Dr Jonathan Ainslie

Biography

I have been a Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Aberdeen since February 2022. I initially joined the School of Law as a Teaching Fellow in September 2021.

I was a Tutor in Civil Law at the University of Edinburgh from 2018 to 2021. I hold an LLB Hons (in law and politics), LLM (in comparative and European private law) and PhD (in legal history), all from the University of Edinburgh.

I am an Advance HE Associate Fellow, a member of the council of the Stair Society and an associate member of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen. Outside of academia, I am a member of the Children's Panel. I grew up in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire. 

External Memberships

Advance HE Associate Fellow

Member of the Council of the Stair Society 

Associate Member of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen

Prizes and Awards

Modern Law Review Scholarship 2018-2020

Research Overview

My research interests lie mainly in the law of obligations (contract and tort/delict). Recent publications have concerned good faith in Scots contract law and the protection of privacy interests in the Scots law of delict. I am currently researching third party rights in contract, mutuality in Scots contract law, and unconscionable dealing in English contract law. 

I am interested in Dutch-Roman law and the historical relationships between Scottish and Dutch lawyers in the 16th-18th centuries. I follow developments in modern jurisdictions with a Dutch-Roman influence, such as South Africa. 

Funding and Grants

I am grateful for the support of the Scottish Universities Law Institute Early Career Fellowship, which I received in 2023. 

Teaching Responsibilities

I am currently the course coordinator for Law of Property and Property Law Honours. I teach across the full curriculum of private law subjects on the LLB Law and LLB Law with English Law programmes.