Staff profile

Dr Jenifer Varzaly is an Assistant Professor in Commercial and Corporate Law at Durham University Law School, and a Research Associate at the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this, she was an Academic Member of the Cambridge University Law Faculty, and a College Teaching Associate, Director of Studies, and Bye-Fellow in Law, at Downing College, Cambridge University. She completed her PhD at Cambridge University (where she was a Cambridge International & Evan Lewis Thomas Sidney Sussex post holder) and her M.Phil/M.St at Oxford University.

Jenifer has been a visiting academic at Columbia University and at Stanford University, and consulted in the areas of corporate law and finance in the US, Australia, and the UK. She has been invited to present at a range of international forums, including the Oxford University Commercial Law Centre, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. Jenifer is admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Australia, and has served as a director and chair of the governance committee on a public company board.

Jenifer’s research projects are predominantly in the fields of corporate law and governance and law and finance. Her work has notably been cited by judges, research institutes, regulatory bodies, federal standing committees, and in the Parliamentary Report on the Implications of Common Ownership and Capital Concentration in Australia, regarding which Jenifer appeared as an academic expert in Federal Parliament.

*Please note that Dr Varzaly is currently on leave and is therefore not accepting new research students at this time

Author Page for Jenifer Varzaly : SSRN

Teaching Areas

Company Law

Corporate Governance

Contract Law

• Commercial Law
• Corporate Finance
• Corporate Law
• Financial Regulation
• Law and Economics

Book review

• Varzaly, J. (2014). Corporate Governance in the Shadow of the State. Cambridge Law Journal,

Chapter in book

• Varzaly, J. (2020). Towards a Unified Approach to Economic Assessment in International Commercial Law Reform. In O. Akseli, & J. Linarelli (Eds.), The Future of Commercial Law: Ways Forward for Change and Reform. Hart Publishing

Journal Article

• Varzaly, J. (2023). Shareholder concentration and control in Australia. Journal of Corporate Law Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14735970.2023.2227369
• Varzaly, J. (2020). The effectiveness of disclosure law enforcement in Australia. Journal of Corporate Law Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14735970.2020.1791534
• Varzaly, J. (2015). The Enforcement of Directors’ Duties in Australia: An Empirical Analysis. European Business Organization Law Review,
• Varzaly, J. (2012). Protecting the Authority of Directors: An Empirical Analysis of the Statutory Business Judgment Rule. Journal of Corporate Law Studies,
• Varzaly, J. (2010). Judicial Reconsideration of the Nature of Directors' Duties in Australia. International Company and Commercial Law Review,
• Varzaly, J. (2010). Australian developments in consequential loss
• Varzaly, J., & Baron, J. (2009). Innovating Corporate Governance Teaching through Online Scenario-Based Learning. International review of business research papers,
• Varzaly, J. (2008). Do directors’ duties in Australia provide adequate scope for risk-taking? An examination of the current law and defence reform proposals