Hugh Laddie

Sir Hugh Ian Lang Laddie (15 April 1946 – 28 November 2008 ) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales. He was a leader in the field of intellectual property law. He was co-author of the Modern Law of Copyright (1980).

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 developed the idea of applying for an Anton Piller order while still a junior. After 25 years at the bar, he was appointed a High Court judge in April 1995, and was assigned to the Chancery Division, as one of the Patents Court judges.

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, a boutique law firm, UK legal arm of Rouse & Co International, a move which was criticised by some. He was 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.

He was appointed to a Chair in Intellectual Property Law at University College London, with effect from 1 September 2006. He founded there the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law. The Sir Hugh Laddie chair in Intellectual Property has subsequently been established at UCL.

Personal life
Hugh Laddie married Stecia Zamet in 1970. He died of cancer on 28 November 2008, aged 62.