This week Mona’s guest is Laura MacGregor, Professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh Law School.
Mona Siddiqui: Laura let’s start with you telling us a little bit about your research and teaching.
Laura MacGregor: My teaching focuses on Scots law and specifically on the areas of Scots law which relate to businesses. A particular research focus is the law of contract and the way in which different businesses such as partnerships operate. I’m particularly interested in the way in which ideas such as good faith and fairness operate in the business environment. Perhaps, where we have to apply standards of behaviour in a context where otherwise the main aim is to make money – duties of honesty and perhaps also duties between people who run a business together to be fair to one another. Good faith operates across all sorts of contracts in different ways so I find that very interesting.
MS: As you’re speaking, I’m thinking about some of the stuff I do with my own students around law and ethics and morality. Do you think that very often we tend to compartmentalise these issues where actually they are very linked in all areas of law?
LM: Absolutely. My honours class focuses on commercial law but quite early in that class we tend to see different students arguing from different perspectives. Some from a purely economic perspective but others looking at issues of justice and fairness. I think those students make connections between the different honours classes they are taking. That to me is one of the most interesting parts of looking at business law – the extent to which one can be self-interested.
MS: Have you seen a difference during your time both as a practitioner but also as an academic in the way young people think about these issues even in issues of contract and commercial law?
LM: Yes, I would say so. I think over the time I have been teaching I am now aware, for example, issues relating to the environment are coming through very strongly in commercial law. I think people do look at things differently than say they did 20 years ago when I started teaching. Yes, I think things change over time. Issues relating to the pandemic are coming through in the teaching and the discussions we are having. I think looking at business law it is always very dynamic. We are always having to look at it in the context of what’s going on in the wider world at the time.
MS: Is there any one distinct feature of Scots law that you think we as a nation should be really proud of?
LM: I think one of the significant things about Scots law relates to its mixed nature. It draws from the English influence that it has experienced but it also draws upon an older tradition which involves very strong links with continental Europe and perhaps Roman law ideas. It’s an interesting mixture and sometimes it means that where we have to develop the law, we can choose to draw either on very strong English ideas which are very strong commercially or we can look to older more European ideas to solve a problem. I think it has this benefit of choosing from its two traditions. Certainly, when it comes to good faith and morality, often I end up looking towards continental Europe and perhaps older Roman ideas of good faith and morality which is quite interesting. It’s not true to say that doesn’t occur in English law but this ability to choose from different traditions, I think, is very, very important.
MS: Laura, as you know, this piece is about your one regret and one hope. What is your one regret from the last few years either professionally or personally?
LM: I think in answering that question I would look back to my academic career. Looking back to when I was a brand new lecturer, I think sometimes you are pulled in different directions. Sometimes perhaps you are invited to join a project or asked to do something which is slightly outside your area and I think young academics sometimes move in a direction which perhaps is not quite right for them. I think sometimes you have a gut feeling of what is right for you and what you personally would like to pursue. Perhaps looking back, I think I wish I had been better at not being drawn in different directions and perhaps stayed more true to what I was interested in. I think we develop that ability and perhaps it is part of the nature of being a young academic where you’re asked to do different things and contribute to different projects.
MS: I think it is actually quite key to advising junior academics that they have to stay focused. They have to be good citizens and stretch their imagination but also stay focused on what it is that inspires them academically. I think you are absolutely right. Moving forward, what is the one hope that you carry with you?
LM: In terms of hopes for the future I think that the University could develop more in terms of equality across the whole university. I think we have made great gains over recent times in improving equality for members of staff and for students but I think there probably is more work to do. Again, looking back over my career, I don’t think I have always felt that I have been treated in the same way as everyone else. For example, when I did my degree probably there were only perhaps one or two female lecturers and that situation has changed enormously but I think perhaps we need to carry on focusing in our teaching on ensuring that we do our best to achieve equality in the way we teach and the way we deal with students and fostering that feeling within the student community. I also feel that having children, any person who has to look after children still finds it quite difficult to establish a successful career. In particular, things like traditionally the fact that we have travelled all over the world to give papers and also some research events happen in the evenings. These are challenging for any person looking after children or with other care responsibilities. I think it will be interesting to see whether this has changed. Perhaps academics wont travel as much, the pandemic will have impacted on that but also, we are more aware of the impact on the environment. It will be interesting to see how that develops in future years and perhaps the University has to think more about ensuring that we are supporting people who have care responsibilities.
Photography: Ian R Fleming