John Cartwright (born 1957[1]) is the Professor of the Law of Contract at the University of Oxford, a Student (Fellow) of Christ Church, and a qualified Solicitor.[2] He sat Honour Moderations in Classics in 1978, but decided to become a lawyer and transferred courses, gaining a BA in Jurisprudence from the university in 1981. Afterwards, he read the BCL.
Cartwright was appointed an Official Student of Christ Church after graduation and has been a Tutor of Law since 1982. In 2004 he was appointed Reader in the Law of Contract at the university. He has been Professor of the Law of Contract since 2008.
Further, he has been Professor of Anglo-American Private Law at the University of Leiden since 2007 and is a visiting professor to the Panthéon-Assas University ('Panthéon-Assas'). He speaks French fluently and has a profound interest in French law and in the promotion of the ties between the Universities of Oxford and Paris. Cartwright flies to Europe about once a week.
Cartwright has written extensively on English contract law, comparative law and land law; his other areas of interest and research include Roman law and tort law.His publications include: