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Hugh Laddie

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Hugh Laddie
High Court Judge
In office
1995–2005
Sir Hugh Laddie Chair
In office
2006–2008
Succeeded byRobin Jacob
Personal details
OccupationJurist

Sir Hugh Ian Lang Laddie (15 April 1946 – 28 November 2008[1]) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales.[2][3][4] He was a leader in the field of intellectual property law.[5] He was co-author of the Modern Law of Copyright (1980).[6]

Laddie was educated at Aldenham School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He studied medicine but changed to law.[5] He became a barrister in 1969.[5] He is credited with having developed the idea of applying for an Anton Piller order[7] while still a junior.[8] After 25 years at the bar, he was appointed a High Court judge in April 1995,[9] and was assigned to the Chancery Division, as one of the Patents Court judges.

He resigned from his post as a judge in 2005, "because he found it boring" and felt isolated on the bench.[9] He became a consultant for Willoughby & Partners, a boutique law firm, UK legal arm of Rouse & Co International,[4][10] a move which was criticised by some.[11] He was thought to be the first High Court judge to resign voluntarily in 35 years,[3] and the first subsequently to join a firm of solicitors.[4] No one since Sir Henry Fisher, in 1970, had resigned from the bench.[2]

He was appointed to a Chair in Intellectual Property Law at University College London, with effect from 1 September 2006.[12] He founded there the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law.[6] The Sir Hugh Laddie chair in Intellectual Property has subsequently been established at UCL.

Personal life

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Hugh Laddie married Stecia Zamet in 1970.[6] He died of cancer on 28 November 2008, aged 62.[3]

References

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  1. ^ According to The Guardian and Bloomberg, he died on 28 November 2008 (The Guardian, Obituary, 2 December 2008, and Caroline Byrne, "Former Judge, London Law Professor Hugh Laddie Dies at 62", Bloomberg L.P., 2 December 2008. Archived 23 July 2012 at archive.today).
  2. ^ a b The Guardian, obituary.
  3. ^ a b c Caroline Byrne, "Former Judge, London Law Professor Hugh Laddie Dies at 62", Bloomberg L.P., 2 December 2008. Consulted on 2 December 2008. Archived 23 July 2012 at archive.today
  4. ^ a b c Joshua Rozenberg, 'Bored' High Court judge resigns[dead link], The Daily Telegraph, 22 June 2005.
  5. ^ a b c The Times, obituary.
  6. ^ a b c Daily Telegraph, obituary.
  7. ^ See, e.g., UCL News ("he is credited with having invented the 'Anton Piller' (search and seizure) order and was described by Lord Denning as the 'enterprising' Mr Laddie."); Rouse Archived 1 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine ("He is widely credited as being the founding father of the Anton Piller Order."); Howard Knopf ("It was he as a young barrister at the age of 29 who developed the remedy known as the 'Anton Piller order' and won the landmark appellate ruling in a judgment written by Lord Denning confirming its historic place in legal history")
  8. ^ He took silk in 1986. TimesOnLine; UCL.
  9. ^ a b Frances Gibb, "Definitely no regrets: there is life beyond the High Court", The Times, 16 May 2006 – via The Times Digital Archive
  10. ^ A Tribute to Professor Sir Hugh Laddie QC Archived 1 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Rouse & Co.
  11. ^ John Walsh: Tales of the city. Where will it end? Ambition, ties and socks are all being left behind in the pursuit of fun The Independent, 23 June 2005
  12. ^ UCL press release Archived 6 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 16 May 2006
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