Profile of Professor Dermot Cahill

Name:

Prof Dermot Cahill

Position:

Head of School

Email:

anwen.evans@bangor.ac.uk (Anwen Evans, PA)

Location:

Aethwy

Phone:

3781 (Anwen Evans, PA)

Professor Dermot Cahill is Head of Bangor University Law School and Deputy Head of the University’s College of Business, Social Science & Law.

Professor Cahill’s books (see Research - Publications below) are published by:

Oxford University Press (European Law)
Cambridge University Press (Competition Law)
Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell (Corporate Finance Law)

He is also a leading funded researcher. His most recent Major Grant Award, €4,000,000, was awarded for the WIT project in Summer 2010 by the European Union INTERREG programme. Professor Cahill is Project Leader of this European public procurement law & process research major project. Bangor Law School’s research partners are Dublin City University Business School and The Irish Institute of Purchasing & Materials Managers (see further Research – Funded Research below).

Since arriving in Bangor in early 2008, Professor Cahill has spearheaded a major Research and Internationalisation strategy with a considerable measure of success (See further below Research - Internationalisation Strategy).

Index:

Law Teaching
Research – Publications
Research – Funded Research
Research – Internationalisation Strategy
Visiting Appointments
Externships
Conferences
Other

1. Professor Cahill - Law Teaching

At Bangor Processor Cahill contributes to a number of LLB and LLM courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, including:

Competition Law
Procurement Law
Corporate Finance & Banking Law
EU Law

Prior to his appointment at Bangor University, Professor Cahill held appointment as a Statutory Lecturer in Law at University College Dublin he lectured several new Law subjects for the first time in Ireland, including EU Merger Control Law and Corporate Finance Law. He also lectured Internal Market Law and Competition Law on the BCL and LLM programmes.
Professor Cahill is also Co-Director of the University of Missouri (Kansas City) Ireland Summer Law Programme for many years, an intensive programme which familiarises US law students with the merits of Ireland as a legal and business location for US multinationals, the programme is now based in both Ireland (NUIG & UCD) and the UK (Bangor). In Sumer 2010 he launched a new Summer programme at the Law School for Italian Lawyers and in 2011 this successful programme will be expanded to welcome Lawyers from other Civil Law jurisdictions.

2. Research - Publications:

Major Book Publications:

Corporate Finance Law (Cahill, Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell, 2000, 550pp.: Debt Subordination; Debt Factoring; Insider Dealing; Prospectus Regulation; Offers to the Public; Mergers; State Financing.
The Modernisation of European Union Competition Law (Cahill (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 2004, 750pp.)Invited by the International Federation of European Law to be Editor of the FIDE 2004 Congress 30 country survey on Article 81 modernisation.
European Law (Cahill, Kennedy, Power & Connery, Oxford University Press (4th ed., 2008, 327pp.; sole author 4 chapters: pp. 68-108; 108-134; 176-204; 206-218. co-author 1 Chapter (pp. 20-68))

Recent Peer Reviewed Articles:

“The Bermuda Triangle of EU Law – New Perspectives on the interaction between State Aid, Public Procurement & Competition Law” (Cahill, European Business Law Review (2010, accepted) for publication)
“Competition Law & the Regulation of the Legal Profession in Ireland – Where’s the Trouble” (Cahill, European Business Law Review, 2008,vol.19,no.6, pp.1061-1078)
“Article 234 & Competition Law An Analysis of all Competition Law Related Preliminary Rulings” (International Academic Survey, Rodger B., (ed.),Kluwer Law International, co-author with Fahey, E. & Oths., 2008, chap. 10)

Editorship:

Irish Journal of European Law
First Law

Editor-in-Chief

Vol. 14 (2007), 242 pp. (publ. Dec 2008)
Vol. 15 (2008) 204 pp. (publ. Nov 2008)
Vol. 16 (2009) 200pp (publ Dec 2010)

