Dr Michiel Poesen

Dr Michiel Poesen
Dr Michiel Poesen
Dr Michiel Poesen

Lecturer

About
Email Address
michiel.poesen@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272844
Office Address
Taylor Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
High Street
AB24 3UB

View on Map

School/Department
School of Law

Biography

Michiel Poesen is a Lecturer at the Centre for Private International Law (CPIL). Michiel's research interests are in civil and commercial private international law. His research currently focuses on the policies pursued through harmonisation of Private International Law, and how various policy objectives influence the harmonised rules adopted. Michiel has held visiting teaching and research positions at the University of Edinburgh, Maastricht University, Heidelberg University, ELTE Budapest and Hasselt University.

Michiel obtained a PhD from KU Leuven in 2021 under the supervision of Professor Geert Van Calster. His dissertation focused on the concept of "matters relating to a contract" in the EU law of civil jurisdiction. His work was cited in AG Szpunar's Opinion in Case C-265/21 AB, AB-CD v Z EF. Michiel's work on the impact of Brexit on civil and commercial private international law was referenced in a European Parliament study.

Michiel's research has been published in i.a. the Common Market Law Review, Journal for Private International Law, Yearbook of Private International Law, Maastricht Journal for European and Comparative Law, and Uniform Law Review.

Michiel has advised the European Commission on the reform of European private international law as a consultant multiple times, and as a national expert for studies conducted by the European Association for Private International Law (EAPIL). He also co-advised the Belgian government in preliminary reference proceedings before the European Court of Justice.

Prior to joining the Law School, Michiel was a postdoctoral research fellow at the KU Leuven Research Council and a fixed-term lecturer of International Business Law in the Leuven LL.M. programme. He gained practical experience as a junior dispute resolution associate in a Brussels-based law firm, as a trainee at the European Commission (DG Justice and Consumers), and as a law clerk in two Belgian commercial courts.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Laws (PhD) 
    2021 - KU Leuven 
  • Belgian Bar Exam 
    2017 - Flemish Bar Association (OVB) 
  • Master of Laws (LL.M.) 
    2016 - KU Leuven (one-year exchange at UC Louvain) 
  • Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) 
    2014 - KU Leuven 

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships
  • Coordinator of the Centre for Private International Law Working Paper Series
  • Deputy Graduate School Officer
  • Publications Officer for the Anti-SLAPP Hub
  • Member of the Anti-SLAPP Research Hub
  • Deputy LLM admissions selector
  • Personal tutor
External Memberships
  • Legal commentator for Thomson Reuters Practical Law
  • Analyst for EU Law Live
  • Member of SCOTLIN - Scottish Law and Innovation Network
  • National rapporteur for Belgium; European Commission Study on the Reform of the Brussels Ibis Regulation

Latest Publications

  • Private International Law and Artificial Intelligence: An EU Perspective

    Poesen, M.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Beyond Rules vs Principles: Discretion in the Law of International Jurisdiction in the European Union

    Poesen, M.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Information Technology and the Need to Reconsider Jurisdictional Orthodoxy in the EU and EFTA

    Poesen, M.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • The interaction between UK private international law and liability arising out of the use of artificial intelligence

    Poesen, M.
    Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations
  • Belgium

    Poesen, M.
    Jurisdiction Over Non-EU Defendants. Lutzi, T., Piovesani, E., Zgrabljic Rotar, D. (eds.). Hart Publishing, pp. 45-58, 14 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

  • Private International Law in the European Union (EU)
  • Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters
  • Strategic international litigation
  • Private international law and artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Brexit and international commercial dispute resolution

Current Research

My current project questions whether economic integration can be stimulated by harmonising private international law. While the leading assumption driving harmonisation for the last five decades has been that this is the case, no serious empirical testing has been done. It is argued that further evidence is needed given the formative impact this assumption has had on the field, sometimes eclipsing other non-economical policy aims.

Funding and Grants

  • Fellow of the KU Leuven Research Fund (2021-2022)
  • Stanford Existential Risk Initiative (SERI) Summer Fellow (2021)
  • Consultant for European Commission studies on the Brussels Ia Regulation and Rome II Regulation (JUDGTRUST; BIICL; Milieu)
  • PhD Fellow at the Institute for Private International Law at KU Leuven (2017-2021)
Teaching
Publications

Page 1 of 6 Results 1 to 10 of 56

Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 results per page

Refine

Books and Reports

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Contributions to Conferences

Contributions to Journals

Non-textual Forms

Other Contributions