Patrick Selim Atiyah, (5 March 1931 – 30 March 2018) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lawyer and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. He was best known for his work as a common lawyer, particularly in the law of

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

and for advocating reformation or abolition of the law of

tort A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...

. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1979.

Biography

Patrick Selim Atiyah was born on 5 March 1931. He was a son of the Lebanese writer Edward Atiyah and his Scottish wife Jean. The mathematician Sir

Michael Atiyah Sir Michael Francis Atiyah (; 22 April 1929 – 11 January 2019) was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry. His contributions include the Atiyah–Singer index theorem and co-founding topological K-theory. He was awarded th ...

was his brother. As a child, Patrick lived in Sudan and Egypt. The family moved to England in 1945. Patrick attended primary school at Woking County Grammar School for Boys and went on to read law at Magdalen College, Oxford. Atiyah was professor of law at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

(1970–1973), at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

(1973–1977) and professor of English law at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(1977–1988). He also was visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (1982-1983). He died on 30 March 2018.

Bibliography

;Books *'' Essays on Contract'' (1986), Oxford University Press, Digital Reproduction available at Google Books (2001) *''

Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law ''Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law'' (2006) is a legal text, which marked the first of Cambridge University Press's "Law in Context" series. It was originally authored by English legal scholar, Patrick Atiyah in 1970 and has been take ...

'' (1970), now (2006) and updated by Peter Cane *'' The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract'' (1979) Oxford University Press *'' Promises, Morals, and Law'' (1983) Oxford University Press *''Form and Substance in Anglo-American Law'' (1987). *''An Introduction to the Law of Contract'' (1995 5th Ed.) Clarendon Law Series, now updated by Stephen Smith. *'' The Damages Lottery'' (1997) Hart Publishing. ;Articles *'Economic Duress and the Overborne Will' (1982) 98 '' LQR'' 197. Atiyah argued that it was wrong to use the phrase 'coercion of the will' in the test for

duress Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

. Duress does not eliminate free choice, it just creates a choice between evils. What is wrong about a contract is not an absence of consent, but the wrongful nature of the threats used to bring about consent.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atiyah, Patrick S. 1931 births 2018 deaths Academics of the University of Warwick Australian National University faculty British people of Lebanese descent English barristers English King's Counsel Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of St John's College, Oxford English legal scholars English legal writers Scholars of contract law Scholars of tort law Legal scholars of the University of Oxford English male non-fiction writers Atiyah family 20th-century English lawyers

Biography

Bibliography

See also

Notes