Professor Eleanor SHARPSTON KC is a well-known British lawyer, one of the brave women who - against many odds - managed to succeed in the world of legal practice at the time when it was anything but common.
For over fourteen years she was the British Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union where she delivered many seminal opinions in such cases as Ruiz Zambrano, Slovak Bears, Bougnaoui, Singapore Trade Agreement or Temporary Relocation. However, Eleanor SHARPSTON KC is much more than a distinguished lawyer. She is a polymath: a talented musician (she regularly joins on stage two Luxembourg orchestras), she also has a black belt in Karate, is a qualified sailor, keen rower, a polyglot, rides motorbikes, and has won squash competitions.
All these themes will be touched upon on 9 January 2025 during the Fireside Chat between Professor Eleanor SHARPSTON KC and Professor Adam ŁAZOWSKI, Visiting Professor and Scientific Coordinator of the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair at the College of Europe in Natolin.
Here is the recorded livestream of the fireside chat:
About the guest:
Professor Eleanor SHARPSTON KC is an English barrister who served as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) from 2006 to 2020. Eleanor SHARPSTON studied economics, languages and law at King's College, Cambridge (1973–77), followed by university teaching and research at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1977–80). She was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1980 and was a barrister in private practice from 1980 to 1987 and from 1990-2005; King's Counsel (1999); and Bencher of Middle Temple (2005). In the intervening years (1987–90) she worked as legal secretary (référendaire) in the Chambers of Advocate General, subsequently Judge, Sir Gordon Slynn later Lord Slynn of Hadley.
She was also a lecturer in EC and comparative law and Director of European Legal Studies at University College London (1990–92), and then a lecturer (1992–98), and subsequently affiliated lecturer (1998–2005), in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. She was a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Legal Studies of the University of Cambridge (1998–2005) and remains a fellow of King's College, Cambridge (since 1992).
Photo source: Trinity College Dublin website