Law Clinic Shortlisted for Scottish Charity of the Year Award
The Law School is delighted to announce that the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic has been shortlisted for the Charity of the Year award from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Established in 2003 by Professor Donald Nicolson OBE, the Law Clinic aims to assist people who cannot obtain legal advice through any other means. Since it began, the Law Clinic has helped almost 1000 people gain access to justice and in the last year, the Clinic has assisted 182 people, winning or saving them nearly £220,000. As well as tackling individual cases, students, supported by fully qualified solicitors, carry out education and community work in prisons and schools.
The SCVO itself has 1300 voluntary sector organisation members, indicating how tough the competition was. Professor Nicolson, Director of the Law Clinic said, 'To be shortlisted itself is an honour given the number of worthy voluntary organisations which operate in Scotland. However, it is no more than the hard work and dedication of the students and staff deserve. The fact that the students put together the nomination on their own is an indication of the level of professional which has been engendered in the Clinic.' Hannah Cosgrove, Student Director of the Clinic said, ‘SCVO do an amazing job promoting the great work that goes on in the 3rd sector. To be part of the work that is recognised is a fantastic achievement for the students who make the Clinic what it is today. Access to justice is something which people might not automatically think a charity can help with, but where we can, we will and hopefully this will continue for years to come.’
The Law Clinic was also recently recognised in London, winning the Best Contribution by a Team of Students at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2012.
To vote for the Law Clinic for the SCVO award, please visit http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo-events/charity-of-the-year-2012/
15 May 2012
The international profile of Strathclyde’s mediation academics is increasing rapidly through a number of research, professional engagement and conference activities over the coming months. May is a particularly busy month in which Visiting Professor Charlie Irvine is speaking at the Civil Mediation Council’s Annual Conference in London on the 15th May and both he and Professor Bryan Clark are presenting conference papers at the Law Society of Scotland’s Civil Justice and ADR Conference in Edinburgh on May 16th. Bryan is also travelling to Hong Kong to the Mediate First Conference organised by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre on May 12th providing Scottish and international perspectives on such matters as regulation and training in mediation, confidentiality and mandatory recourse to the process.
In July Charlie is delivering a symposium session on ADR and legal culture at the ICAM Annual Conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa along with Professor John Lande (University of Missouri) and Professor Adrian Borbély (IÉSEG School of Management, Paris). In October he will be hosting an ESRC funded seminar entitled 'Reframing Resolution - Managing Individual Workplace Conflict' in October at Strathclyde as part of a 5 seminar UK-wide project led by Richard Saundry and Paul Latreille.
There are impending publications too. Bryan’s new monograph on Lawyers and Mediation is set to be published by Springer this month. Charlie has two book chapters due for publication in 2012. The first, entitled ‘Working with Emotions in Mediation: a Grid for Practitioners,’ will appear in a volume edited by Michelle LeBaron and published by the American Bar Association. The other is the chapter on Scotland for Nadja Alexander’s forthcoming volume entitled ‘The EU Handbook on Mediation.’
Finally Charlie and Bryan are running the 3rd International Summer School in Mediation and Negotiation with John Marshall Law School, Chicago. The Summer School has proved highly popular, bringing together US and Scottish students from law and other disciplines for an intensive week learning practical skills.
Professor Nicole Busby of the Law School has secured a €187,000 share of a four-year European Research Council-funded project entitled ‘New Sites of legal Consciousness: a case study of UK advice agencies’ worth a total of €1.02 million. The project will be carried out by a team of researchers under the leadership of Principal Investigator, Dr Morag McDermont of the University of Bristol and launches on 1st May
The overall aim is to investigate ways in which third sector advice agencies are becoming new sites for the emergence of legal consciousness. The research will bring together theoretical perspectives on emergent publics and the sociology of translation and will explore the potential use of legal consciousness in developing collective political action through the cultural practices of institutions that mediate between citizens and formal legal institutions.
Professor Busby will share management responsibility for the project ‘Citizens Advice Bureaux and Employment Disputes’ which will examine how clients of CABx pursue employment disputes following their first interaction with the CAB. The research will focus on how potential applicants to the employment tribunal identify issues and make decisions as to which routes to dispute resolution they follow. This project will run for two and a half years employing two dedicated researchers, one based at the University of Bristol and the other at the University of Strathclyde.
Professor Busby, who joined the Law School from the University of Stirling at the beginning of April, said:
“Legal advice and representation are becoming increasingly difficult to access for those involved in employment disputes, particularly those workers engaged in precarious forms of employment. This means that advice agencies provide an often crucial service in enabling individuals to achieve access to justice. This research will identify barriers to justice –administrative, political and cultural - for some of the most vulnerable workers and help in understanding how such barriers can be overcome. Strathclyde’s Law School has excellent links with the legal profession and an established reputation in widening access to justice through its award-winning Student Law Clinic, making it an ideal location in which to undertake this research. “
You are invited to take part in a major conference on prisons and imprisonment held at Strathclyde University. The future of imprisonment is once again under the spotlight following the launch of the official Commission on Women's Offending which calls for radical reform in the ways in which both male and female offending is addressed.
There will be an opportunity for you to put your questions to the renowned speakers. The conference will be attended by leading Scottish criminal law and justice practitioners and policy officials. Interested students are strongly encouraged to take part in this unqiue event being held at Strathclyde.
