J. W. Harris

James W. Harris FBA (1940–2004) was a British solicitor, academic and professor of law at Keble College, University of Oxford.

He was born in Southwark, England and he became blind at the age of four. Harris attended the Linton Lodge School and Royal Worcester College until 1959 when he began studying at Wadham College at Oxford. He was a brilliant student, and gifted in athletics including rowing and riding.

He became a solicitor and later returned to Oxford for a Bachelor of Civil Law. He taught at the London School of Economics where he pursued a PhD (subsequently published as Law and Legal Science). He became a Fellow at Keble College at Oxford in 1973, and has also taught in Sydney, Hong Kong and Princeton University. Harris was named as a Fellow of the British Academy and received the Oxford Doctorate of Civil Law.

He was married to Jose Harris, an Oxford historian, and had one son, Hugh who is now an Officer in the Royal Navy. Harris was a devout Anglican.