Dr Ronan Feehily

Associate Professor

Affiliations
Affiliation	Telephone
Associate Professor in the Durham Law School

Biography

Ronán Feehily BComm (Hons) LLB (Hons) MBA (NUI), LLM (Dub), PhD (UCT), DipArb (NUI), PGCAP (Dunelm), PGCTT (Cant), FCIArb, FHEA, Solicitor (Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales), CEDR Accredited Mediator

Dr Ronán Feehily is Associate Professor of Commercial Law at Durham University and an experienced commercial lawyer, arbitrator and mediator. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, CEDR Accredited Mediator and Member of the Mediation Committee of the International Bar Association. His research interests lie primarily in the field of international commercial dispute resolution. Additional research interests include corporate governance, international trade and legal education. An award-winning researcher, his publications include 5 authored books, 20 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals in the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, Mauritius and Ireland, 1 edited book and a book chapter. He has also delivered 20 conference papers at leading conferences in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius and Ireland.

Dr Feehily’s monograph, International Commercial Mediation, Law and Regulation in Comparative Context, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. In this comprehensive comparative study, Dr Feehily analyses the legal and regulatory issues surrounding international commercial mediation and discusses their implications in a range of settings. The book is recognised as the leading treatise on this emerging area of international commercial law, as reflected in the positive reviews it has received from leading academics on both sides of the Atlantic. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Dr Feehily has created research led modules on international commercial mediation (LLB and LLM) and international commercial arbitration (LLB) at Durham Law School.

TEACHING

• International Commercial Mediation (LLB & LLM)

• International Commercial Arbitration (LLB & LLM)

• Commercial Law (LLB)

• International Trade Law (LLM)

ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES

• Chair of the LLM Board of Examiners

• Director for International Development

RESEARCH

Books

Authored

• Ronán Feehily & Raymond Tiong, ‘An Introduction to the Law of Contract in New Zealand’, Thomson Reuters, Wellington, New Zealand (2024).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘International Commercial Mediation: Law and Regulation in Comparative Context’, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom (2022).

• Ronán Feehily & Raymond Tiong, ‘Commercial Law and the Legal System’, Thomson Reuters, Wellington, New Zealand (2020).

• Jonathan Barrett & Ronán Feehily, ‘Understanding Company Law’, LexisNexis, Wellington, New Zealand (2019). This title is also included in Miller & Barber, Barrett & Feehily, ‘Understanding Commercial and Company Law’, A Custom Publication, LexisNexis, Wellington, New Zealand (2019).

• Ronán Feehily & Raymond Tiong, ‘An Introduction to the Law of Contract in New Zealand’, Thomson Reuters, Wellington, New Zealand (2018).

Edited

• Ronán Feehily & Sobhanund Seeparsad, ‘Governance, Globalisation and Dispute Resolution’, Star Publications, New Delhi, India (2017).

Chapter in Book

• Ronán Feehily, ‘An Alternative Approach to Postgraduate Legal Education’ in ‘Governance, Globalisation and Dispute Resolution’, Star Publications, New Delhi, India (2017), 46-64.

Journal Articles (Peer-reviewed)

• Julia Yonghua Wu, Ronán Feehily & Beverley Rae Lord, ‘The Corporate Governance Role of Audit Committees: Through the Lenses of New Zealand Institutional Investors’, Australian Accounting Review (Volume 32, Issue 1, 2022, 63-76).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Commercial Mediation and the Costs Conundrum’, Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (Volume 23, Issue 1, 2019, 1-53).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Neutrality, Independence and Impartiality in International Commercial Arbitration: A Fine Balance in the Quest for Arbitral Justice’, Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs (Volume 7, Issue 1, 2019, 88-114).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Separability in International Commercial Arbitration: Confluence, Conflict and the Appropriate Limitations in the Development and Application of the Doctrine’, Arbitration International (Volume 34, Issue 3, 2018, 355-383).

• Yeshnah Rampall & Ronán Feehily, ‘The Sanctity of Party Autonomy and the Powers of Arbitrators to Determine the Applicable Law: The Quest for an Arbitral Equilibrium’, Harvard Negotiation Law Review (Volume 23, Spring 2018, 345-403).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Creeping Compulsion to Mediate: The Constitution and the Convention’, Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly (Volume 69, Issue 2, 2018, 127-146).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Learning to Think Like a Lawyer’, MIE Journal of Education (Volume 9, Issue 1, 2018, 23-40).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Problem Based Learning and International Commercial Dispute Resolution in the Indian Ocean’, International Journal of Legal Education/The Law Teacher (Volume 52, Issue 1, 2018, 17-37).

• Jonathan Bruneau & Ronán Feehily, ‘The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A Threat to the International Trading System or the Panacea for the Economic Predicaments Faced by the EU and the USA?’, Connecticut Journal of International Law, (Volume 33, Fall 2017, 43-92).