3. Research – Funded Research:

The WIT Project – €4,000,000 Euros

Professor Cahill has a considerable record as a leading funded researcher. His most recent success is his Summer 2010 Award by the European Union INTERREG programme of a €4,000,000 euro Major Research Grant (the WIT Project) to conduct research into EU and National Public Procurement Law barriers and related process issues.
One of the major features of this major research award will be an assessment of the impact of the new EU Remedies Directive, which brings about major restrictions on the freedom of the common law judge to exercise discretionary powers in cases involving improperly awarded public contracts. The growing impact of the ECJ’s Transparency case law on public action will also constitute a major feature of the research
The WIT Award allows Professor Cahill’s Procurement Law team up with Dr Paul Davis’ Strategic Procurement programme based at DCU, Dublin, to assemble a combined 12-strong team of international researchers for the purpose of investigating strategic legal and process barriers in so-called ‘Low Value’ procurement which inhibit SME development. The WIT project will occupy the interface between civil service practices, institutional memory and legal obligation.

Designated as a ‘Strategic Project’ of high importance in the evaluation process, this project’s outputs are expected to have a major impact on the cross-border Ireland / UK economy in terms of wealth generation and employment integration, thus aligning with the Europe 2020 agenda. The outputs will also be suitable for transferability to other EU States, in particular the Accession States.

A key feature of the work programme will be research into the impact of the 2009 EU Remedies Directive, which is already having a major impact not only on Common Law Courts’ ability to grant effective remedies but also on the strategic behaviour of public sector bodies and their suppliers. The EU Commission has expressed strong interest in the outcome of the project. Both Universities will also develop common educational and training modules for the procurement community in both jurisdictions, as well as a Procurement Competency Framework and Diagnostic Tool.

Other Funded Research Awards:

Professor Cahill has been awarded several earlier research grants to conduct research into Public Procurement issues. This extensive grant winning record is reflective of Professor Cahill’s growing reputation as a key Procurement Law and Process expert.

2010: £69,000 STG

Professor Cahill’s team (the Law School and Bangor University’s Management Centre for Business Research) beat 8 other final stage competitors to win this research grant to investigate and report on the economic and legal impacts arising from the Welsh Assembly Government’s relocation (decentralisation of functions) strategy on the Welsh economy.

2008: £67,000 STG

Professor Cahill’s Bangor research team (in conjunction with Glamorgan University) won this grant in 2008 (out of 63 other applicants) leading the supplier-side research, culminating in the "Barriers to Procurement Opportunity Report" (2009, commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Value Wales Procurement division).
This research investigated pre-qualification practices in use by the Welsh Public Sector, and the barriers they present for commercial enterprises. The Recommendations from the Barriers Report, which addresses a number of methods for making public sector procurement more accessible to SMEs, are having major impact as they are currently being piloted by Value Wales and will have a major impact on reforming Welsh public procurement practices and policy.

2007: €160,000

Awarded Ireland-Wales INTERREG Grant of €160,000 (follow-on grant to prolong 2004 Award research: see immediately next below).

2004: €450,000

Awarded Ireland-Wales INTERREG Grant of €450,000. Professor Cahill was Project Leader and Director of Research of the TenderWise Public Sector Procurement research project, which focused on SME European public procurement process barriers.

4. Research – Internationalisation Strategy

International Commercial & Business Law LLM/PhD Programme

Under Professor Cahill’s Director of Research leadership, Bangor University Law School has developed an LLM and PhD programme in International Commercial & Business Law, attracting students from all over the world.

The Bangor Law PhD programme currently has 40 students and the LLM International Commercial & Business Law and LLM General programme some 50 students.

Professor Cahill has also pioneered the development of the MBA Banking & Law joint MBA programme with Bangor’s Business School (BBS ranked number 1 in the UK for Banking & Finance Research: RAE 2008).

LLM and PhD students hail from UK, Ireland, China, Libya, UAE, Vietnam, Jordan, Iraq, Germany, Spain, Pakistan and India. Professor Cahill and his team supervise this multinational cohort across a diverse range of areas including Credit Card Fraud, International Mergers Law & Intellectual Property; International Insurance Law Reform, International Law, Public Procurement Law, & EU / Competition Law, and International Human Rights.

