D. Rhidian Thomas, Emeritus Professor of maritime law at University of Swansea will be the guest speaker for the Tetley Maritime Lecture which will take place on Wednesday, April 5 at 5 p.m. in room 110. A reception will follow in the MPR. 

Professor Thomas' lecture is titled, "P & I Insurance: Perceptions and Conundrums." The lecture will explore the International Group of P & I Clubs, the major provider of third-party liability insurance to global shipping, which makes a significant contribution to the development of international public policy relating to shipping and the marine environment. The lecture will highlight the nature, breadth, and characteristics of the cover and its relation to the internal management structure of Group Clubs. The insurance is markedly different from market insurance in so far as the cover may be fluid and discretionary, and this raises questions about the duties and responsibilities of internal managers. The claims procedure is analyzed in the context of private international law concepts relating to choice of law and jurisdiction, with particular reference to third-party direct rights of action under national law and international maritime liability conventions.

Thomas is the Founding Director of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law at Swansea University, Wales, UK. Previously, he held academic positions at other universities in the UK and visiting positions at universities in Europe, Scandinavia and the Far East. He has held the Francqui Chair at the University of Leuven and received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Gothenburg.

Professor Thomas is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Maritime Law, and a member of the editorial board of Shipping & Trade Law. He is a member of the Comite Maritime International (and its International Standing Committee on Marine Insurance), the British Maritime Law Association and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators,  and an Honorary Member of the Croatian Maritime Law Association.

His principal teaching and research interests are in the fields of maritime and shipping law, marine insurance law, international trade law and commercial arbitration. He has written, edited and contributed to many books and published widely in academic and professional journals. In particular, he has authored books on maritime liens, appeals from commercial arbitration and default powers of arbitrators. He is also editor and contributor to the Modern Law of Marine Insurance series of volumes.  He was a member of the UK Departmental Advisory Committee on Arbitration Law which drafted the UK Arbitration Act 1996.