For more information go to www.strath.ac.uk/clcj and click on ‘events’ or www.sastudyoffending.org.uk/GlasgowconfPrisonsetc2012.pdf
Conference Chair: Brigadier Hugh Monro CBE
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland
Rt Hon Prof Dame Elish Angiolini, DBE QC
formerly Lord Advocate for Scotland, Chair of the Commission on Women
Offenders, Visiting Professor Strathclyde University Law School
“Women’s Offending & Imprisonment”
Dame Anne Owers DBE
formerly HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (England & Wales), Chair of
Clinks, Chair, Independent Police Complaints Commission
“A good prison system: principles and practice”
Joe Duffy
Project Director, Petal Support Limited
Annabel Goldie MSP, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives
“Prisons and the Public Interest”
Chief Executive, Families Outside, and Visiting Professor, Centre for Law,
Crime & Justice, Strathclyde University
“Whose Crime is it Anyway? Rights & experiences when a
family member goes to prison
Audrey Park
Director, HMP Addiewell
“Prisoners’ rights and responsibilities: a prison perspective”
Closely Related: Strathclyde Law School is running the UK's first LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change. To Learn more Click Here or go to www.law.strath.ac.uk/ls-cjpc-e
CPD for Solicitors, Advocates and Panel Members. Reduced rates for students/unwaged.The Law School’s ability to produce sought after graduates is clear as the Complete University Guide 2013 ranks it first equal with UCL for Graduate Prospects, placing it ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the overall rankings the Law School has climbed four places in the last year and is now ranked top ten in the UK.
Commenting on these rankings, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said:
“The School is delighted to achieve a top ten ranking in the UK. Our first equal in graduate prospects in the UK is an outstanding result and demonstrates the quality of our graduates as well as reflecting very positively on the education which they receive in the Law School. We are working hard to enhance our graduates’ employability in a number of ways such as engagement with the Law Clinic and our excellent range of Diploma in Professional Legal Practice electives including Family Business Law, Mediation, Employment and Work-Based Learning. Students are taught by recognised experts in their fields”.
"This ranking builds on our outstanding RAE2008 performance in which we can came 2nd in Scotland and 13th in the UK and on levels of internationally excellent activity were placed 1st in Scotland and 7th equal in the UK. In the last six months the Law School has made seven strategic appointments and launched three new and innovative courses. We are working continuously to improve our performance and I am confident that these developments will help enhance our position further.”
25 April 2012
The official launch of the much-anticipated Report of the Commission on Women Offenders was held at Strathclyde University and can now be viewed on video.
The Commission, which began its work in August 2011, announced its findings about how to improve outcomes for women offenders in the criminal justice system on Tuesday 17th April at an event hosted by Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice.
The Commission was set up against the background of a doubling of the number of women in custody in Scotland over the past decade.
The Commission was chaired by the Former Lord Advocate for Scotland, the Rt. Hon. Professor Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC, who is now a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde Law School. She was supported by Sheriff Daniel Scullion, Sheriff of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway; and by Dr Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
View the Video of the Launch Here
Read the Full Report by the Commission here
The remit of the Commission was to:
- Consider the evidence on how to improve outcomes for women in the criminal justice system;
- Make recommendations for practical measures in this Parliament to reduce reoffending of women and reverse the recent increase in the female prisoner population.
The Rt Hon Professor Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC is directing the UK’s first LLM in Advocacy
Strathclyde University Law School is running a unique new graduate programme (LLM/MSc) in ‘Criminal Justice & Penal Change’ which will equip graduates with in-depth knowledge of world-wide evidence so as to enable a rational and just response to crime. The issues of female offending and the responses by justice systems worldwide is a key part of the curriculum.
The launch event was chaired by Dr Cyrus Tata Director of Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice
View the Video of the Commission’s Launch Report Here
A team of students from the Law School pitted their mediation skills against students from all over the USA, Canada, India, Germany and the UK in the 11th International Law School Mediation Tournament on March 23rd and 24th (see www.inadr.org ). They finished 14th out of 46 teams, with Andrew Boyd ranked 18th out of 138 individual mediators. The Law School is very grateful to BTO who provided sponsorship for the event.
The tournament was a fantastic experience for the students, Andrew Boyd, Osman Khan, Carol King and Hayley Gibson, and coaches Charlie Irvine and Alison Ebbitt. It was hosted by Loyola University Law School, a state of the art facility in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast district. The judges were mediators from the Mid-West and provided really useful feedback, making the Tournament a great learning experience as well. The highest placed mediator overall was Sri Carmichael, from BPP Law School, London, and the top team was Hastings School of Law, San Francisco.
The Strathclyde team's achievement is all the more impressive against US postgraduate law schools, many of whom have been teaching mediation for the last decade, and illustrates the Law School's growing expertise in the area of alternative dispute resolution. As well as its MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution (www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/mediation ), the Law School now offers a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice elective in Mediation and Mediation Advocacy, giving the next generation of lawyers hands-on experience of this form of dispute resolution. Over 80 students took the elective this year.
Head of the Law School, Professor Mark Poustie, said 'I would like to congratulate the team on all their hard work and on achieving such a creditable result in this challenging international competition. Over the last 3 years the Law School has developed its expertise in this field very considerably and I am delighted that our students are already performing so well in this international competition. I would like to thank the coaches for all their input and also our sponsors, BTO, for supporting our team’s participation this year’.
3 April 2012
The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic have once again been successful at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2012 held at the Houses of Parliament. Having won Best Law School in 2009 and Best Contribution by an Individual Student (Alasdair Stewart) in 2011, this year it received the award for the Best Contribution by a Team of Students Award for the work of its student Committee.
The Committee comprises twelve appointed and seven elected students. It currently meets monthly along with the Clinic Director and the supervisors to decide on Clinic policy and direction, and debate ethical issues raised by cases. In this role, it has played a crucial role in upholding and modelling to others the Clinic’s core volunteer and social justice ethos.
The appointed office holders on the Committee are particularly important in ensuring that the Clinic runs effectively and efficiently. Most importantly, the Student Director and her Deputy oversee all Clinic activities, including the various Clinic projects, represent the Clinic to the outside world, and help maintain Clinic morale through social events.
A very conservative estimate suggests that these students volunteer around 7000 hours annually. As a result, the Law Clinic runs at cost of less than a third of the average law clinic affiliated to LawWorks.
