Joe Sampson

Dr Joe Sampson is a University Assistant Professor in Legal History at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Law and a Fellow of Trinity College. His work focuses on comparative legal history, particularly examining the interplay between civilian scholarship and common law traditions. He holds a BA in Law and MPhil in Medieval History from Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a PhD (awarded a Yorke Prize) under Prof. David Ibbetson. Previously held positions include Associate Professor at Magdalen College, Oxford (2018–2022) and David Li Fellowship at Selwyn College, Cambridge (2015–2018).

Research interests include medieval and early modern legal thought, the influence of Thomist theology on natural law, and Roman legal traditions. Current projects explore autonomy in medieval civilian scholarship and Romanization in Visigothic law. He supervises doctoral research on topics ranging from medieval debt to 18th-century natural law.

Teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including a new LLM module on comparative legal history analyzing systems from ancient Mesopotamia to modern codifications. His outreach roles at Trinity include admissions tutoring in Arts & Humanities and directing legal studies. Active in research networks like the Cambridge Private Law Centre and Centre for English Legal History.