Dr Leslie Dodd

Lecturer in Scots Law

Law Stirling

Dr Leslie Dodd

Contact details

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/lesliedodd

About me

About me

Dr Leslie Dodd joined the University of Stirling in August 2022 as Lecturer in Scots Law.

In January 2019, he took up an appointment as lecturer in private law at Edinburgh Napier University where he taught delict, contract, property, trusts and succession, constitutional law, business and corporate law, and Roman law while also acting as Deputy Programme Leader for the LLB. Before that, he taught delict, property, trusts and succession and business law at the University of Glasgow from August 2017.

Leslie received his LLB from the University of Edinburgh and also holds a First Class MA (Hons.) in Greek, Latin and Ancient History and a PhD in Classics, both awarded by the University of Glasgow. His research focus is in private law (particularly property, succession, obligations and damages), Roman law and legal history.

External Examiners and Validations

External Examiner in Law, GCU
Glasgow Caledonian University
Dr Dodd is external examiner for the LLB at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Proposal Reviewer, National Science Centre (Poland)
Dr Dodd has acted as an external reviewer of funded research applications for the Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) for projects relating to Roman law and European legal history.

Other Academic Activities

Council Member of the Stair Society
Dr Dodd has, since April 2023, been a council member of the Stair Society.

Secretary and Treasurer of the Scottish Legal History Group
From October 2023, Dr Dodd has acted as secretary and treasurer of the Scottish Legal History Group.

Professional membership

Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
Higher Education Academy
Dr Dodd was granted Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2020.

Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
In November 2023, Dr Dodd was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Research

My research deals primarily with the legal and intellectual history of Scottish and European Private Law and particularly on the 16th century Scottish legal writer Thomas Craig (c.1538-1608). I am especially interested in the relationship between feudal-legal thought in early modern Scotland and Continental legal humanism and especially on the influence of the French legal humanists Bodin and Hotman.

Currently, I am engaged in a long-term project to produce a Latin edition with facing English translation of Thomas Craig's Jus feudale tribus libris comprehensum, the first comprehensive legal treatise ever written in Scotland. The first volume (of a projected four) was published in 2017 by the Stair Society and the second volume will be published June 2025.

In addition to my work on Craig's legal writings, I retain a strong interest in his other prose works, particularly the De unione regnorum Britanniae, and on the relationship between Craig and other British humanists in the period before and immediately after the Union of the Crowns.

Subsidiary research interests include the early modern and mediaeval reception of Roman law; late antique Germanic law codes (esp. the Burgundian Code); the law of damages in its comparative context; trusts and constructive trusts; digital assets and cryptocurrency within Scots and English property law; smart contracts; comparative intestacy law; the history and contemporary application of tacit relocation; the concept of ownership in European thought, from antiquity to present; and the relationship between Latin antiquity and early modern Scottish law and legal thought.

Outputs (14)

Outputs

Article

Healers and midwives accused of witchcraft (1563–1736) - What secondary analysis of the Scottish survey of witchcraft can contribute to the teaching of nursing and midwifery history

Ring NA, McHugh NM, Reed BB, Davidson-Welch R & Dodd L (2024) Healers and midwives accused of witchcraft (1563–1736) - What secondary analysis of the Scottish survey of witchcraft can contribute to the teaching of nursing and midwifery history. Nurse Education Today, 133, Art. No.: 106026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.106026

Book Chapter

The Vita Cragii of James Baillie

Dodd L (2020) The Vita Cragii of James Baillie. In: Godfrey A (ed.) Miscellany VIII. Publications of the Stair Society, 67. Edinburgh: Stair Society, pp. 265-283. https://www.stairsociety.org/publications/miscellany-viii-by-various-authors/

Scholarly Edition

Jus feudale tribus libris comprehensum, Book 1

(2017) Jus feudale tribus libris comprehensum, Book 1 [Jus feudale], L Dodd. Publications of the Stair Society, 64. Edinburgh: Stair Society. https://www.stairsociety.org/publications/jus-feudale-tribus-libris-comprehensum-book-1/

Book Chapter

Kinship, conflict and unity among Roman elites in post-Roman Gaul: The contrasting experiences of Caesarius and Avitus

Dodd L (2016) Kinship, conflict and unity among Roman elites in post-Roman Gaul: The contrasting experiences of Caesarius and Avitus. In: Varga R & Rusu-Bolindeț V (eds.) Official Power and Local Elites in the Roman Provinces. London: Routledge, pp. 188-208. https://www.routledge.com/Official-Power-and-Local-Elites-in-the-Roman-Provinces/Varga-Rusu-Bolindet/p/book/9780367880699

Teaching

Teaching

On the core LLB, Leslie teaches the property law component of LLBU9PT Property, Trusts & Succession. At Honours, along with Dr Jonathan Brown, he teaches LLBU9RL Roman Law and LLBU9PV Contemporary Issues in Scots Private Law.

Additionally, Leslie provides instruction in Latin for postgraduate students within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.