LLB(Wales), MA (Sheffield), LL.D(Hon) (Gothenburg) ACIArb, Emeritus Professor of Maritime Law, Founding Director of the IISTL
Professor Thomas is a graduate of the Universities of Wales and Sheffield, and was appointed Professor of Maritime Law and Director of the Institute of Shipping and Trade Law at the School of Law, Swansea in 2000. He served as Director of the Institute until September 2010 and now retains the title of the Founding Director. Previously he was Professor of Law at the University of East Anglia and has taught at many overseas institutions including the National University of Singapore, University of Windsor, Canada, University of Gothenberg, Sweden, University of Bologna, Italy, and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta. From 1989 to 1999 he was adjunct Professor of Law on the University of Detroit Mercy London Law Programme and Director of the Lloyd’s List Shipping Law Seminars.
He was a member of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Arbitration Law which drafted the Arbitration Act 1996. In 2010/2011 he held the Franqui Chair at the University of Leuven, Belgium and in 2014 delivered the Professor Kurt Gronfors Memorial Lecture at Gothenburg University. In 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Gothenburg University and in 2022 delivered the Professor William Tetley Memorial Lecture at Tulane University (USA).
He is a member of the Comite Maritime International (and the Standing Committee on Marine Insurance Law), the British Maritime Law Association (former Chairman of the Sub-committee on Mortgages and Ship Arrest), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and Honorary Member of the Croatian Maritime Law Association.
He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Maritime Law and a member of the editorial boards of Shipping & Trade Law and Comparative Maritime Law.
His teaching and research interests are in the fields of Admiralty, maritime and shipping law, marine insurance law, international trade law and dispute resolution. He has authored, edited and contributed to many books and published widely in academic and professional journals. He is currently editing volume 5 in The Modern Law of Marine Insurance series.
He also acts as a consultant and expert witness.