Or Brook

University of Leeds – United Kingdom

I am an Associate Professor of Competition Law and Policy at the School of Law at the University of Leeds, and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Law and Practice.

Get in touch

Board member

Biography by Or Brook

I am more than honoured to serve as President of ESELS in 2026-2027.

Perhaps surprisingly, I first encountered legal empirical methodologies while practicing at a large law firm. We used content analysis and systematic approaches to case law to predict case outcomes and understand judges’ tendencies. Later, during my PhD at the Amsterdam Centre of European Law and Governance, I began applying these methods more deeply, especially systematic content analysis of legal texts.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed expanding my methodological toolkit and learning more about these approaches. I particularly enjoy using legal empirical methodologies to highlight gaps between black letter law and how it’s applied in practice. They’re also incredibly useful for comparative purposes, showing how different jurisdictions handle the same or similar legal provisions.

I believe that ESELS has significant potential to shape the future of legal research and policy, particularly in Europe. Many universities and policymakers across Europe are only beginning to explore empirical legal tools. In the past, I’ve felt there wasn’t a clear scholarly community to share best practices or brainstorm ideas. I hope ESELS can step into this gap and foster collaboration – both in the conferences and the new journal!