• Avinash Poorooye & Ronán Feehily, ‘Confidentiality and Transparency in International Commercial Arbitration: Finding the Right Balance’, Harvard Negotiation Law Review (Volume 22, Spring 2017, 275-323).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Role of the Lawyer in the Mediation Process; A Critical Analysis of the Legal and Regulatory Issues’, South African Law Journal (Volume 133, Issue 2, 2016, 351-387).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Commercial Mediation Agreements and Enforcement in South Africa’, Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa (Volume 49, Issue 2, 2016, 305-352).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Certainty of Settlement’, Stellenbosch Law Review (Volume 27, Issue 1, 2016, 25-58).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Contractual Certainty of Commercial Agreements to Mediate in Ireland’, Irish Journal of Legal Studies (Volume 6, Issue 1, 2016, 59-105).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Confidentiality in Commercial Mediation; A Fine Balance’, Part II, Journal of South African Law/Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg (Issue 4, 2015, 719-737).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Confidentiality in Commercial Mediation; A Fine Balance’, Part I, Journal of South African Law/Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg (Issue 3, 2015, 516-536).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Commercial Mediation: Commercial Conflict Panacea or an Affront to Due Process and the Justice Ideal?’, Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa (Volume 48, Issue 2, 2015, 317-357).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Role of the Commercial Mediator in the Mediation Process; A Critical Analysis of the Legal and Regulatory Issues’, South African Law Journal (Volume 132, Issue 2, 2015, 372-410).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Legal Status and Enforceability of Mediated Settlement Agreements’, Hibernian Law Journal (Volume 12, Issue 1, 2013, 1-26).

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Costs Sanctions: The Critical Instrument in the Development of Commercial Mediation in South Africa’, South African Law Journal (Volume 126, Issue 2, 2009, 291-315).

REPORTS

• Contributed to the Irish Law Reform Commission report Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mediation and Conciliation, LRC 98-2010. The report ultimately led to the introduction of the Mediation Act 2017, which provided a legal framework for the use of mediation in civil and commercial disputes in Ireland. Contribution acknowledged at page vii of the report.

• Research (Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly Volume 69, Issue 2, 2018, 127-146) cited in the UK Civil Justice Council report Compulsory ADR, June 2021, page 23, in support of the Council’s conclusion that mandatory ADR is lawful and should be encouraged.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Complementary Legal Pluralism’, Australasian Law Academics Association Annual Conference, University of Canterbury, NZ, 6-8 July 2023.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Distinguishing Cultural and Biological Behaviour: Avoiding Ethnocentricity in International Commercial Mediation’, Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, Ulster University, UK, 4-6 April 2023.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Evolution or Revolution: Experiential Learning and Assessment in Legal Education’, Australasian Law Academics Association Annual Conference, Monash University, Australia, 7-9 July 2022.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Protecting the Public and the Parties in Commercial Mediation, Resolving Conflicting Interests’, Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, Durham University, UK, 31 August-3 September 2021.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Designing a Corporate Model to Broaden the Range of Enforceable Remedies Available to Stakeholders: An Analysis of Reforms in the UK, Canada, Singapore and South Africa’, Australasian Corporate Law Teachers Association Annual Conference, University of Sydney, Australia, 7-9 February 2021.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Limits of Arbitral Jurisdiction’, Australasian Law Academics Association & Centre for Professional Legal Education Joint Virtual Conference, University of Sydney & Bond University, Australia, 1-3 October 2020.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Arbitrability of Illegal Contracts: Balancing Competing Public Policies’, Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, University of Exeter, UK, 1-4 September 2020.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Mitigated Mandatory Mediation: Operating within the Contours of Acceptable Public Policy’, Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, University of Leeds, UK, 3-5 April 2019.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Mediation as an Instrument of Transitional Justice’, Harvard Negotiation Law Review Symposium on Redressing Harm Through Restorative Justice, Harvard University, USA, 5-8 February 2019.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Institutional Shareholders and Non-Executive Directors: Divergent Gatekeepers in the Pursuit of Effective Corporate Governance’, Australasian Corporate Law Teachers Association Annual Conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 3-5 February 2019.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Commercial Mediation and the Costs Conundrum: A Roadmap for the Irish Judiciary’, Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, Athlone, Ireland, 23-25 November 2018.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Neutrality, Independence and Impartiality in International Commercial Arbitration: A Fine Balance in the Quest for Arbitral Justice’, Cambridge International Law Conference, University of Cambridge, UK, 3-4 April 2018.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Enlightened Shareholder Value in UK Company Law: A Hybrid Euphemism for a Right without a Remedy’, Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, University of Bristol, UK, 27-29 March 2018.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Effective Assessment of Reflective Learning’, Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, Keele University, UK, 26-27 March 2018.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Compulsion to Mediate: Commercial Conflict Panacea or an Unjust Response to Systemic Pressures and Court Backlogs?’, Fairness in Law-Making Conference, Queens University Belfast, UK, 19 May 2017.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Preparing Law Students to Make Judgements in a Context of Uncertainty’, Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, University of Portsmouth, UK, 10-11 April 2017.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Balancing Corporate Activity with Conflicting Corporate Governance Stakeholder Interests’, Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, Newcastle University, UK, 5-7 April 2017.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘Bridging the Academic/Vocational Divide in Legal Education’, Teaching and Learning Conference, St. Aidan’s College, Durham University, UK, 13 September 2016.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Public Policy Drive in Europe towards Settlement and the Implications that the Consequent Emerging EU Jurisprudence Has for Disputing Commercial Parties in Accessing Courts’, Jean Monnet EU Law Conference, Port Louis, Mauritius, 18-19 July 2016.

• Ronán Feehily, ‘The Integration of Problem Based Learning into Undergraduate and Postgraduate Law Courses on International Commercial Dispute Resolution’, Research in Education Conference, Middlesex University, Mauritius, 20 July 2015.