Current Student Director, Hannah Cosgrove, said, "We are absolutely delighted that our efforts have been recognised nationally. The standard of competition is always high, with other universities such as BPP Law School, King's College London, Cardiff Law School and Bristol Law School offering equally notable services. The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic's Committee is the driving force behind its continued success and high level of service, and we know this will continue on for years to come."
Professor Donald Nicolson, OBE, founder and Director of Strathclyde Law Clinic, said: “This award is a testament to our students’ dedication to delivering legal services to people who would otherwise find them inaccessible. Without the students’ dedication and enormous effort put into running the Clinic by the student Committee (annually they volunteer around 7000 hours in this regard ), the Law Clinic could simply not operate on anything like the scale it does. Their enthusiasm and commitment to innovation are inspiring and will ensure that the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic will continue to flourish in the future.”
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, “I am delighted at this further recognition of the Law Clinic and the invaluable role of the Student Committee in ensuring the successful operation of the Clinic in a very cost effective way. I would like to congratulate the Student Director and the other Committee members on their well deserved award. The Law Clinic is one of the most distinctive features of a legal education at Strathclyde and it enables students to enhance their professional skills at the same time as providing a hugely valuable community service.”
3 April 2012
A team from Strathclyde Law School is competing in the 11th Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in Chicago this week. The students will pit their mediation and advocacy skills against 45 teams, mostly from the USA and Canada, in a three round competition. They will be mediating medical negligence, personal injuries and sports contract disputes in the country that has seen mediation develop more rapidly than anywhere else in the world.
When the Law School hosted the UK competition in November the team performed excellently, with Hayley Gibson, trainee at HBJ Gately Waring, finishing third overall. The US Tournament will stretch their skills even further, and the students will receive training from some of America's most experienced mediators. The team is coached by Alison Ebbitt and Charlie Irvine, Visiting Professor and Course Leader in the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The MSc, now in its second year, is unique in its focus on mediation theory and practice, and has attracted students from throughout the UK - see http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/mediation/
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, “I am delighted that the Law School is again fielding a team in the 11th Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in Chicago. My colleagues and I would like to wish the team every success in the Tournament. I would also like to thank the coaches for giving up their valuable time to support our Mediation Team which is much appreciated. The School is fast developing itself as a centre of excellence in mediation alongside its existing strengths in dispute resolution with the launch of the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution in 2011, the development of a Mediation Honours class on the LLB and a Mediation elective class on the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice both also launched this academic year and, finally with the joint Mediation Summer School which we offer with John Marshall Law School, Chicago which is taught on our campus and is now entering its third year. These are exciting developments and bode well for the employability of our graduates and the range of skills they will be taking to the jobs market.”
20 March 2012
The official launch of the much-anticipated Report of the Commission on Women Offenders is to be held at Strathclyde University, it has been announced.
The Commission, which began its work in August 2011, will announce its findings into how to improve outcomes for women offenders in the criminal justice system on Tuesday 17th April at an event hosted by Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice.
The findings and recommendations of the report, which is expected to propose radical reforms, will be kept confidential until that date. Click here for more.
How should the criminal justice system tackle crime? As research repeatedly shows and practitioners know all too well, problems, such as alcohol and drug addiction, play a major role in chronic levels of reoffending. In view of the ‘revolving doors’ of the courts and prisons, this public lecture asks whether it is time for a radically different approach?
The video of the public lecture and the fascinating audience discussion is now available HERE. {This should then link to http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/research/clcj/events/}
Strathclyde Law School mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have won the final of the Alexander Stone Mooting Competition against a team from Glasgow University in front of Lord Bonomy. The hard fought final involved a challenging problem regarding the extent of the application of the defences of automatism and insanity in criminal law.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said “I would like to congratulate Erica and Frances on their win in the Stone Moot Final. Their performance was outstanding. This is the third time in the last 4 years Strathclyde has won the competition and reflects our strength in mooting. Our students have again demonstrated their qualities on the national stage and I hope this serves as an inspiration to others. Their success brings credit to themselves, to the Law School and the wider University. I would also like to thank Emma Boffey, the Law School’s Mooting Co-ordinator, for all her efforts in supporting the team”
15 March 2012
Professor Alan Paterson OBE, Director of the Centre for Professional Legal Services in the Law School has been awarded £51,500 by the Nuffield Foundation to conduct research into the most cost-effective way to deliver poverty legal services in the future. Utilising arguments from Richard Susskind - especially “The End of Lawyers ?”, Alan and his co-researcher, Roger Smith, Director of JUSTICE will analyse the experience of international programmes to provide advice to governments in the UK and elsewhere regarding the extent to which telephone and internet advice services can provide a form of triage which can effectively replace face to face advice services.
9 March 2012
Jane Scoular, along with Professor Fiona Raitt of Dundee University and other colleagues across Universities in Scotland, has been awarded funding of £19,000, to host a series of workshops on 'Re-thinking Responses to Rape'. The aim of these workshops is to consider the impact of reforms to adversarial justice in this area of rape and to identify new ways of responding to this issue. See http://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/Programmes20112012/Rethinkingresponsestorape.aspx
9 March 2012
University of Strathclyde Visiting Professor and former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini, has been elected as the next Principal of St Hugh’s College at the University of Oxford.
One of the most respected figures in the British legal establish, Dame Elish studied at Strathclyde Law School and returned to the University in October last year as a Visiting Professor. She has played a pivotal role in the development of a new Masters course in Advocacy Studies, which will launch this year, and has been involved in the Law School’s award-winning Law Clinic.
Dame Elish will continue her role as Visiting Professor at the University when she takes up her new position with Oxford in September 2012.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School at the University of Strathclyde, said: “I would like to congratulate Dame Elish on her election as the next Principal at St Hugh’s. This is a tremendous achievement and a testament to her leadership qualities. The Law School looks forward to continuing to work with Dame Elish on her unique LLM in Advocacy Studies which launches in Autumn 2012.”
