Jonathan McCarthy

Jonathan is currently the director of the LLM Business Law programme at University College Cork, the co-chair of the Curriculum Committee of the College of Business and Law, and the deputy director for Graduate Research at the School of Law.

Jonathan is a BCL and LLM graduate of UCC, and he was conferred with his PhD degree at UCC in 2018. Jonathan's research interests are primarily in financial law and corporate law. His work is published in international, European and Irish journals. He has previously taught at University of Limerick.

Research Overview

• Financial law, especially the regulation of technological innovations in finance (digital finance and FinTech)
• Corporate law and governance, especially the suitability and efficacy of existing legal processes for small- and medium-sized enterprises and start-up firms

Research Supervision

Jonathan supervises PhD and LLM research and he is glad to supervise postgraduate research on topics related to his interests. 

Jonathan has previously co-supervised one PhD thesis to completion at UCC, and, as of January 2026, he is involved in the supervision of six PhD students.  

Doctoral Thesis: 'An analysis of the implications of the law of company rescue for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland'

The research consisted of qualitative interviews with insolvency practitioners and representatives of business organisations. The thesis expressed an empirically-based argument for procedures of SME company rescue in Irish law. The research was funded through the award of an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship. The initial stages of the research were funded through a Ronan Daly Jermyn Scholarship. 

Current UCC Teaching

• Company Law (LW3300 and LW3311)
• Contemporary Issues in Corporate Law (LW3347)
• Business Law in Practice (LW6646)
• Digital Finance and FinTech: Law and Regulation (LW6660)

Teaching and research courses completed

• Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, UCC
• Epigeum Research Integrity (2022 and 2025), UCC
• Digital Badge in Universal Design for Teaching and Learning, UCC
• Digital Badge in Connected Curriculum and You, UCC
• Research Skills CPD Certificate, UCC