Internationalisation Strategy – Visiting Scholar Programme

Driving the Law School’s Internationalisation Strategy, Professor Cahill and his team have focused on developing major relationships with leading research Universities in China, India, France and the USA. Leading academics are invited for extensive periods (typically 1 year) to Bangor Law School. For example, this year’s Visiting China Scholar is Professor Jihu Liu, Central South University Law School, Changsha, Hunan, China, the third in as many years.

In Spring 2011, Professor Gene Basanta, SIU, Illinois, will be the Visiting USA Scholar. The Visiting Scholars contribute to some teaching but are chiefly in residence to develop research links with Bangor Law School, as well as integrate a European angle into their own research work while at Bangor.

Internationalisation – Staff and Student Recruitment

Professor Cahill is also driving the School’s Internationalisation strategy at Undergraduate level. In addition, all Law School academic staff participate in foreign recruitment, research and teaching exchanges.

For example, in the 2010 intake of 125 Undergraduate students, Bangor Law has some 20 International students from countries such as Nigeria, Canada, India, Bangladesh, China. Bangor also participates in welcoming European students on Erasmus / Socrates from countries such as Germany, France and Spain.

The staff of the Law School are recruited at the highest level, recent recruits being graduates of Cambridge, Cardiff, LSE, Queen Mary, Aberystwyth, College of Europe.

Student focused activities have also been a successful vehicle for raising international student visibility. For example, having served as Editor of the Irish Journal of European Law since 2004, Professor Cahill was honoured in 2008, and again in 2009, by the European Moot Court Competition selecting Bangor University Law School as its UK venue of choice for its European Regional Final in 2 consecutive years, bringing 12 international teams annually to Bangor from the some of the world’s top universities. In 2009, Columbia defeated Leiden in the Bangor Regional final to advance to the World Finals at Luxembourg.

5. Visiting Appointments:

Professor Cahill holds several prestigious Visiting Appointments, including:

Visiting Professor at University of Toulouse I, France
Guest Professor at Central South University, Hunan, China

Previous Visiting Appointments include:

De Paul University Chicago
Paris XII (Nanterre)

6. Externships:

Professor Cahill holds several prestigious External Examiner appointments including:

Law Society of Ireland (1996 – 2003)
Irish Bar (1998-2010)
Law Society of Ireland QLTT Examiner (1996-2010)
Trinity College Dublin (2003 – 2006)
Cardiff University (2004 – 2008)
DCU (2006 – 2010)

7. Conferences:

Recent conferences include:

Lisbon Treaty Conference, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University College London, together with Professor Alan Dashwood, Cambridge and Professor Steve Peers, Essex (July 2008)
Single Market Review Conference, University of Liverpool (in co-operation with European Commission: paper on Services of General Economic Interest & State Aid, Procurement & Competition interface (International Conference, June 2009)
European Law Conference, Irish Centre for European Law, Trinity College/ Law Society: paper on Doctrine of Direct Effect & Interpreting EU Directives (June 2009)
Legal Wales Annual Conference 2009 (Keynote Speaker Sir Igor Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Delivered paper on The Future of Legal Education in Wales, Cardiff, 2009)

8. Other Appointments

He has also held several prestigious appointments including:

Chairman, Irish Society of European Law (2004 – 2006)
Chairman, College of Europe, Bruges National Selection Committee
Adviser, Ministerial Level Wales Business Procurement Task Force (2008-2010)

Professor Cahill has also worked as a specialist European Commercial Law legal advisor in one of Ireland’s largest law firms in the early 1990s.
Professor Cahill has also worked as a National Research Expert on Internal Market Harmonisation issues in a collaboration between the College of Europe and DG III of the European Commission, in the run-up to the adoption of the 1992 EC Internal Market programme.
He is a qualified CEDR Accredited Commercial Mediator (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London).