Professor Möllers studied law at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and at the universities of Dijon, Berkeley, Florence and Munich from 1982 to 1993. He also obtained his doctorate there in 1989 under the guidance of his doctoral supervisor Professor Dr. Walther Hadding. This was followed by his habilitation (postdoctoral lecture qualification) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich under Professor Dr. Wolfgang Fikentscher. In 1996 Professor Möllers was then appointed Professor of Civil Law, Commercial Law, European Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law as well as Managing Director of the Institute for European Legal Systems at the University of Augsburg. In the same year he was also appointed Managing Director of the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELOS). The Summer School "European and International Business Law" was founded in the following year and along with it the exchange program with various US and Chinese universities commenced.

In 2000, Professor Möllers was the head of a research group on the topic " Enforcement of Competition Law" of the Common Core Project in European Private Law in Trento (Italy), and in the same year, the development of a specialist database on European Business Law (Caplaw) followed.

In 2003, Professor Möllers was co-founder of the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC) and in 2008 he was appointed Vice Dean for International Relations of the Law Faculty in Augsburg. Finally, in 2016, the two research centers: "Research Center of Innovation and Legal Studies between Europe and China" (Rice) and the "Augsburg Research Centre of European and American Law" (AREA) were founded.

Main research interests

Legal research requires a connection to the reality of life and has to take into account economic and sociological circumstances in an interdisciplinary way. Proposed legal solutions are indispensable in order to strike a binding balance between the interests of different parties. The globalisation of national economies requires an approach to research that is based on national, European and international law. The research institutions CELOS, RICE, AREA and the CAPLAW database as well as the Jean Monnet Research Project INspiRE can be used for this purpose.

Basics: civil law, legal methodology and work techniques

In addition to contract and tort law, the foundations of law include legal skills and, above all, legal methodology. Used as a theory of argumentation, it helps to develop and justify legal decisions in difficult cases. More than 100 argumentation figures are recognized worldwide. Legal arguments should not only be used in court decisions, but also to a greater extent than before to accelerate political decision-making processes.

European law and European commercial law

European law and European economic law are in a constant flux - the principle of subsidiarity stands in the way of greater harmonisation: fundamental issues for the future are European integration, legal harmonisation and enforcement and, above all, the further development of the European Union. Prof. Dr. Möllers is Director of CELOS; he has been awarded two Jean Monnet Chairs and is speaker of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Enforcement in the field of European Economic Law (consumer, capital market, corporate, state aid and antitrust law).

Capital market and corporate law

Professor Dr. Möllers has helped shape the case law and legislation in German and European capital market law. The dynamics of capital market law force lawyers to constantly fine-tune between insufficient and overshooting law enforcement.

Curriculum Vitae

Most relevant works and papers

Principles of the law

• Legal Methods – How to succesfully work with legal arguments (Juristische Methodenlehre), XLIV, 585 pages, ( Verlag C.H. Beck/Hart Publisher - Munich/Oxford), 2020.

• Legal Technique and Scientific Work (Juristische Arbeitstechnik und wissenschaftliches Arbeiten), ed. 1 -  10, (Verlag Franz Vahlen – München), 2001 - 2021. Chinesische edition: 法律研习方法——作业、考试和论文写作, 1. ed./Nachdruck (Peking University Press – Peking), 2019.

Capital Market Law

• Annotations §§ 12, 13, 23 WpÜG, in: Heribert Hirte/Sebastian Mock (Hrsg.), Cologne Commentary on the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Kölner Kommentar zum Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz – WpÜG - Großkommentar), 1 st – 3rd. ed. (Verlag Carl Heymanns – Köln), 2003/2010/2022.

• Cologne Commentary on the Securities Trading Act (Kölner Kommentar zum Wertpapierhandelsgesetz (WPHG - Großkommentar)) edited by Heribert Hirte/Thomas M. J. Möllers, 1 st - 2 nd ed., 20LVI, 3857 pages, (Verlag Carl Heymanns - Cologne), 2007/2014.

• Ad-hoc-Publication, A Compendium of the Rights and Duties of Listed Corporations and Investors (Ad-hoc-Publizität. Handbuch der Rechte und Pflichten von börsennotierten Unternehmen und Kapitalanlegern) edited by Thomas M. J. Möllers/Klaus Rotter, LI, 535 pages, (Verlag C. H. Beck - Munich), 2003.

European Union and European Economic Law

• European Company Law for Smaller and Mid-Sized Enterprises (Europäisches Gesellschafts- und Unternehmensrecht, kleinere und mittlere Unternehmen) in: Reiner Schulze/Stefan Kadelbach/André Janssen (eds.), European Law, (Europarecht), 1 st – 4 th ed., 2.731 pages, (Nomos Verlag), Baden-Baden, 2006 -    2020.

• The Enforcement of Competition Law in Europe edited by Thomas M.J. Möllers/Andreas Heinemann, 713 pages, (Cambridge University Press - Cambridge), 2007.

