Dr Alisdair MacPherson

Biography

Alisdair joined the School of Law as a lecturer in June 2018, having previously been a teaching fellow at the University of Edinburgh. He carried out postgraduate research at the University of Edinburgh on floating charges and was awarded a PhD in 2018 for his thesis "The Attachment of the Floating Charge in Scots Law". This research has been published as a monograph, The Floating Charge, in the Studies in Scots Law series. Alisdair has continued to research in this area, and in related fields, and is a co-editor of Floating Charges in Scotland: New Perspectives and Current Issues, first published in hardback in 2022, and in paperback in 2024. He is also a co-author of Commercial Law in Scotland and Scottish Commercial Law Essentials and the editor of Avizandum Statutes in Scots Commercial and Consumer Law. 

During his doctoral studies, Alisdair spent a year at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. Prior to commencing his PhD research, he qualified as a solicitor and notary public in Scotland. In addition, he holds an MA (Hons) in history, LLB and Diploma in Legal Practice, all from the University of Edinburgh.

Alisdair was formerly a member of the Scottish Law Commission's Moveable Transactions Advisory Group. He was also on the Law Society of Scotland's Board of Examiners as examiner for Scots Commercial Law. Alisdair is currently on the Council of the WS Society and is a member of the European Law Institute.

Alisdair is co-director of the Centre for Scots Law and a member of the Centre for Commercial Law and the Centre for Energy Law at the University of Aberdeen. He regularly responds to consultations and calls for evidence. Alisdair also provides opinions, consultancy services and CPD in relation to his areas of research, especially insolvency law, debt enforcement and secured transactions. 

In summer 2022 he was a visiting academic at the University of Oxford's Institute of European and Comparative Law.

Prizes and Awards

University of Aberdeen - Principal's Early Career Outstanding Researcher Award (Arts, Humanities and Social Science) (2022) 

Research Overview

Secured transactions, insolvency law, commercial law, company law, property law, law of trusts, comparative law, modern legal history.

Alisdair would be interested in supervising research students working in any of these areas. He is currently supervising PhD research on the following topics:

• Financial security instruments for decommissioning liabilities
• The protection of shareholders in company law 
• Employee participation in corporate governance
• Electronic letters of credit 

He has also previously supervised research on the law of securitisations and ex-ante protections for minority shareholders.

If you are interested in undertaking a postgraduate research degree, further information is available here.

Knowledge Exchange

Selected Papers and Presentations

"The English Floating Charge: The Archetypal Floating Security", Nordic Secured Transactions Law Symposium, University of Oslo (17 October 2024) 

"Debt Enforcement and Cryptoassets in Scots Law", Beyond the Basics: Academic Updates - Scots Civil and Commercial Law, SULI/SYLA, Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow (10 October 2024)

"Security Rights, Debt Enforcement and Cryptoassets", Digital Assets in Scots Private Law: Innovating for the Future - Workshop 2, Law Society of Scotland (29 May 2024)

"The Concept of Commercial Law in Scotland" (with J Hardman (Edinburgh)), Development of Commercial Law in Scotland Conference, University of Strathclyde (26 January 2024)

"The Reform of Secured Transactions: Trends and Reflections", AFG College, University of Aberdeen (Doha) (20 November 2023)

"Reflections on the Future of Moveable Security in Scotland", Moveable Transactions Reform Conference, University of Edinburgh (21 April 2023)

"Floating Charges in Comparative Perspective", Institute of European and Comparative Law Seminar, University of Oxford (28 June 2022)

"Recent Developments in Corporate Insolvency Law: CIGA 2020 and Beyond", Insolvency Law Conference, Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow (30 March 2022)

"The 'Pre-History' of Floating Charges in Scots Law", Scottish Property Law Discussion Group (28 October 2020)

"Consumer Sales Contracts: Transfer of Ownership", Scottish Law Commission Workshop on Consumer Contracts in Scotland: Reforming the Law of Transfer of Ownership (8 October 2020)

"The 'Pre-History' of Floating Charges in Scots Law", Scottish Legal History Group Conference (3 October 2020)

"Floating Charges in Comparative Perspective", Young Property Lawyers’ Forum Experts' Meeting, University of Glasgow (5 June 2019)

"The Reform of Security over Moveable Property in Scots Law", Young Property Lawyers’ Forum, University of Maastricht (28 May 2018)

"A Real Right Sui Generis? The Floating Charge in Scots Law", Young Property Lawyers' Forum, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg (23 September 2016) 

"Floating Charges and Trust Property in Scots Law", Scots Law Discussion Group, University of Edinburgh (24 June 2016)

"The Floating Charge in Scots Law and its Attachment to Property", Modern Studies in Property Law Postgraduate Conference, Queen’s University, Belfast (7 April 2016)

"A Tale of Two Mixed Systems: Assignation/Cession in Security in Scotland and South Africa", Young Property Lawyers’ Forum, University of Groningen (23 November 2015)

"The Floating Charge Attachment and Ranking Paradox in Scots Law", Aktuelle Stunde, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg (21 October 2014)

Selected Blog Posts 

B Yuksel Ripley and A MacPherson, "Digital Assets Law Reform in England and Wales and Prospects for Scotland", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (21 July 2022)

J Hardman and A MacPherson, "'A Floating Charge' - A Conversation with Jonny Hardman and Alisdair MacPherson", Edinburgh University Press Blog (14 June 2022)

A MacPherson, "Brae Oilfield, Decommissioning Liabilities and Default", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (23 February 2022)

A MacPherson, "Property and Insolvency Law: The Need for Multiple Perspectives", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (29 October 2020)

A MacPherson and D McKenzie Skene, "Legislating for the Insolvency Impact of the Coronavirus Crisis", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (16 April 2020) 

A MacPherson and D McKenzie Skene, "Debt and Insolvency Law in the Age of Coronavirus", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (23 March 2020) 

A MacPherson and CS Rupp, "A Child of the YPLF: Floating Charges in Comparative Perspective", Young Property Lawyers Forum (10 July 2019)

A MacPherson and CS Rupp, "Floating Charges in Comparative Perspective", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (5 July 2019)

A MacPherson and D McKenzie Skene, "Back to the Future? The Partial Reinstatement of the Crown Preference in Insolvency", University of Aberdeen School of Law Blog (12 December 2018)

Datasets

J Hardman and A D J MacPherson, "Scottish Companies Who Have Filed Certain Insolvency Forms between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020" (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/3040

Teaching Responsibilities

LS2525 – Commercial Organisations and Insolvency (Course Co-ordinator)

LS4067/LX4067 – Corporate Finance Law (Honours) (Joint Course Co-ordinator)

LS4573/LX4573 – Corporate Insolvency Law (Honours) (Course Co-ordinator)

LS501G – Comparative and International Perspectives on Company Law (LLM) 

LS501R – Advanced Research Skills for Postgraduate Researchers

LS504H – Corporate Finance Law

LS553L – Debt Finance Law (2021-2023)

LS553M – Equity Finance Law (2021-2023)

QL5007 – Comparative and International Perspectives on Company Law (LLM – Qatar) (Course Co-ordinator)

LS503N – Introduction to Corporate Finance Law (2020-2021)

LS2031 – Property Law (2019-2020)

LS2533 – Business Law (2018-2020)

LS3030 – Law of Equity and Trusts of England and Wales (2018-2023)

LS503D – Financing of International Sales - Distance Learning (2019-2020)