About
Research
Email: michael.pugh@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
I lead the LLM in International Business Law. As a practising solicitor who previously ran the Moscow capital markets and restructuring practices at Hogan Lovells, employability is hard-wired into my teaching. I also teach undergrads and have taught company law, contract law, business law and legal writing.
About:
Michael read Modern Languages and European Studies (French and Russian) at Bath University. After graduating, he worked in the Ukrainian gas industry for two years before undertaking the PostGraduate Diploma in Law at Nottingham Law School. He qualified as a solicitor (England and Wales) with Lovell White Durrant and was the first of his intake to make partner in 2008 at Hogan Lovells.
Michael led the capital markets and restructuring practices at Hogan Lovells in Moscow before returning to the UK. Michael has advised start-ups in the fintech industry, including Anna Money, and he acts as an expert in finance in Russia between 2003 and 2014. Immediately prior to joining St Mary’s, Michael was a senior lecturer at London South Bank University.
Michael is a keen equestrian and has played polo and ridden in South Africa, Kamchatka, Kabardino-Balkaria, Transylvania and Serbia. Michael spent three months riding from Moscow to Romania when he left Russia and his book Riding through War and Peace will be published in the summer of 2026. Michael has a passion for literature and is director of the Llangwm Literary Festival.
Qualifications:
- BA (Hons) Modern Language and European Studies (2:1)
- University of Bath Post-Graduate Diploma in Law, Nottingham Law School
- Legal Practice Course, Nottingham Law School Solicitor (England and Wales)
Membership of professional bodies:
- Member of the Law Society (England and Wales)
- Member of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators
Research
Research profile
Teaching and research:
Michael teaches International Economic Law, International Commercial Arbitration, the English Legal System.
He is an expert on business in Russia and Ukraine having first visited Moscow in 1992 and having spent over 10 years working with Ukraine and Russia, between 1995 and 2015.
Michael is the author of ReviseSQE Contract Law, as well as articles on Ukraine for the Royal Geographical Society, the Sunday Times, and numerous other publications