The Masters course in Advocacy is the first masters course of its kind in the UK and students will study major aspects of the discipline from forensic advocacy in criminal and civil law, mediation, as well as the fundamentals of persuasion and negotiation. It will look at advocacy from a range of angles including the construction and presentation of an argument and the psychology of persuasion.
Dame Elish graduated from Strathclyde Law School in 1982. She was Lord Advocate between October 2006 and May 2011, the first woman to hold the post in 500 years and the first to serve two different governments. Prior to that she was Solicitor General and was also the first woman, the first procurator first solicitor to hold that post.
20 February 2012
Professor Donald Nicolson has just been awarded a grant of £13,800 from the University of Strathclyde’s Education Excellence Fund to support his Active Learning Community Legal Engagement project. The project is aimed at setting up a Community Legal Engagement class which allows existing University of Strathclyde Law Clinic members as well as all other law students to reflect and be assessed on either their work in one of the existing or planned Law Clinic public legal education projects or as part of a placement with another legal advice organisation. The class will build on the success of the current Clinical Legal Practice class in which students reflect on issues of ethics and justice raised by their clinical cases, which in turn led to the recently launched and highly innovative Clinical LLB, which enables Law Clinic students to use their experience in taking on cases as a learning and teaching tools throughout the course of the law degree.
Commenting on the award, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘My congratulations to Donald Nicolson for obtaining this award. It will enable the Law School to provide opportunities for credit-bearing placements involving community engagement to those students who are not members of the Law Clinic thus widening the numbers who will benefit from the enhanced professional skills offered by clinical education. Coupled with the recently launched Diploma in Professional Legal Practice Work-Based Learning Elective which offers credit-bearing placements at Diploma level this development shows the School’s commitment to enhancing the employability of our students as well as providing them with opportunities to make a positive contribution to the community during their legal education’.
21 February 2012
Strathclyde mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have defeated a team from the University of Dundee, to secure their place in the final of the Alexander Stone Mooting Competition. The students made submissions on how Article 70 of the Scottish Parliament (Elections Etc.) Order 2007 is to be properly interpreted and applied, with Sheriff Williamson of Dundee Sheriff Courtholding Strathclyde the winners of the tie.
The team will face the University of Glasgow in the final, to be held on Wednesday 14 March 2012, at 6pm at Glasgow. All staff and students are welcome to attend the moot final and further details will be posted in due course.
Commenting on the Strathclyde win, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, ‘My congratulations to our team on their win in the Alexander Stone Semi-Final and I wish them well in the Final. Mooting is one of the many areas in which our students excel and brings credit both to the School and to the students involved and assists in developing their professional skills. I would also like to add my thanks to Emma Boffey, this year’s Mooting Coordinator, for all her efforts in supporting mooting at Strathclyde.’
20.02.12
19 January 2012
The UK’s first course teaching legal services and advice for family businesses is being launched today (Thursday, 19 January) at the University of Strathclyde.
The elective class is teaching students the distinctive legal implications for family-run businesses, such as start-up, growth, succession and transfer of ownership. The course is one of many practice focussed electives being pioneered by the University as part of the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice.
Strathclyde Law School academics will be joined in teaching the course by legal practitioners and members of the Scottish Family Business Association (SFBA). Areas it will cover include:
- resolution of disputes and mediation
- incentives for businesses’ non-family members
- funding of business.
According to SFBA, 45% of the UK's GDP is produced by family enterprises, 50% of Scotland’s private sector workforce is employed by family businesses and 25% of Europe’s 100 largest businesses are family firms.
Professor Leo Martin, Co-Director of Legal Practice Courses at Strathclyde Law School and a partner in the Glasgow law firm Giusti Martin said: “Family enterprise makes a vast contribution to the economy, not only through small-scale businesses but also major names in fields such as food, motoring and haulage.
“However, having a family influence in a business can make it quite different to those which have mainly commercial and corporate considerations- this makes it essential for them to know about how the law can support their interests and about the legal pitfalls they could face.
“We are addressing an unmet need for many businesses which will bring economic gains and will broaden the skills base of the lawyers of the future who are being trained at Strathclyde”
SFBA CEO Martin Stepek said: “I am delighted that the University of Strathclyde’s Law School is pioneering the education of law students about family enterprises. This reflects not only the innovative spirit of the law school and the University of Strathclyde in general, but the steady progress and development of deep-rooted understanding of family enterprises in Scotland.
“The launch of the family business law elective is another significant step to creating in Scotland a culture of highest-level service to family enterprises that I hope one day will be the envy of the world.”
Around 40 students have already signed up to take the class, which forms part of Strathclyde’s Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. It complements a class on family business theory and practice, run by the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship in Strathclyde Business School.
Professor Martin will be joined in teaching on the course by Donnie Munro, Partner and Head of the Business Advisory department of Harper MacLeod LLP, who has written the materials for the course, and by Jamie Millar, partner with law firm Lindsays and past president of the Law Society of Scotland.
Note to Editors:
- Strathclyde’s Humanities and Social Sciences make up the largest Faculty in the University. The Faculty is delivering high quality education and internationally recognised research across a spectrum of disciplines including Law, Government and Public Policy, English, History, Languages, Social Work, Teacher Education and Psychological Sciences & Health. It is set to benefit from 10 new posts in the coming months through a major new investment in areas of strength, in addition to a £25 million package to create a new hub for the Faculty on the University’s city-centre campus. More at: www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/
- Strathclyde Business School has more than 25 years experience of delivering education in over 10 countries across four continents, has a Queen’s Award for Exports and belongs to the 1% of business schools in the world with full accreditation from the three principal international accrediting bodies, AACSB International, EQUIS and AMBA. More at: http://www.strath.ac.uk/business/
Further information:
Paul Gallagher
Communications Officer
Media and Corporate Communications
University of Strathclyde
T: + 44 (0) 141 548 2370
E: paul.gallagher@strath.ac.uk
The Law School will welcome eight new members of academic staff over the next six months as a result of the University’s major investment in strategic appointments.
