Ms Catharine MacMillan, BA (Victoria) LLB (Queen's, Canada) LLM (Cantab), Barrister and Solicitor (British Columbia, non-practising), Solicitor (England and Wales, non-practising)

Profile
Publications
Research
Teaching

Reader in Legal History

Location: Mile End
email: c.a.macmillan@qmul.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7882 3955

Catharine MacMillan joined Queen Mary, University of London after practising in commercial litigation. Her main research interests are in contract and commercial law, with an emphasis on the historical development of the common law. She has published widely on aspects of this development with a particular reference to the contemporary law.

Ms MacMillan is currently engaged in writing a legal biography of Judah Benjamin. The work examines the influences Benjamin brought to bear upon the English common law and the impact these influences had upon the development of the common law. In connection with this work, Ms MacMillan is also engaged in researching the legislative background to, and gradual implementation of, the Sale of Goods legislation, as its enactment occurred in England and throughout the former British Empire.

Ms MacMillan's main teaching areas are in Contract Law and Property Law. She is also author of the University of London's External LLB Subject Guide to Elements of the Law of Contract.

Publications:

Download Catharine MacMillan's publication list [PDF 35kb]

Mistakes in Contract Law (2010) Hart Publishing
‘The Trial: How Procedure Shapes Substance’, (2008) 19 King’s Law Journal 465
‘Taylor v Caldwell (1867)’, Landmark Cases in the Law of Contract, (2008) Hart Publishing, edited by Charles Mitchell and Paul Mitchell
‘No longer taken to be cognisant of the law? Mistake of Law in Contract and Restitution in Canada and England’ in Re-examining Contract and Unjust Enrichment: An Anglo-Canadian Perspective, ed. Paula Giliker (Martinus Nijhoff, 2007)
'Solle v Butcher (1949)' in Mitchell and Mitchell (eds), Leading Cases in the Law of Restitution (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2006)
'Rogues, Swindlers and Cheats: The Development of Mistake of Identity in English Contract Law' (2005) 64 CLJ 711
'Mistaken Arguments: The role of argument in the development of a doctrine of contractual mistake in nineteenth century England in Lewis and Lobban (eds), Law and History: Current Legal Issues 2004 (OUP, Oxford, 2004)
'How Temptation Led to Mistake: An Explanation of Bell v Lever Brothers, Limited' (2003) 119 Law Quarterly Review 625
'A Birthday Present for Lord Denning: The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999' (2000) 63 Modern Law Review 721

Supervision:

Ms MacMillan welcomes proposals for postgraduate supervision in the fields of legal history and contract law.

Undergraduate teaching:

Common Law I