Dr Brown joined the law school as a lecturer in Scots private law in August 2019, having previously held the post of lecturer in law at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (2017-2019). Dr Brown considers himself to be a private law generalist and he has a keen interest in Scottish legal history. Drawing on the fact that Scotland exists as a 'mixed' legal jurisdiction, much of his work seeks to indicate the lessons that can be learned by drawing on the Civilian roots of the Scottish legal system. His recent publications have included an examination of Scots law as it pertains to the withdrawal of medical treatment from terminally ill infants, an investigation into the effect of the 'classic' definition of 'slavery' on the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, and a (re)-analysis of the basis of liability for medical malpractice in Scotland. Previously, Dr Brown has investigated the potential for native Scots and Civilian legal learning to provide legal remedies, unavailable in the Anglo-American Common law world, in instances of affronts to dignity, such as the harm perpetrated by so-called 'revenge pornography' (i.e., image-based sexual abuse). At present, he is investigating the structure and taxonomy of the Scots law of delict alongside Professor John Blackie. 

Dr Brown is the module coordinator of the M9362 Roman Law module and the M9112 Voluntary Obligations class. He also teaches aspects of commercial law and the law of involuntary obligations. As a result of his LLM degree in advocacy, he is very supportive of student mooting and is keen to encourage this pursuit at Strathclyde.