Lesley Klaff

Senior lecturer in law

I have an LLB and an MA Socio-Legal Studies from the University of Sheffield, and I have been lecturing law at undergraduate and postgraduate level since 1982.

My teaching areas are the English legal system and legal and social theory. I consider myself to be a critical (academic) lawyer and this is reflected in the way I teach my modules. I urge my students to take a critical, contextual, and reflective view of the law and legal institutions.

My research interests include race discrimination, with particular emphasis on anti-Semitism, and the identity of the other, which deals with issues of racial and religious identity. I incorporate my research interests into my teaching. For example, in my English legal system module I discuss issues of race and gender discrimination in legal education, training, and practice, and in my legal and social theory module I discuss the ways in which the law constructs knowledge about race, as well as the ways in which race discrimination legislation lets down the very people whom it purports to protect.

My English legal system and social and legal theory modules are also influenced by my time in America, where I lectured law for seven years prior to my appointment at Sheffield Hallam. In English legal system, the American influence takes the form of appellate case analysis whereby students are taught to summarise an appellate case and critique it from a variety of jurisprudential perspectives. In the legal and social theory module, the American influence is evident in the teaching of American legal realism and critical legal theory, as well as in the use of US Supreme Court cases.

In addition to my teaching and administrative duties, I serve as a faith advisor on the University’s multi-faith chaplaincy. In that capacity, I organise the University’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day event and invite guest speakers. I am also the book review editor for the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism. My recent article on campus hate speech will appear in the autumn 2010 issue of Jewish Political Studies Review.

Chris Riley

Senior lecturer

I joined Sheffield Hallam n 2007 as a lecturer after working within the School of Law and Criminology at the University of Derby. Prior to joining academia I worked in the legal profession.

Since 2007, I have taught across a wide range of modules at undergraduate level, including contract law, commercial law, mental health law and policy, criminal law, criminal justice (national and international), and English legal system. 

I also supervise dissertations for students studying law and those studying for the joint honours degree, psychology and law. I am module leader for the English legal system module on the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and second year tutor on the LLB.

My research interests include the broad area of public international law, but more specifically international criminal law and justice, international humanitarian law and international dispute settlement. I have also developed a keen interest in the area of mental health law and policy for which I have developed a module for the undergraduate degree and currently in the process of working on further projects in this area.

Current research projects include the lawfulness and legitimacy on the use of amnesties in international criminal law and a comparative approach to the treatment of the mentally ill with an international human rights perspective.

I am a member of the International Human Rights Obligations Network and the Society of Legal Scholars.

Finola Moss

Senior Lecturer

I qualified as a solicitor in 1981 after articles in Weightmans, and a LLB degree from the University of Liverpool.

From 1981 to 1989, I taught civil and criminal litigation, conveyancing, landlord and tenant, consumer and employment on the Solicitors Final Examination at the College of Law, Chester Branch. I was also a Law Society external marker for these subjects until 1993.

In 1989 I went to Glamorgan University, where I was instrumental in setting up and obtaining the Law Society's approval to the validation of the teaching of the new format of the solicitor's final exam. I was also module leader evidence and taught equity and trusts.

I have been equity and trusts module leader at Sheffield Hallam since joining in 1993. I have also been responsible for the delivery of lectures and seminars in the land law module.

Since 1996 I have lectured evidence at undergraduate level, and for two years on the LLM in Law and Ethics in Healthcare. I delivered all the lectures on equity and trusts for the Graduate Diploma in Law in 2008/9. I have been assistant part-time tutor since 2000.

In 2008 I was commissioned to be a specialist writer for the New Law Journal, and have regular publications in the Journal, mainly on child, family law, evidence and charities.

I have also been asked to be a contributor to the Expert Institute newsletter, and published an article in their Spring newsletter, exploring the latest Law Commission report on ensuring reliability of expert evidence in criminal proceedings. 

My research areas are in respect to any law, which is or could result in abuse of power and injustice.

Adam Wilson

Senior lecturer

After graduating initially, I worked as a solicitor specialising in criminal litigation before moving to Anglia Polytechnic University to teach on the legal practice course programme. I have worked at Sheffield Hallam since 2001.

My teaching at Sheffield Hallam is diverse including both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes delivered to both law and non-law students. I am particularly interested in how legal skills can be learnt quickly by drawing on previous experience and using everyday attributes effectively in the legal context. Transversely, I think legal skills should be transferable not just to any employment setting but, also, private life. I am interested in gaining complete transferability from skills acquired.

My teaching focuses upon criminal law, procedure and evidence. I am interested in how law works in reality but think that theoretical considerations, if used appropriately, aids practical understanding.

I have published predominantly in the area of opinion evidence as this topic raises particularly challenging issues as to what suffices for proof in a criminal trial and, as such, merges theory and practice well.

Dr Katherine Wright

Principal lecturer

I first entered higher education as a mature student.  The experience of higher education has been a life changing one for me. Shortly after completing my first degree I was awarded a bursary to complete a PhD at Sheffield Hallam.

I was appointed to a permanent lectureship role at Sheffield Hallam in 1999 and was promoted to a principal lecturer post in 2008.

I have taught on a number of modules on the law programme but my principal interest and main responsibilities lie in the area of family law and policy; a subject which I find immensely interesting and rewarding to teach. I have held a number of roles including assistant admissions tutor, course leader for BA (Hons) Law and Criminology, and more recently, research leader and group leader for the law subject group.

