Michael Lower’s main interests are in the fields of land law, legal education and social ethics. He currently teaches land law and is carrying out research projects looking at the ownership of the family home and at the creation of communities of inquiry in legal education. He has also conducted research looking at employee participation in corporate governance from the legal and social ethics perspectives. Michael was Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) from August 2017 to August 2019. He was also formerly Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and the LLB programme director in the Faculty of Law at CUHK. He has extensive teaching and research supervision experience. Michael was one of the recipients of the Faculty’s Teaching Excellence Awards in 2020.

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• LL.B. (Hons) University of Manchester
• M. Phil. University of Manchester
• Solicitor (non-practising) of England and Wales
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (United Kingdom)
• Ph.D. Lancaster University

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Property Law
• Legal education

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Books

• Employee participation in corporate governance. A legal and ethical analysis, (Cambridge University Press, 2010) (paperback edition published in 2019)
• Principles of Equity and Trusts Law in Hong Kong, with Lawrence Ma (LexisNexis, 2009)

Articles and chapters

• ‘The communities of inquiry pedagogy in higher education’, (2021) Academia Letters, Article 268. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL268
• ‘Luo Xing Juan v Estate of Hui Shui See: Promissory estoppel where the family home is owned by a company’, [2019] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 274 – 279
• ‘From student as producer to student as consumer’, HERDSA Connect (2019) 41(3) p, 27
• ‘Liden v Burton: Proprietary estoppel and the family home’, [2018] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 84 – 91
• ‘Marriage and the acquisition of a beneficial interest in the family home in Hong Kong’, [2016] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 453 – 465
• ‘The Pallant v Morgan equity’ [2012] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 379 – 386
• ‘The constructive trust: from common intention to relationship? Kerr v Baranow’ [2011] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 515 – 521
• ‘Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust. Opening Pandora’s Box’, (2011) 22 King’s Law Journal 403 – 413
• Landlord and Tenant’ in Chitty on Contracts: Hong Kong Specific Contracts (Hong Kong & London Sweet & Maxwell, 2010)
• “Using podcasts to support students in a land law class”, (with Keith Thomas and Annisa Ho) Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on e-learning
• “The Bruton tenancy”, (2010) 1 Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 38 – 56.
• “Christian anthropology and the theory of the firm”, (2008) 5 Journal of Catholic Social Thought 413 – 435
• “John Paul II and Employee Participation in Corporate Governance”, (2007) 21 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy 111 – 158
• “Subsidiarity and employee participation in Corporate Governance”, (2005) 2 Journal of Catholic Social Thought 431 – 461
• “57 Channels and Nothing On”, (2003) 12 Information & Communication Technology Law 147 – 162
• “The Modernising Company Law White Paper and SMEs”, Sweet & Maxwell Special Report (2003)
• “The Regulation of Intra-Group Transactions” in The Reform of United Kingdom Company Law, J. de Lacy (ed), (Cavendish Publishing, London, 2002)
• “Limited liability for small, closely-held businesses”, (2000) 22 Liverpool Law Review 1 – 12
• “Good faith and the partly-owned subsidiary”, [2000] Journal of Business Law 232 – 253.
• “Joint Ventures” in Regulating Enterprise: Law and Business Organisations in the UK, D. Milman (ed). (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 1999)

Presentations

• ‘Collaborative inquiry-based learning at the heart of undergraduate teaching’ (with Vivian Chen) Teaching and Learning Expo, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 30 July 2020.
• ‘Students as producers: student-led, collaborative, inquiry-based learning’ (with Vivian Chen) Directions in Legal Education, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 18 – 20 June 2020.
• ‘Students as producers: student-led, collaborative, inquiry-based learning’, 42nd Annual HERDSA Conference, University of Auckland (2 – 5 July 2019)
• ‘Forming a community of inquiry in an undergraduate course’ 41st Annual HERDSA Conference, Adelaide (2 – 5 July 2018)
• ‘Forming a community of inquiry in an undergraduate course’, The Association of Law Teachers Conference, Keele University (17 – 18 March 2018)
• ‘Student control of the means of knowledge production’, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Teaching and Learning Expo, 16 December 2016
• ‘Learning in collaborative groups’, Teaching and Learning seminar, Faculty of Law, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 28 October 2016
• ‘Blended learning: Using Blackboard to create a Community of Inquiry’, School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 13 June 2016
• ‘Blended learning: Using Blackboard to create a Community of Inquiry’, Directions in Legal Education. Conference on Teaching and Learning in Law. Faculty of Law, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4 June 2016
• ‘Ownership of the family home’, Land Law Conversation, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong, 29 April 2016 (organised by the Asian Institute of International Financial Law)
• ‘The rights and duties of property owners under the BMO and DMC’, Building Safety Symposium, 22 April 2016 (organised by the Buildings Department)
• ‘Ownership of the family home’, Research Seminar, Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 20 March 2016
• ‘Using Blackboard to create a Community of Inquiry’, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Teaching and Learning Expo, 16th December 2015

Book Reviews

• “National corporate law in a globalised market” by David Milman (2010) 2 Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
• “Working within two kinds of capitalism. Corporate governance and employee stakeholding. US and EC perspectives”, by Irene Lynch Fannon, (2003) 3 Journal of Corporate Law Studies 435 – 438

Working Papers

• Natural Law and Agency Theory (29 March 2006). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=894040
• The Corporation: Reality or Fiction? (20 January 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1330303
• Employee participation in corporate governance: an ethical analysis (20th May 2009). Available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1408360
• Some of these are available at http://works.bepress.com/michael_lower/

Blog and SCMP articles

• Click here for a link to Michael Lower’s Hong Kong land law blog.
• Click here for links to articles written for the SCMP

TEACHING AND LEARNING GRANTS

• Co-Principal Investigator, Courseware Development Grant awarded by CUHK for Developing students’ collaborative skills – micro-modules during the period 2018-03 to 201902 for the sum of HKD 94,956.00
• Co-Principal Investigator, Teaching Development and Learning Enhancement Grant awarded by CUHK for Online and blended problem based learning pilot project during the period 2018-03 to 2019-06 for the sum of HKD 599,100.00
• Principal Investigator, Teaching Development and Learning Enhancement Grant awarded by CUHK for Learn with a purpose: Forging a community of inquiry in an undergraduate law course during the period 2017-11 to 2019-06 for the sum of HKD 66,300.00