Following a successful recruitment campaign last year, the Law School has attracted high quality researchers not only from across the UK and Ireland, but internationally from other European destinations. Confirmed appointments include: 2 professors, 1 reader, 1 senior lecturer, 3 lecturers and 1 postdoctoral research fellow.
The appointments are designed to enhance the Law School’s already strong Research Excellence Framework submission as well as strengthening the School’s capacity more generally and providing opportunities for the development of new courses and research groups.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law school said: ‘This is the largest single staffing investment made by the University in any of its schools in recent years. It demonstrates the commitment of the University and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to the future of the Law School.
‘It’s an exciting time for the Law School. We attracted a very strong field and all are our new colleagues are outstanding scholars. I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the School and look forward to working with them in the near future’.
The full list of appointments is as follows:
Professors
Professor Nicole Busby (from University of Stirling) (Employment Law, EU Law, Discrimination Law, Human Rights)
Professor Aileen McHarg (from University of Glasgow) (Public Law, Environmental and Energy Regulation)
Reader
Dr Francesco Sindico (from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee) (International Environmental Law and World Trade Law)
Senior Lecturer
Dr Hakeem Yusuf (from Queens University, Belfast) (Legal Theory, Public Law and Criminal Law)
Lecturers
Dr Benjamin Farrand (from the European University Institute, Florence) (Intellectual Property Law, Competition Law and Contract Law)
Dr Christopher McCorkindale (from Glasgow Caledonian University) (Public Law)
Dr Stephanie Switzer (from the University of Dundee) (EU Law, World Trade Law, Environmental Law and Law of Obligations)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Alex Pastukhov (from High-Tech Law Centre, Ukraine ) (IT Law)
The appointees will take up their posts between April and July 2012.
Strathclyde University Law School was delighted to play host last week 24-26 November to the 4th UK National Mediation Competition for Law Schools. Sixteen teams participated including two from the US and one from Germany. Following a masterclass on 24th November, run by Case Ellis and Tom Valenti, two leading Chicago mediators, and our own Professor Charlie Irvine, the teams conducted three rounds of mediations. Each round was judged by experienced practitioners from throughout the UK. The competition climaxed on Saturday evening with an award ceremony at the closing dinner. There were separate awards for individuals and teams. First prize in the individual competition went to Sri Carmichael of BPP Law School, London, with BPP’s two teams picking up first and second prizes in the team awards. Strathclyde itself performed very well indeed with Hayley Gibson, a Diploma graduate from 2011 and now a trainee with HBJ Gateley Wareing in Edinburgh, being placed third equal. Carol King, Strathclyde’s reserve, was part of the third placed team overall having been asked to stand in by Drake Law School, Iowa as a result of the unavailability of one of their students.
Professor Mark Poustie Head of the Law School commented: ‘Strathclyde has played host to and participated in many mooting competitions with considerable success and I am delighted that we were able to play host to this national mediation competition and that our students performed so well. It is heartening to see the levels of student interest in mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism and the extent to which mediation is now finding its way onto UK law school curricula. This bodes well for clients having access to a wider range of appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms to suit their needs in future. Strathclyde is pleased to be playing a part in these developments not least with the launch of our MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution earlier this year and the launch of a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice elective in mediation. I am particularly grateful to my colleague, Professor Charlie Irvine for taking the initiative to host the event, to the sponsors, Core Solutions and BTO Solicitors without whose generous assistance the event would not have been possible and to the eminent judges from the US and the UK who so generously gave of their time to support the competition. Congratulations to all the participants and particularly those who won prizes.’
The full list of participating teams was as follows: BPP Law School (2 teams); City Law School, City University, London; College of Law, Bloomsbury; Christchurch University, Canterbury; Drake Law School, Iowa (USA); Glasgow Caledonian University; Kingston University, London; Lewis University, Chicago (USA); Liverpool John Moores University; Manchester Metropolitan University; Queens University, Belfast; University of Aberdeen; University of Central Lancashire (2 teams); University of Dundee; University of Edinburgh; University of Munich (Germany); and the University of Strathclyde Law School.
29 November 2011
Strathclyde Law School mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have defeated a team from the University of Glasgow, to win the Sheriffs’ Moot.
Held on 22 November 2011 inGlasgow Sheriff Court, the two teams made submissions on omissions to act under criminal liability before Temporary High Court Judge and Sheriff, Sean Murphy QC. In an evenly contested tie, Strathclyde were announced the winners, with Sheriff Sean Murphy QC praising their skilful handling of authorities and ability to deal with interventions from the bench.
The Sheriffs’ Moot is an annual derby moot, contested byUniversityofGlasgowandUniversityofStrathclydeover the last twenty years. The series is currently even between the two institutions, 10-10.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘I would like to congratulate the Strathclyde team, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, on their victory in the Sheriffs’ Moot on behalf of the Law School. I also wish to thank the Mooting Co-ordinator, Emma Boffey, for all her efforts in supporting and coaching the team. A Law School’s reputation comes not only from the efforts of staff but also the achievements of its students and our students have excelled in mooting in recent years in Scottish, UK and international competitions. Their success brings credit not only to themselves but also to the School and the wider University quite apart from the value of mooting in the development of students’ intellectual and professional skills. We look forward to next year’s contest with eager anticipation!’
25 November 2011
The Launch of the Centre for Internet law and Policy with a joint lecture by Lilian Edwards and Alan Winfield of UWE Bristol and noted roboticist on “Rewriting Asimov’s Three Laws? Regulating Robots" was well attended and inspired lively debate. See here for a practitioner view of the emergence of robot law!
