Jill Robbie is one of the School’s recent academic appointments, having joined the university in August 2015.  Jill lectures in Private Law, with research interests that include property law.  Her monograph Private Water Rights was recently published by the Edinburgh Legal Education Trust.

Q: What is your main area of research?
A: I research within the field of private law and in particular property law. My PhD at the University of Edinburgh was on private water rights in Scots law. I am currently investigating the tensions between land reform, energy and environmental policies. I am also interested in comparative law especially with Scandinavian systems.

Q: What made you decide to pursue a career as a law academic?
A: When I finished my LLB at the University of Edinburgh, I still had so many unanswered questions about law that I was keen to try and answer - particularly about how law regulates water. I had a great time during my PhD including tutoring on a range of different private law courses as well as going on research trips to Germany and South Africa. My first year as a lecturer at Glasgow University has been wonderful so now I can't imagine doing anything else.

Q: What do you like most about the School?
A: My colleagues! There is a fantastic group of private lawyers at Glasgow who provide a supportive and collaborative research environment. Beyond private law, everyone in the School of Law has been welcoming and helped me to settle in very quickly.

Q: What motivates you to get up on a Monday morning?
A: I am currently in the middle of training for a triathlon and I am really enjoying it. So this Monday morning it was the prospect of a 5 mile run along the river Kelvin in the sunshine.

Q: Tell us about your new book publication
A: My book "Private Water Rights" was published in November 2015. It is an updated version of my PhD thesis and I am so proud that it is now finally in book form. It took many evenings and weekends work during my traineeship with Brodies LLP to update it. Hopefully, it will be a useful and interesting guide to the topic.

Q: Favourite spot/best kept secret of campus?
A: My favourite spot of the campus is at the back of the Main Building looking out over Glasgow. It is 30 seconds walk from my office and is the perfect place for a bit of quiet contemplation. I have been able to watch a couple of winter sunrises and sets from that spot.

First published: 25 April 2016

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