Marjan joined Leeds Trinity University in 2020.

Marjan began her professional life as a teacher of English as a second language in Tehran. This interest and involvement in international education has been a continuing theme in her work. As part of her different roles with the Iranian Department of Education and Islamic Azad University she was heavily involved in the design and delivery of different international projects involving collaboration with educational and higher education institutions. During this work she obtained funding from international organisations to support partnerships related to youth activities.  Whilst at the Iranian Department of Education, she produced the Persian translation of three books on The Role of Parents in the Education systems of the European Union, World Class Schools and Systems of Secondary Education in Five Countries.

Marjan has always had a passion for the law and when she moved to the UK in 2003 she began a new journey that led to her current role. In 2008, she completed a Graduate Diploma in Law (Leeds Beckett) followed by an LLM in Insolvency Law (2009) and a PhD (2014) at the University of Leeds School of Law. Her interest in insolvency and corporate governance is evident in peer reviewed articles and conference contributions between 2011 and 2018. Her first book published in 2018 looked at the way in which corporate governance influenced directors’ decisions during financial distress  as well as the role of insolvency practitioners. This work was based on an empirical study of 5 major companies with detailed assessment of their strategies to deal with increasingly difficult business decisions. She has continued to focus on this area and in 2022 published her second book on recognising and dealing with business distress. This book focuses on a practical problem that many companies face in recognising the early symptoms of business distress and putting in place appropriate actions to deal with the problems. The book also puts forward a practical framework for directors to use to diagnose and improve performance.

Marjan taught Company Law modules at undergraduate level at Leeds University, and Huddersfield University before moving to Leeds Trinity University, where she is module leader in Company Law. She has been able to pick up again her passion for education which was nurtured in the early days of her career. This is reflected in her approach to teaching and learning, particularly in the area of legal skills- an area which has become increasingly important as professional qualification standards have changed following a major shift of emphasis by employers. As module leader in this area she has also brought in external contributors from a range of different legal firms to set out their requirements and perceptions of desirable law graduate characteristics and their expectations of graduates in law.

Marjan is also a member of several different professional bodies. The broad nature of these bodies and different missions reflects the multi-disciplinary approach that she has taken to her academic work and her interests reflected most clearly in her most recent book. In 2020, Marjan was elected convenor of the Comparative Legal Studies group by the membership of the UK Society of Legal Scholars (SLS).

Marjan’s main priority continues to be meeting students’ expectations and optimising student experience. She is also now building a range of collaborative partners to work with as she develops her research focus on governance, insolvency and director skills. These future projects are likely to involve significant national and international collaboration with academic and business partners.