Best known for establishing unjust enrichment as a branch of English law, he has been described by Andrew Burrows as "the greatest judge of modern times".

In this respect, the former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Stephen Tomlinson said that "no judge has done more than Robert to ensure that the views of legal academic commentators now regularly inform the decision-making in our higher courts".

[3] Instead, Goff spent some time on guard duty at Windsor Castle, and then volunteered to serve in the force being sent to Italy to counter Marshal Tito, where he remained until July 1948.

During this period, he spent his leave travelling and exploring northern Italy, skiing, and pursuing cultural interests, while introducing the men under his command to them.

[3] On occasion, he would combine setting up communications posts with visits with his men to see Italian art, including Michelangelo's David and Piero della Francesca's Polyptych of Perugia.

Together with Ronald Maudsley, then the law tutor at Brasenose College, he set up a series of seminars[2] in Restitution, also described as "Unjustifiable Enrichment" and "Quasi Contract".

[3][5] In 1959, Goff was reading a Law Quarterly Review and came across an article written by Maudsley, which he believed to be based heavily on the material they had prepared in their joint lectures.

[3] A. W. B. Simpson introduced him to Gareth Jones, then fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later Downing Professor of the Laws of England, with whom he would eventually publish the book.

Lord Denning reflected positively on it, calling it "a creative work" and comparing it to Sir Frederick Pollock's treatise on torts and the seminal textbook Anson's Law of Contract.

For example, they were resisted by Lord Diplock, who as late as in 1977 continued to declare judicially that "there is no general doctrine of unjust enrichment recognised in English law".

[14] His choice of junior was Brian Davenport, a close friend whom he described as "exceptionally gifted", but who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties.

[5] Over the course of his practice, he led many juniors, some of whom went on to hold high judicial office, such as Andrew Longmore, Mark Saville, Nick Phillips, and John Hobhouse.

[3][2] In his Maccabean Lecture to the British Academy in 1983, he described the judge and jurist as on a shared "search for principle", saying that it was the fusion of their work that led to the development of the common law.

[20] In Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd in 1986, Goff used elevated language, describing jurists as “pilgrims with [judges] on the endless road to unattainable perfection”.

[21] In 1987, Goff wrote an article titled Judge, Jurist and Legislature, in which he detailed his views on the roles of these players in the legal system.

[20][24] In his obituary, the former Lord Justice of Appeal Stephen Tomlinson said that "no judge has done more than Robert to ensure that the views of legal academic commentators now regularly inform the decision-making in our higher courts".

In Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale Ltd, he gave judicial recognition to the proposition that unjust enrichment is an independent branch of private law.

Goff issued a legal ruling allowing doctors to withdraw his treatment at the request of his family, since there had been no sign of improvement in his condition, there was no reasonable possibility that he would ever emerge from his persistent vegetative state, and was unlikely to survive more than five years.

The case provoked significant public discussion over the moral, social and ethical issues of withdrawing life support from an insensate patient.

[30] In 1985, former spy Peter Wright attempted to publish Spycatcher, a memoir detailing his work in British intelligence, in violation of the Official Secrets Act 1911.

[31] The case in the House of Lords raised important questions relating to the law on breach of confidence, public policy and freedom of expression.

[32] Several hundred people filed a claim against the builders of the skyscraper One Canada Square in the tort of private nuisance, because it interfered with their television signal.

Following his escape from prison and flight to the Soviet Union, he wrote a book about his experiences and work in British intelligence, which was published by Jonathan Cape.

[3] At the invitation of the Indian jurist and diplomat Laxmi Mall Singhvi, he conducted two three-week lecture tours in India in 1984 and 1986 (the year he was appointed to the House of Lords).

[3] Lecturers included Rupert Cross, C. H. S. Fifoot, Peter Carter, Robert Heuston, and Marjorie Reeves (who had been his wife Sarah Cousins's tutor at Oxford).

[2] This fund evolved into the Pegasus Trust, which supports the exchange of young lawyers in many common law countries, and which was one of Goff's key contributions as a member of Inner Temple.

[2] According to Stephen Tomlinson, the Pegasus Trust was a "valuable and lasting legacy", which represented Goff's belief in the importance of linking different jurisdictions, as well as his interest in the welfare of young barristers.

It is of paramount importance for the future of the common law that bridges should be built between the legal professions in the many countries of the world which live under this system.

[3][41] Goff was an accomplished pianist; he began his days with a Mozart sonata and spent considerable time transposing and arranging pieces of music for the family collection of instruments.

[3][2] Goff was described as giving off a first impression of remoteness, reticence and formidable formality, as a result of his distinction as a lawyer or having inherited a military bearing from his father.