Staff profile

Ms. Lana Ashby joined Durham Law School on October 1, 2014 and presently holds the post of Assistant Professor (Education) in Private Law. Prior to this, she was a Lecturer in Law at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados where she taught Corporate Insolvency Law, Corporate Finance Law and Contract Law. Before teaching at The University of the West Indies, she pursued a Bachelor of Laws at the same institution and a Master of Laws in Corporate and Commercial Law at The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, with specialities in Corporate Insolvency, Corporate Finance Law, Corporate Governance and Intellectual Property Law. She is a recipient of the prestigious National Development Scholarship (Barbados) for studies in areas critical to national development. She presently holds a postgraduate qualification in University Teaching and Learning and has pursued with distinction a qualification in international insolvency law.

In 2014, her paper “To what extent can a receiver rely on third parties when discharging his power of sale?”, which considered recent, interesting developments, was warmly received at a judges’ colloquium hosted by The Caribbean Court of Justice, Trinidad and Tobago. This is the Court of final appeal for a number of Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions. Prior to this, she presented a comparative paper on critical post-financial crisis insolvency issues at a conference in Miami. This paper is now published.

She has also served as a Consultant to the Access to Justice Impact (Project) which is funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, where she produced regional comparative analysis on laws affecting women's access to justice in the Commonwealth Caribbean. This included matters such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, marital rape, recognition of cohabitational relationships, access to property and equal rights and opportunity. In the second phase of this project, she analysed the statutory frameworks of regional money laundering and anti-corruption legislation.

In 2015/2016, she undertook one of her greatest achievements to date, serving as Regional Expert on Company Law to the IMPACT Justice Project, funded by the Government of Canada. Her report ‘Bridging the Gap? A Status Report on Company Law in the CARICOM Region: 142 Recommendations with a view to Reform’ is critical to the development and reform of company law in 14 jurisdictions in the CARICOM region: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. This extensive report contained 142 recommendations, spanning across 414 pages in 28 Chapters. Using a comparative approach to build a construct for modern approaches, the report critically assessed the advent, development and modern traditions of company law in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The Report assessed the breadth of company law, from company formation and operation, protection of creditors and investors to winding up. 

She presently serves as a Reviewer in the area of Contract Law for Oxford University Press, a Subject panel expert in the area of Restructuing and Insolvency Law for LexisNexis (in LexisASK) and a Contributor to Westlaw Insight in the area of Contract and Insolvency Law.

Esteem Indicators

Teaching

2019 - Durham's Women Making a Difference

2019 - Law Teacher of the Year (Durham Law School)

2018 - Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year (Finalist - one of six finalists for Law Teacher of the Year) [National Award]

2018 - Northern Law Teacher of the Year (Finalist) [Regional Award]

2018 - Law Teacher of the Year (Durham Law School)

2018 - Recognised by University for Excellence in Teaching (Celebrating Excellence)

2017 - Durham University Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award

2017 - Law Teacher of the Year (Durham Law School)

2017 - Recognised by University for Excellence in Teaching (Celebrating Excellence)

2016 - Recognised by University for Excellence in Teaching (Celebrating Excellence)

Research

2016 - Regional Expert on Company Law 

Research Areas

Corporate Insolvency Law (Rescue)

Contract Law

Company Law (Comparative approaches, Modern approaches, Commonwealth Caribbean)

 

Research Focus

Modern developments in contract, company and insolvency law

Comparative developments in company law, in particular in developing countries

Supervision

I am interested in supervising papers on any area of present interest in commercial law, in particular company law and contract law. I am particularly interested in insolvency law and would welcome papers on issues of corporate reorganization/restructuring, comparative insolvency law, international insolvency law, critical theoretical analysis of insolvency law (and/or its relevant frameworks) and any commercial law papers which employ an inter-disciplinary approach (e.g. law and economics) or reseach modern innovations in company law.

Teaching Areas

Contract Law

Land Law

Corporate Insolvency Law (LL.M.)

• Company Law (Comparative approaches, Modern approaches, Commonwealth Caribbean
• Contract Law
• Corporate Insolvency Law (Rescue)

• 2017: University recognition for excellence in teaching:
• 2017: Law Teacher of the Year (Durham Law School): Awarded Law Teacher of the Year - Durham University
• 2016: University recognition for excellence in teaching:
• 2016: Regional Expert on Company Law: See profile for further details

Authored book

• Ashby, L. (2017). Bridging the Gap: A Status Report on Company Law in the CARICOM Region: 142 Recommendations with a view to Reform. IMPACT Justice Project
• Ashby, L. (2014). Simplifying Contract Law: Cases and Materials for the Commonwealth Caribbean [787 pages]. Lana Ashby

Conference Paper

• Ashby, L. (2017, December). A Counter-narrative on ‘Fairness’ in Contract Law: A Holistic Assessment of Fairness under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Presented at Fairness in Law-Making, Belfast
• Ashby, L. (2018, December). 'Nudging' our Students Along? An Exploration of the Innovative Use of Nudges to Enhance Student Engagement in Legal Education. Presented at Association of Law Teachers, Keele University, England
• Ashby, L. (2017, December). Engagement, Assessment and Beyond the Classroom: Re-thinking Approaches to Large Class Sizes. Presented at Transatlantic Perspectives on Legal Education: Engaged Learning Across the Small to Large Class Divide, Durham, England
• Ashby, L. (2017, September). Contrasting Views on Engagement: The Student vs The Teacher - The Great Divide?. Presented at Durham University Learning and Teaching Conference, Durham, England
• Ashby, L. (2015, July). 'To what extent can a receiver rely on third parties* when discharging his power of sale?]* Third parties include accountants, valuers, attorneys-at-law, real estate agents et cetera. Paper presented at Judges Colloquium at The Caribbean Court of Justice, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
• Ashby, L. (2017, July). Bridging the Gap: A Status Report on Company Law in the CARICOM Region with Recommendations for Reform. Paper presented at Company Law Reform Seminar, Cave Hill, Barbados
• Ashby, L. (2013, December). More Bark than Bite: Rescue and its Financing in the Commonwealth Caribbean - Lessons from Abroad. Presented at 12th Annual Commonwealth Caribbean Law Conference, Miami, Florida

Journal Article

• Ashby, L. (2015). The enigma of 21st century corporate restructuring: successes and failures (ten-step best-practice framework). Insolvency and restructuring international, 9(2), 9-16
• Ashby, L. (2015). Mild turbulence and crash landings for illegally state-aided European airlines. Corporate rescue and insolvency, 8(1), 15-17
• Ashby, L. (2014). When the car runs out of gas: restructuring in the European automotive sector. Insolvency and restructuring international, 8(2), 48-54
• Ashby, L. (2014). Priority and rescue financing in the Commonwealth Caribbean: lessons from the United States of America, United Kingdom and European Union. Commonwealth law bulletin, 40(2), 317-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2014.899917
• Ashby, L., & Bennett, J. (2014). Post-Financial Crisis Construction of Taxing Statutes: Filling State Coffers - A Commonwealth Caribbean Perspective. The Caribbean law review, 20, 13-37

Other (Print)

• Approach

Report

• Ashby, L. (in press). Advancing Company Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean: Further Steps to Creating a Competitive Framework [103 pages]. [No known commissioning body]
• Ashby, L. (2016). Bridging the Gap? A Status Report on Company Law in the CARICOM Region: 142 Recommendations with a view to Reform [414 pages]. [No known commissioning body]