Hugh Laddie

Who was Hugh Laddie?

Sir Hugh Ian Lang Laddie was a British High Court judge, lawyer, professor, and a specialist in intellectual property law. He was considered one the leading English judges and academics in the field of intellectual property law. He was co-author of the Modern Law of Copyright.

Laddie was educated at Aldenham School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He studied medicine but changed to law. He became a barrister in 1969. He is credited with having invented the Anton Piller order while still a junior. After 25 years at the IP bar, he was appointed as a High Court judge in April 1995, and joined the Chancery Division, mainly hearing cases in the Patents Court.

He resigned from his post as a judge in 2005 "because he found it boring" and felt isolated on the bench. He became a consultant for Willoughby & Partners, an IP boutique and UK legal arm of Rouse & Co International, a move which was criticized by some. He is thought to be the first High Court judge to resign voluntarily in 35 years, and the first subsequently to join a firm of solicitors. No one since Sir Henry Fisher, in 1970, had resigned from the bench.