Lisa Cowan
Thesis title: Suing Judges in Late Medieval Scotland: A Doctrinal Analysis of An Early Action in Reparation
PhD supervisors:
Background
Lisa has been a PhD candidate at the Centre for Legal History at the Edinburgh Law School since 2021.
Lisa completed the Graduate LL.B. in Scots law at the University of Edinburgh in 2016. In 2017, she went on to earn an LL.M. in United States law (Science, Technology and Intellectual Property specialism) from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and practised as a litigation attorney at the Bar of California for four years. Lisa also holds an MA (Hons) in Languages (Interpreting and Translating), and is a former translator of Romance languages.
Qualifications
LL.M. in United States Law (Science, Technology, and Intellectual Property)
LL.B. in Scots Law
MA (Hons) in Languages (Interpreting and Translating)
Responsibilities & affiliations
Associate Fellow of the HEA
Attorney at the State Bar of California
Member - Stair Society
Director of Research - LGBTQ+ Law Society
Convenor - Henry Goudy Seminar
Postgraduate (Research) Representative - Edinburgh Law Library Committee, School of Law
Representative (History) - Board of Studies, School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Representative (History) - Postgraduate and Part-time Tutor Liaison Committee, School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Copy Editor and Content Editor - Edinburgh Student Law Review
Undergraduate teaching
Fellow in Legal History (present).
Tutor in "Civil Law (Ordinary)", 2022-2024.
Tutor in "Medieval Worlds" and "Early Modern Europe", 2023-24.
Tutor in "Introduction to Historiography", and "History of Edinburgh: From Din Eidyn to Festival City", School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh (2022/23)
Tutor in "Public Law of the UK and Scotland", School of Law, University of Edinburgh (2022/23)
Ad hoc lecturer in "Reasoning Using Civilian Authority (Honours)" (2022/23).
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
Research Director of the LGBTQ+ Law Society, supervising a group of 10 undergraduate and PGR students investigating queerness and asylum.
Research summary
Lisa's research interests lie in the areas of legal history of Scotland, Roman law, litigation, and civil procedure.
Current research interests
My thesis considers the influence of learned law doctrine of judicial liability on Late Medieval Scots law.Invited speaker
The Fifteenth Century Conference, Oxford University (September 2024)
Women in Legal History Roundtable, University of Liverpool (December 2023)
Celebrating Women in Legal History, University of Liverpool (September 2023)
Presentation of legal history research at a seminar held in honour of Professor Norma Dawson, University of Edinburgh (July 2023)
Organiser
Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference (June 2022)
Participant
Chair, Offences between (Blood) Relatives: Family Justice in Ancient Greece and Rome (January 2025)
British Legal History Conference, University of Bristol (July 2024)
Celebrating Women in Legal History, University of Liverpool (September 2023)
The teaching of Roman law in the 20th century, Universita di Trento (May 2023)
The ius gentium in the Graeco-Roman legal experience, University of Edinburgh (May 2023)
Ancient Law in Context - “Law and Education” an interdisciplinary research network meeting, University of Edinburgh (April 2023)
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, King's College London (September 2022)
Chair, "Beyond the Pale: Legal Histories on the Edges of Empires", Maynooth University (June/July 2022)
Convenor and chair, Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference (June 2022)
Papers delivered
Suing Judges in Late Medieval Scotland: An historical analysis of reception (September 2024)
Aere perennius: The Life and Legacy of Professor Olivia Robinson (September 2023)
'Aere perennius: The Life and Legacy of Professor Olivia Robinson' in Celebrating Women in Legal History: The Making and Shaping of a Discipline (Hart Publishing, forthcoming 2025).
'Gwen ferch Ellis (1542-1594), First Welsh victim executed for witchcraft' in Dictionary of Welsh Biography (2024).
Review of 'Chalmers' Compendium of the Laws of Scotland', Scottish Historical Review, 102(3) (November 2023).
Review of 'Principle and Pragmatism in Roman Law', The Journal of Legal History, vol. 44 (2), (June 2023).
Review of 'Roman Law in Context (2nd edition)', The Docket / Law and History Review, vol. 5 (3), (2022).
Qualified Immunity of the Lord Advocate in Whitehouse and Clark v Chief Constable and Lord Advocate, Edinburgh Law Review, vol. 26(3), (Sept. 2022)