Dr Jonathan Brown
Lecturer
Law
Personal statement
Dr Brown joined the law school as a lecturer in Scots private law in August 2019, having previously held the post of lecturer in law at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (2017-2019). Dr Brown considers himself to be a private law generalist and he has a keen interest in Scottish legal history. Drawing on the fact that Scotland exists as a 'mixed' legal jurisdiction, much of his work seeks to indicate the lessons that can be learned by drawing on the Civilian roots of the Scottish legal system. His publications range across a breadth of Scots law topics in both primary and contextual contexts; most recently (amongst other things), he has written on the 'intellectual superstructure' of the law of delict, the significance of properly ordering and categorising pecuniary remedies in Scots law and the (hitherto unexplored and prospective) relation of the Scots law of succession to business partnerships. In addition to his academic publications, Dr. Brown has continued to engage with the Scottish legal profession. In 2022, he worked as a part of an expert committee assembled by the Law Society of Scotland to develop 'proactive policy' in respect of medical decision-making in intensive care situations. This involved contributing to the eventual LSS Report, as well as authoring an appendix to that report. As present, partly related to this work conducted for the LSS, Dr. Brown is working on a project, funded by the Scottish Universities Law Institute, concerning the use of negotiorum gestio (lit. 'management of affairs' - sometimes nonliterally rendered as 'benevolent intervention') in modern legal practice. In terms of teaching, Dr Brown likewise works across the breadth of the Scots Private Law curriculum, covering the law of persons, property and obligations. He is also the module coordinator for the M9416 Issues in Healthcare Law and Ethics class and, having introduced the M9362 Roman Law module to Strathclyde, continues to lecture on this programme.
Publications
- Piercing the corporate veil, or cutting the Gordian knot? McLellan v Anderson [2026] SC DUNF 85
- Brown Jonathan
- Green's Reparation Bulletin (2026)
- ‘Genetically inclined to attack’: A comment on the ‘Law of the Cat’
- Brown Jonathan
- Green's Reparation Bulletin (2026)
- What’s in a name? : ‘Grooming’ as a delictual wrong
- Brown Jonathan
- Green's Reparation Bulletin Vol 189, pp. 4-8 (2026)
- Our Father, who art in the Court of Session : comments on a Scottish Health Board’s parens patriae petition to authorise the medical treatment of ‘Child A’
- Brown Jonathan
- Scots Law Times Vol 2026, pp. 81-90 (2026)
- Direct representation and Negotiorum Gestio in Scots Law
- Brown Jonathan
- Journal of Civil Law Studies Vol 18 (2026)
- Legal Actionability of 'Societal Revulsion over Despicable Behaviour' : Grooming, JWE v LGBT Youth Scotland and the Actio Iniuriarum
- Brown Jonathan
- (2026)
Professional Activities
- Engage with Strathclyde
- Organiser
- 3/9/2025
- Law Society of Scotland (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 2/5/2025
- Negligent AIs and the Pursuit of a New Model of Personhood
- Examiner
- 15/1/2025
- Edinburgh University Press (Publisher)
- Peer reviewer
- 1/2025
- Finding a Structure for the Law of Delict
- Speaker
- 27/8/2021
- Law Society of Scotland (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 9/7/2021
Projects
- Scotify! Views from the North on Recent Extra-jurisdictional Court Rulings
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator)
- An event to explore how global court precedents impact Scots law Legal experts discuss handling foreign rulings in the Scottish context.
Court judgments from the Common law world are commonly referred to by Scottish legal practitioners. This happens despite the fact that Scotland is not a Common law jurisdiction and Scots law is said to be founded on distinct principles, rather than precedents. Precedents – from around the world – often throw up novel and interesting factual scenarios, however.
This event, consequently, brings together a range of subject-experts to talk about recent precedents from outwith Scotland, with a view to analysing how such cases should be handled, according to the principles of Scots law, should similar factual situations occur in this jurisdiction.
We invite legal practitioners, sheriffs, judges, legal academics, law students and anyone else with an interest in Scots law and justice to attend. - 03-Jan-2025 - 03-Jan-2025
- Seminar in Honour of Professor John Blackie
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator) Brodie, Douglas (Co-investigator)
- Clark Foundation for Legal Education grant (£3,000) to host a seminar in honour of Professor John Blackie (emeritus Professor in Law at the University of Strathclyde)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 27-Jan-2025
- Aiding the Unable: Negotiorum Gestio in Legal Practice
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator)
- SULI-Funded Early Career Fellowship (grant of £2,500) - to investigate the non-judicial use of negotiorum gestio (unauthorised agency) in modern Scottish legal practice.
- 01-Jan-2024 - 01-Jan-2026
- AHRC - Doctoral Training Partnership Scotland | Brown, Jonathan
- Neal, Mary (Principal Investigator) Blackie, John (Co-investigator) Brown, Jonathan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2014 - 25-Jan-2020