• The Role of Law in European Integration The Necessity of a European Legislative Theory and Methodology (Die Rolle des Rechts im Rahmen der Europäischen Integration) VII, 119 pages, (Verlag Mohr Siebeck - Tübingen), 1999; English translation: The Role of Law in European Integration. In Search of a European Identity, XIII, 127 pages (Nova Science Publishers - New York), 2003. 

Bibliography      via SSRN      Publications with download possibility

Excerpt of the lectures of the last three years

• Green Deal, nachhaltige Finanzprodukte – können wir so die Umwelt retten?, EU-Talk anlässlich der 30-Jahres Feier CELOS mit Beiträgen von Martina Benecke, Michael Kort, Thomas M.J. Möllers, Christoph Becker, Carmen Freyler, Augsburg, online-Vortrag - 24. Juni 2021    
• ESG and Sustainable Finance: The European Perspective, Universität Augsburg/University of Auckland, Augsburg, online-Vortrag - 17. Juni 2021
• Wie Juristen Denken, Deutsch-chinesisches Institut für Rechtswissenschaft der Universität Nanjing, Volksrepublik China, online-Vortrag -  6. Mai 2021
• ESG and Sustainable Finance: The European Perspective, Universität Augsburg/University of Auckland, Augsburg, online-Vortrag - 17. Juni 2021
• Green Deal, nachhaltige Finanzprodukte – können wir so die Umwelt retten?, EU-Talk anlässlich der 30-Jahres Feier CELOS mit Beiträgen von Martina Benecke, Michael Kort, Thomas M.J. Möllers, Christoph Becker, Carmen Freyler, Augsburg, online-Vortrag - 24. Juni 2021  
• Legal Reasoning: How Lawyers are thinking, Peking University, Peking (China) -       23 September 2019       
• Google, Amazon, Facebook -   who has a right to my data, Zhe Jiang University, Hangzhou (China) - 16 September 2019
•   Legal Methods: How Lawyers are thinking, Zhe Jiang University, Hangzhou (China) - 16 September 2019 
• Enforcement of Consumer Protection and Capital Market Law, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL  ), Peking (China)  - 12 September 2019
•   Laudatio zum 80. Geburtstag von Herrn Prof. Dr. Herbert Buchner: Einstellung -   aktuelle Probleme und Fallstricke bei der Begründung des Arbeitsverhältnisses, University of Augsburg -   14 June 2019 
• Market conduct regulation in Germany and Europe, Augsburg Johannesburg Conference 2019, Kloster Frauenwörth, Fraueninsel Chiemsee - 8 June 2019
• Better Enforcement  -   The Way Forward, Tagung: Enforcing Consumer and Capital Market Law in Europe, Jean-Monnet-Centre of Excellence „INspiRE“, Augsburg  -   23 May 2019
• Computergesteuerte Sprechempire - was nützt sie dem Recht?, Workshop: Sprachgebrauchsermittlung im Recht, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Heidelberg - 10 May 2019
•   Private Enforcement of EU Competition Law after the Directive 2014/104/EU, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch (South Africa) -   18 April 2019
•    The Volkswagen Diesel Scandal - legal enforcement worldwide, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch (South Africa)  - 17 April 2019
• Short Sell Attacks and Illegal Financial Reports, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch (South Africa)  - 16. April 2019
• The Volkswagen emission scandal -     German, European and US-American implications -   a comparison, University of Sydney, Sydney (Australia) - 11 February 2019
• Legal Reasoning: How Lawyers are thinking - Working with principles, La Trobe University, Melbourne (Australia) - 6 February 2019  

Academic Lectures

2016   

• Establishment of a Jean-Monnet Centre of Excellence „European Integration – Rule of Law and Enforcement (INspiRE)” by the European Union, in cooperation with the professors: Camilleri (Palermo), Ferrand (Lyon), Gsell (Munich), Wollenschläger (Augsburg), Wurmnest (Augsburg) as well as Zhang (Peking)

2011   

• Permanent Visiting Professor at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), Beijing and at the Lanzhou University of Political Science and Law (LUPL) in Lanzhou

2012   

• Member of the Academia Europaea, Section Law (www.acadeuro.org)

2011   

• Member of the European Academy of Science and Arts, Section Social Sciences, Law and Economics (www.euro-acad.eu)

2010   

• Jean-Monnet-Chair ad personam

2005   

• Jean-Monnet-Chair for European Law, Business, Capital Market and Competition Law

As well as appointment as visiting professor at the Universities of Sydney, Pittsburgh, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Pepperdine, Hobart, Washington, Peking, Lyon.

Grants and Third-Party funds

Positions in scientific societies and bodies

2010   

• Chairman of the "Money and Currency" Foundation Board of the Deutsche Bundebank

2010   

• Expert consultant for various institutions (German Bundestag, German Research Foundation, Science Council etc.)

2002   

• Member of the Management Board and Scientific Board of MIPLC (Munich Intellectual Property Law Center)

Professional Services