Professor Vanessa Knapp OBE is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London and an Honorary Professor in the Brunel Law School, Brunel University London.  She is the UK representative on the company law committee of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe. She was a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP for many years. She was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2007 for services to corporate law.