18th November 2011.
Emma Boffey was announced as the winner of the inaugural Compass Chambers essay competition for Diploma in Professional Legal Practice students on 14 November.
Emma, a previous winner of the Head of Law School’s Prize at Strathclyde, beat entries from students at Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities to claim the £1,000 prize.
Compass Chambers set the students the task of writing an essay of no more than 2000 words on the topic: "An employer is always liable for the acts and omissions of his employees. Discuss".
Emma was the clear choice of the judging panel and was praised for her practical approach to the issue and her readable style. The panel also felt that the essay was well researched, accurate and to the point.
Emma will be presented with her prize at the Compass Chambers Annual Conference at the Balmoral Hotel, which takes place on Friday 18 November.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented: ‘I am delighted that Emma Boffey has won the inaugural Compass Chambers essay competition prize and would like to congratulate her on behalf of the Law School. Coming hard on the heels of recent Law School student successes in the inaugural UK Environmental Law Association Simon Ball Prize in 2010 and the Colin Donald Prize in 2011, Emma’s achievement demonstrates once again the quality of our students and what they are capable of on the national stage. I hope Emma’s achievement will serve as an inspiration to other students in the Law School.’
15 November 2011
The Law School is delighted to announce that Dr Bryan Clark has been promoted to a professorship. Professor Bryan Clark joined the Law School in 2004 as a lecturer and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2006 and reader in 2009. He previously worked as a lecturer at Heriot Watt University from 1998 and had held a number of part-time positions before then. Bryan has a BA in Legal and Administrative Studies from Robert Gordon University (1994), an LLM in Petroleum Law and Policy from the University of Dundee (1998) and a PhD from the University of Glasgow (2005).
Bryan’s current research spans the fields of company law and corporate governance as well as increasingly mediation and dispute resolution. He is co-author of Boyle and Bird’s Company Law (7th edition, Jordans, 2011) and his Mediation and Lawyers: Past Present and Future (Springer/Kluwer) is about to emerge later this year published. He is also working on the inaugural Mediation title for the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia Re-Issue which is due in 2012.
Bryan makes significant teaching contributions at under-graduate and post-graduate level in his fields and is, in his role as Programme Leader within the School, in overall charge of the Law School’s academic programmes. He has also developed a significant community of PhDs in his research fields in the last few years.
Bryan is actively involved in the mediation community and has strong external links ranging from external examining commitments at various universities through to a recent appointment as an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago in recognition of the joint Strathclyde – John Marshall Law Schools Summer Mediation School now into its third year of operation.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School commented: ‘My colleagues and I are delighted at Bryan’s promotion to a professorship. Bryan makes a very significant contribution to the life of the School in research, teaching and citizenship and I am delighted that the University has recognised this. Bryan is a very talented academic leader and I look forward to continuing to work with him into the future.’
7 November 2011
The University of Strathclyde and its Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are making a very significant strategic staffing investment in the highly ranked Strathclyde Law School.
Up to 6 full time academic posts (including up to 2 professors and 2 senior lecturers) and a 2 year postdoctoral research fellow will be appointed as a result of the investment. In addition, part of this investment has also involved the already announced appointment of the former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini QC, who joined the Law School as a Visiting Professor from 1 October. Further visiting appointments have also been made to strengthen ties with the legal profession and provide students with access to expertise from leading practitioners. The full-time posts will range across much of the spectrum of subjects taught at the Law School as it seeks to develop its research and teaching capacity further.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said of the appointments: ‘The School has succeeded on a competitive basis in securing funding for these posts on the strength of its continued top quality performance. I am grateful to both the Faculty and the University for the support our bid received. I am very confident that these appointments will serve to strengthen the School, not least for its REF2014 submission and will also enhance our capacity to deliver new and existing programmes.’
These academic posts are accompanied by two visiting professor appointments. First, the former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini QC, is leading the development of a professional masters programme in Advocacy Studies as well as making other contributions to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. The School is particularly delighted by Dame Elish’s decision to join the Law School. Secondly, Charlie Irvine, the Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network and one of Scotland’s leading mediators, is leading the new MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution which has just launched in this new academic year.
However, these new appointments come on top of a number of other key appointments over the past year and together they signify a step change in the Law School’s activities. First, Professor Lilian Edwards joined the School in January 2011 as Professor of E-Governance Law funded through the University’s John Anderson Research Leadership scheme to relaunch its interdisciplinary Centre for Internet Law and Policy and lead research in that field. Secondly, the School’s criminal justice portfolio has been much strengthened by the appointment of Emeritus Professor, Mike Nellis and senior research fellow, Dr Monica Barry who transferred to the School from the Glasgow School of Social Work. Both are highly regarded in their fields of electronic monitoring and youth justice respectively and will - along with Dame Elish Angiolini QC and other existing colleagues - be making significant contributions to the new Centre for Law, Justice and Crime which provides a focus for criminal justice research within the School and the wider University. Thirdly, the School’s connection with the profession – which is invaluable for students’ experience - has been significantly enhanced by the appointment of 3 other visiting professors: Professor Alan Susskind, partner at Harper McLeod, a family law specialist and one of the School’s senior tutors on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice; Professor David Hoey, partner at BTO, an employment law specialist who makes a very significant contribution to the teaching of employment law at undergraduate and now Diploma level and, finally, Professor Peter Watson, senior partner at Levy & McRae who is bringing his expertise in media law matters to the School as well as supporting student mooting and mediation activities.
Professor Poustie sums up the impact of this investment: ‘Taken together, this programme of appointments is perhaps one of the most significant to occur in recent years in the Law School. My colleagues and I are excited about the opportunities which these appointments will bring. We look forward to working with our new colleagues and to achieving continued success as a top quartile UK Law School and thus enhancing further the standing of the Faculty and the University.’
