.
- Personal tutor.
2018
- Sandberg, R. and Thompson, S. 2018. The paradox of pluralism: Towards a relational approach to religious freedom. In: Durham, W. C. and Thayler, D. eds. Religion, Pluralism, and Reconciling Difference.. ICLARS Series on Law and Religion London and New York: Routledge
- Thompson, S.et al. 2018. The sexual contract 30 years on: a conversation with Carole Pateman. Feminist Legal Studies 26(1), pp. 93-104. (10.1007/s10691-018-9368-1)
- Cranmer, F. and Thompson, S. 2018. Marriage and civil partnership in Northern Ireland: A changing legal landscape. Child and Family Law Quarterly 30(3), pp. 301-320.
- Thompson, S. 2018. Thorne v Kennedy: Why Australia's decision on prenups is important for English law. Family Law 48, pp. 415-419.
- Thompson, S. 2018. Submission of Written Evidence on Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill 2017-2019. Unpublished.
- Thompson, S. and Sandberg, R. 2018. Multicultural jurisdictions: The need for a feminist approach to law and religion. In: Sandberg, R. ed. Leading Works in Law and Religion.. London and New York: Routledge
- Thompson, S. 2018. Feminist relational contract theory: A new model for family property agreements. Journal of Law and Society 45(4)
2017
- Thompson, S. 2017. Should Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a prenup?. [Online]. Law and Religion UK. Available at: http://www.lawandreligionuk.com/2017/11/29/a-prenup-for-harry-and-meghan/
- Thompson, S. 2017. ‘Miller-lite’: Is it fair not to share in short marriages?. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 39(4), pp. 501-503. (10.1080/09649069.2017.1390298)
- Thompson, S. and Sandberg, R. 2017. Common defects of the Divorce Bill and Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill 2016-17. Family Law 47(April), pp. 425-451.
- Sandberg, R. and Thompson, S. 2017. Relational autonomy and religious tribunals. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 6(1), pp. 137-161. (10.1093/ojlr/rww059)
- Thompson, S. 2017. Prioritising diversity: reflections from the Family Law Classroom. The Journal of Academic Development and Education Jan(7), pp. 29-33. (10.21252/KEELE-0000004)
2016
- Thompson, S. 2016. In defence of the 'gold digger'. Oñati Socio-Legal Series 6(6), pp. 1225-1248.
- Thompson, S. 2016. Divorce can be nobody's fault - the law should do more to recognise that. The Conversation 2016(12 Dec)
- Sandberg, R. and Thompson, S. 2016. The Sharia Law debate: The missing family law context. Law and Justice 177, pp. 181-192.
2015
- Thompson, S. 2015. Beware of prenups, but not because they are unromantic. The Conversation 2015(Oct 30)
- Thompson, S. 2015. Supreme Court decides that ‘fraud unravels all’ in divorce cases. The Conversation 2015(Oct 15)
- Thompson, S. 2015. Prenuptial agreements and the presumption of free choice: Issues of power in theory and practice.. Hart Publishing.
2014
- Thompson, S. 2014. What does the Nuptial Agreements Bill propose?. LexisNexis, pp. 1-3.
- Thompson, S. 2014. Behind the veil: company or family property on divorce?. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 36(2), pp. 217-219. (10.1080/09649069.2014.916106)
2012
- Thompson, S. 2012. Review of marital agreements and private autonomy in comparative perspective. Child and Family Law Quarterly, pp. 502-504.
2011
- Thompson, S. 2011. Review of international pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. Child and Family Law Quarterly 23, pp. 423-427.
- Thompson, S. 2011. Levelling the prenuptial playing field: Is independent legal advice the answer?. International Family Law 4, pp. 327-331.
- Thompson, S. 2011. Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 33(1), pp. 61-70. (10.1080/09649069.2011.571471)
2010
- Thompson, S. 2010. Ancillary relief in Northern Ireland: the jurisprudence of the 'noughties'. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 61(4), pp. 431-437.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zB2GmxwzkA
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1172956-academics-to-reflect-on-progress-of-feminist-movement
