Dr Eleanor Rowan

(she/her)

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Interests

Broadly speaking, I have research interests in women and the law. I am particularly interested in legal ethics, the lawyer-client relationship, and social mobility and gender equality in the legal profession. I also have a keen interest in the legal rules and relationships between banks/lenders and financially vulnerable women. I am currently researching legal responses to economic abuse, and how banks and solicitors have a role in assisting victim-survivors of economic abuse. I would consider myself an expert on the case of Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge [2002] 2 AC 773 and the law of suretyship.

In February 2025 my research was cited in a the Supreme Court hearing of Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc. The appellant's barrister Mr Beaumont wrote the following about the impact I had on the legal arguments he presented to the Supreme Court:

'My oral submissions in the Supreme Court were in 6 parts. One part was devoted almost exclusively to the work of Dr Rowan. Her article also spurred me on to research the FCA's regulatory position and to read other important material on economic abuse. This was vital work. Only time will tell if it makes a difference, as the court has reserved judgment. But we put up strong arguments on economic domestic abuse thanks to Dr Rowan.'

Outputs

2025

Rowan, E. 2025 'Economic abuse, the bank, and the devil in the detail: One Savings Bank plc v Catherine Waller-Edwards [2024] EWCA Civ 302' Legal Studies 1 https://doi.org/10.1017/lst.2025.1

Rowan, E. 2025 'Commerce over Care: Legal advice given in potential economic abuse cases' 27 Legal Ethics 1 3-24 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1460728x.2024.2445387

2023

Rowan, E. 2023 'Independent legal advice in (re)mortgage transactions 20 years on from RBS v Etridge (No.2)' 2 Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 166

2021

Rowan, E. 2021. Commerce over Care: Surety Client Protections 20 Years on from RBS v Etridge (No.2). PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham

2018

Rowan, E. and Vaughan, S., 2018 '"Fitting in" and "opting out": exploring how law students self-select law firm employers' 21(3) The Law Teacher 216 

Rowan, E. 2018 'A 'Thorne' in the side for family lawyers in Australia: undue Influence and prenuptial contracts' 40(2) Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 238

Teaching

• Contract Law (UG)
• Land Law (UG)
• Themes in Socio-legal Studies (PG)

Biography

Qualifications

• LLB (Proxime Accessit), Liverpool John Moores University
• LLM, University of Birmingham
• MA Social Research, University of Birmingham
• Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods and Skills, University of Birmingham
• PhD, University of Birmingham

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

• Women, equality and the law
• Legal responses to economic abuse
• Legal profession and legal ethics