Lorna E Gillies

Senior Lecturer
LLB (Hons) (Strathclyde), Dip LP (Strathclyde), PhD (Strathclyde), FHEA
Email: lorna.e.gillies@le.ac.uk
Telephone: 0116 252 2359

Lorna is a Senior Lecturer in Law and non-practising Scottish solicitor. She joined the Law School in 2002 as a Lecturer in Law, prior to which she tutored at the Law School, University of Strathclyde (1999-2002) to LLB, LLM and Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC). Since 2007, Lorna has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, prior to which she was a Full Member of the ILTHE (2003-2007). At Leicester, Lorna teaches and leads two LLB modules, Conflict of Laws and Commercial Law; two Commercial Conflict of Laws LLM modules (Jurisdiction and Choice of Laws Issues); the EU Consumer Law and Policy module by Distance Learning.

Lorna is a member of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS), the International Law Association (ILA) and the International Association of Consumer Lawyers (IACL). She convenes the Conflict of Laws Scholars Forum for the discussion of developments and exchange of ideas in private international law. Lorna is organising a Modern Law Review Seminar Series conference on The Legal Implications of Social Media for Freedom of Expression which takes place on 6 December 2013.

Research Interests

Principal research interests focus on the commercial aspects of international private law/conflict of laws. Lorna’s current research interest focusses on the continuing influence of the EU on the reform and development of international private law theory and practice. She has research expertise in jurisdiction and choice of law aspects of electronic commerce (published monograph on the implications of jurisdiction and choice of law rules for consumers contracting cross-border via the internet). Her early work was referenced by AG Trstenjak in Cases C-585/08 (Pammer) and C-144/09 (Hotel Alpenhof) (18 May 2010).

Selected Publications

• “Creation of Subsidiary Jurisdiction Rules in the Recast of Brussels I: Back to the Drawing Board?” 2012 Journal of Private International Law, Volume 8, Issue 3, 489-512 (abstract)
• “Jurisdiction for Cross-Border Breach of Personality and Defamation under Article 5(3) of Regulation EC 44/2001: e-Date Advertising and Martinez,” (2012) (61) ICLQ 1007 (abstract)
• “The EU Optional Instrument: Absorbing the Private International Law Implications of a Common European Sales Law,” with M Kenny and J Devenney, Yearbook of Private International Law, Volume 13 (2011), 315-344, Sellier European Law Publishers, Germany, 2012, ISBN 978-3-86653-227-4
• “Determining the Applicable Law for Breach of Competition Claims in the Rome II Regulation and the Need for Effective Consumer Collective Redress,” in M Kenny and J Devenney (eds), European Consumer Protection : Theory and Practice, Cambridge: University Press, April 2012, ISBN 978-1-107-01301-8,  2011
• “Clarifying the ‘Philosophy of Article 15’ in the Brussels I Regulation: C-585/08 Peter Pammer v Reedere Karl Schluter GmbH & Co and C-144/09 Hotel Alpenhof GesmbH & Co KG v Oliver Heller,” 2011 (60) ICLQ 557-564 (abstract)
• Electronic Commerce and International Private Law: A Study of Electronic Consumer Contracts, Markets and the Law Series, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7546-4855-0.
• “Addressing the ‘Cyberspace Fallacy’: Targeting the Jurisdiction of an Electronic Consumer Contract,” International Journal of Law and Information Technology, p.242-269, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2008

Full publication list (pdf, 266kb)

Research Supervision

Lorna currently supervises five PhD students and has previously supervised on the laws applicable to large value electronic funds transfers and consumer ADR. Lorna is interested in proposals on international private law/conflict of laws in general (commercial or private law aspects).