Application forms and further particulars for the full-time academic posts may be obtained under references JA/147/2011, JA/148/2011, JA/149/2011 and JA/R81/2011 at https://soolin.mis.strath.ac.uk/vacancies/control/vacancyMenu.
Inquiries regarding the full-time academic posts should be directed to the Head of School, Professor Mark Poustie - +44 (0)141-548-3400; mark.poustie@strath.ac.uk.
Inquiries regarding the 2 year postdoctoral research fellow should be directed to Professor Lilian Edwards + 44(0)141-548-3332; lilian.edwards@strath.ac.uk.
The University of Strathclyde Law School has appointed the Right Honourable Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC, the former Lord Advocate, as a Visiting Professor. She will take up her post on 1 October 2011.
One of the most respected figures in the British legal establishment, Dame Elish will develop a Masters course in Advocacy Studies, which is intended to launch in 2012. She will also be involved in the teaching of undergraduate students and will have input into the Law School’s award-wining Law Clinic.
Dame Elish, who graduated from Strathclyde Law School in 1982, said: “I am delighted to be joining a very strong team in the Law School and to be returning to my roots. The opportunity to teach and support students here is very special given the wonderful teaching I experienced here 32 years ago.
“Strathclyde Law School is recognised as one of the best in the country and the cutting edge nature of the research and teaching it is involved in ensures that the graduates it produces are highly sought after. I am delighted to be able to play my part in its continued success.”
The Masters course in Advocacy is the first masters course of its kind in the UK and students will study major aspects of the discipline from forensic advocacy in criminal and civil law, mediation, as well as the fundamentals of persuasion and negotiation. It will look at advocacy from a range of angles including the construction and presentation of an argument and the psychology of persuasion.
The effects of rhetoric, voice, mechanisms for presentation of evidence and the ability of the listener to absorb and be influenced in a number of different contexts will be examined.
Dame Elish said: “Advocacy is a core skill for many professionals and this masters course will take a holistic approach to its study. It has the scope to be an inter-disciplinary course as much of the theory and many of the techniques are as applicable in the business world and boardrooms as in the courts.
“However, as well as working with masters students, it will be a privilege to get the opportunity to spend time with undergraduates and share my experience of the criminal justice system and the wider public law.”
Elish Angiolini was Lord Advocate between October 2006 and May 2011, the first woman to hold the post in 500 years and the first to serve two different governments. Prior to that she was Solicitor General and was also the first woman, the first procurator fiscal and the first solicitor to hold that post.
Among a number of awards and honours, she received an honorary doctorate from Strathclyde in 2007 and was named alumnus of the year in 2002. Earlier this year she received the International Association of Prosecutors Special Achievement Award in Korea in recognition of her achievements in the field of criminal justice both nationally and internationally. She was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen in May this year.
Welcoming the appointment, Professor Jim McDonald, Principal of the University of Strathclyde, said: “I am delighted that the University has been able to attract one of its most outstanding and high profile alumni to return to make a significant contribution to legal education within the Law School. The Law School has been consistently ranked as one of the top Law Schools not only in Scotland but also the UK and Dame Elish Angiolini’s appointment will enhance its reputation further. Her experience will bring a new dimension to legal education at Strathclyde.”
Since leaving office as Lord Advocate Dame Elish has joined Terra Firma Chambers and will enter civil practice at the Scots Bar later this year. She has also been appointed by the Justice Secretary to chair a Commission charged with looking at ways to reduce the number of women who re-offend and end up in prison.
The Law School is delighted to announce the appointment of Charlie Irvine, Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network, as a Visiting Professor from 1 September 2011.
Charlie Irvine is already a Visiting Lecturer at Strathclyde Law School and an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He has played a lead role (along with Dr Bryan Clark) in developing the PgCert and now MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution at Strathclyde. Charlie will lead the new MSc which is about to be launched this autumn. It is an exciting interdisciplinary programme focusing on both the theory and practical skills training in mediation and other forms of alternative (ie non-court) dispute resolution (ADR). Charlie has also been instrumental in developing a joint Strathclyde- John Marshall Law School mediation summer school which has now had two very successful years. He has also published on mediation in both professional and refereed journals and has just been invited to be a regular contributor to the Kluwer International Mediation blog.
Charlie’s role will also encompass lecturing on Alternative Dispute Resolution to LLB students, developing a Mediation elective for the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and providing support on mediation for the Law School’s award-winning Clinic.
Welcoming the appointment, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘I am delighted that the University has appointed Charlie Irvine as a Visiting Professor. This is appropriate recognition for Charlie’s very significant input into the Law School over the last few years and in particular his leading role, along with Dr Bryan Clark, in developing the Pg Certificate and now the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The appointment also recognises Charlie’s status within the mediation profession. My colleagues and I look forward to continuing to work with Charlie in the future.’
1 September 2011
The Law School is delighted to announce that it has secured a PhD studentship endowed by the Horizons Institute based at Nottingham University under the UK Research Councils Digital Economy funding programme. The successful candidate for the studentship will research the area of how the law regulates the transmission of digital assets on death, including notions of access, control, propertisation, and ownership. These assets might include: Facebook profiles, photos on Flickr, tweets, virtual assets in online game worlds such as Second Life, e-money, blog texts, eBay trading accounts, etc. This is a novel area where the student will be expected to research independently into appropriate areas of private law (eg property, succession, probate, contract) as well as intellectual property law, personality law and privacy law. The PhD will be supervised by Lilian Edwards, recently appointed Professor of e-Governance.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of my colleague, Professor Lilian Edwards, in securing this prestigious PhD studentship in an under-researched but very interesting and increasingly significant field. We look forward to receiving suitably qualified applications’. To apply for the studentship, see - http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/news/phdstudentship/. The deadline for applications is 16 September 2011.
15 August 2011
Strathclyde Law School mooting team, Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser, beat both Cambridge and Exeter Universities but narrowly lost to City University in the four-team final of the English Law OUP/BPP UK mooting competition in London on 30 June.
Reflecting on the competition team member Mark Leiser said, ‘The OUP mooting competition has given us the opportunity to compete against the best Universities in the country. While challenging, not least as it involved having to learn English legal principles, it is clear that the skills set taught at Strathclyde which focus on how to research and analyse the law rather than just telling students what the law is proving extremely beneficial. I am grateful for the opportunity and experience and am thrilled that Strathclyde 's mooting programme stands shoulder to shoulder alongside the most elite universities in the UK.’
Commenting on the team’s performance, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘This is a splendid achievement by our team and I would like to congratulate both Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser. This is the first time Strathclyde has reached the finals of this competition and although our team lost by the narrowest of margins to City University, it is a credit to them that they bettered no fewer than 62 teams in this UK competition and that they performed so well in English Law. The Law School is very proud of their performance. It again demonstrates the excellence of our students and what they are capable of.’
4 July 2011
Patricia Kerr, a final year LLB Honours student, has won this year’s prestigious Colin Donald Award for Environmental Law 2011which is offered by the National Trust for Scotland.
Patricia won the prize on the basis of an LLB Honours essay which she submitted to the organisers. The Chairman of the National Trust for Scotland, Sir Kenneth Calman, wrote ‘There were a number of strong submissions for the award this year but the judging panel was unanimous in its choice of your essay on a risk based approach to environmental regulation as the winning contribution. The panel was particularly impressed by the lucidity of your presentation and your grasp of principles in this area’.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘Following on the success of Strathclyde graduate Elizabeth Muir in last year’s Simon Ball Environmental Law Essay Competition organised by the UK Environmental Law Association, it is extremely gratifying that one of this year’s Honours students, Patricia Kerr, has won the Colin Donald Award with one of her Environmental Law Honours essays. My congratulations to Patricia. This is a further demonstration of the excellent capabilities of our students and I hope it will serve as an inspiration to others to enter these or similar competitions’.
The annual Colin Donald Award was launched in 2008 by the National Trust for Scotland charity, in partnership with leading law firm McGrigors LLP and The University of Glasgow. The prize is given in honour of the lawyer, the late Colin Donald, who had a distinguished association with the Trust, McGrigors LLP and the University, spanning a period of four decades.
The prize is a 4 week summer placement involving 2 weeks at McGrigors and 2 weeks at the legal department of the National Trust for Scotland.
21 June 2011
Professor Donald Nicolson, the Director of the Law School’s Law Clinic, was made an OBE for his services to the legal profession and leading Law School alumnus and former Lord Advocate, the Right Honourable Elish Angiolini QC, was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to the administration of justice in Scotland in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List announced on 11 June 2011.
Commenting on the Honours, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, ‘The Law School is absolutely delighted by this double recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Professor Nicolson has been responsible for promoting the whole notion of law clinics in Scotland both in terms of their educational value and their value as an alternative means of providing effective legal services to the community. Strathclyde Law Clinic which Professor Nicolson founded and directs is the first and largest such Clinic in Scotland and has gone from strength to strength under his leadership. It has increasingly begun to be seen as a key feature of legal education at Strathclyde which marks out the Law School from other Law Schools. This will be reinforced by the forthcoming introduction of the Clinical LLB which will be a unique offering in Scotland. Professor Nicolson has inspired a whole generation of students and their perspective and enhanced skills will make a positive impact on the legal profession. The benefits of Professor Nicolson’s contribution to both legal education and the community cannot be overstated.
We are also immensely proud that Elish Angiolini QC, one of our leading alumni, has been honoured for services to the administration of justice in Scotland. Elish was the first woman to hold the posts of Solicitor General and Lord Advocate and in her role did much to modernise the criminal justice system. It is a tribute to her that her abilities were recognised by both the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition and SNP administrations. Elish has remained committed to the Law School throughout her career, notably opening the Law School’s facilities in the Lord Hope Building in 2007 and strongly supporting the Law Clinic. The Law School looks forward to developing further links with Elish in the near future.
The Law School is delighted to announce that its revised LLB programmes and new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP, the replacement for the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice) have been accredited by the Law Society of Scotland for 4 years from the start of 2011-12. The revised LLBs and the new DPLP are designed to meet the Law Society’s new legal education requirements. The LLB programmes include the full-time, part-time, Graduate Entry, Law and a Modern Language and the new Clinical LLB. The new DPLP is available from 2011-12 on a full-time or part-time basis with the part-time variant being offered in association with CLT (Scotland). It builds on the award-winning transactional learning-based model developed over the last decade at Strathclyde and contains a wide range of electives which are being offered following extensive consultation with the legal profession as to what employers are looking for.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, stated, ‘I am very pleased with the successful outcome of our accreditation applications. This demonstrates the confidence the Law Society has in our programmes going forward into the future. We will be continuing to offer a distinctive and flexible suite of LLB programmes including the new Clinical LLB which involves credit for work-based reflective learning in the Law Clinic which provides free services for members of the public who are ineligible for Legal Aid and who cannot otherwise afford legal services. In addition our new DPLP has been designed to meet not only the Law Society’s requirements but also the requirements of employers in today’s legal profession. In this context the Complete University Guide ranked the Law School as 14th out of 94 Law Schools in the UK in April 2011 and notably the Law School scored higher on the employability of its graduates than any Law School ranked above it in these rankings bar Oxford. Our newly accredited programmes will help to cement this high graduate employability ranking. Finally, I would particularly like to commend the efforts of Dr Bryan Clark, the Law School Programme Leader and Ms Karen Barton, the Academic Director of our Professional Practice courses for their efforts in leading the accreditation processes.’