I am an external examiner for the University of Sunderland and have been an internal examiner for PhDs completed within the law group. I am currently supervising a student undertaking a PhD on the law in relation to the provision of reproductive treatment.

My research interests are closely aligned with my teaching responsibilities. My PhD, 'The process of divorce: a study of solicitors and their clients', completed in 2004, was an in-depth look at how the law relating to divorce actually works in practice. The research involved drawing on the personal experiences of a number of solicitors and their clients as they progressed through the divorce process.

My publications reflect my interest in the workings of family justice system, specifically from the perspectives of both the legal practitioners and the family members who use the service. Currently I am engaged in a project examining the process of collaborative law; a process recently introduced from the US in which couples and their lawyers resolve the disputes arising in divorce without going to court.

 A firm believer in the centrality of research within higher education, I was appointed to the post of research and scholarship leader for the law group in 2008. I am a member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.

Dr Catherine Morse

Senior lecturer

I originally read English at university and trained as a teacher and taught in further education before taking my law degree at the University of Hull. I came to Sheffield Hallam in 1992, having previously been a lecturer in law at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University).

My particular teaching interests have included environmental law, constitutional and administrative law, and aspects of legal theory and contemporary society. Recently I have joined the team teaching law in the community which is one of the law options more based in the clinical legal education approach to law teaching.

For several years I was the law group’s learning, teaching and assessment co-ordinator. I was involved with several cross faculty and university-based committees and initiatives relating to these aspects of academic life, as well as leading more local projects within the law group. More recently I obtained my Doctorate in Education for work undertaken on Law Student Understandings of Critical Thinking: A Phenomenographic Study.

I am a member of the Association of Law Teachers (ALT) and have given papers at ALT conferences mainly in the area of pedagogic developments within the law curriculum.

Rachel White

Associate lecturer

I studied for my LLB Law at Sheffield Hallam University, graduating in 2007. I then completed a Masters in Biotechnological Law and Ethics in 2007/8 at the University of Sheffield. I took a place as an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam in September 2008.

During my time with the law department I have worked on a number of different modules including the English legal system, equity and trusts, sports law and business and corporate law as a seminar tutor. I have also taken on the role of module leader for the ACCA and CIMA Law modules which is another example of corporate and business law.

I am intending to start my PhD during this academic year and it will be based around the issues of doping control in sports law. My specialism prior to teaching at Sheffield Hallam was medical law and as such I have kept this during my time in the sports law team.

I have also gained knowledge and interest in the area of corporate and business law as this has allowed me to deal with a great number of different areas of UK law. I wish to expand on this in the years to come through academic research and the publishing of articles.

Dr James Marson

Senior lecturer

I have been employed at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University as a researcher and lecturer since completing my masters and PhD.

I have various research interests resulting in publications in areas as diverse as higher education, employment law, law of the European Union, access to justice and strategic management. I have also completed research projects commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

I am the author of three textbooks on business and employment law published by Oxford University Press and Routledge. Further, I am an external examiner for the Northern Consortium (NCUK), and have spoken at national and international conferences. I have taught at undergraduate, postgraduate and professional course levels, and I have a specific interest in corporate law and its wider impact on businesses and the EU.

My most recent research activity has been in the negative impact on employment status through judicial decisions and of access to justice for vulnerable groups. This later research continued from my work at the Department for Constitutional Affairs by providing an evaluation of the effectiveness of publicly funded advisory agencies and their accessibility to various local groups.

My future research plans include an analysis of the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in employment disputes and the implications of the changes in funding provision of publicly funded advice agencies.

Dr Stephen Riley

Senior lecturer

I received my PhD in Law from Lancaster University and have been teaching at Sheffield Hallam University since 2006. My area of specialism is the philosophy of law. Specifically, my research is on human dignity, critical theory, and criminal justice. My recent publications have involved interdisciplinary work on law, philosophy, anthropology and politics.

I am course leader for the LLM by Research and run a postgraduate legal skills module. I have previously taught international criminal law at a postgraduate level. Along with an undergraduate module on legal philosophy, I also teach internet law, the law of sexual offences, and constitutional law.

Much of my work concerns the relationship between human dignity, human rights, and justice. I am involved in human rights and equality activities within the University and I am a member of the national Lawyers for Liberty group.

Anna Deans

Senior Lecturer

I studied my law degree at Sheffield Hallam and went onto study my legal practice course at the University of Sheffield. I qualified as a solicitor in 2004 and worked for a medium-sized regional firm in Sheffield. I specialised in commercial litigation and dealt with contractual claims, defamation claims, insurance claims, shareholder disputes and claims for breaches of duty against directors or employees.

I had my own niche practice in contentious intellectual property. I acted for public limited companies, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and owner-managed businesses (OMBs), artists, musicians, record labels and charities. My expertise included claims for copyright, trademark infringement and passing off.  

I joined the University in January 2009 and teach on law of tort, law clinic and law in practice. I am the departmental lead for careers and mobility. My research interests are in clinical legal education and in particular student employability.

I am a trustee of the North East Legal Support Trust who raise funds for pro bono organisations and charities to enable increased access to justice for the most disadvantaged members of society.  I have also recently been elected as deputy vice president of Sheffield and District Incorporated Law Society.

Peter Charlish

Principal lecturer

I studied for my undergraduate degree in Sheffield, before moving down to Exeter to complete my PGCE. Following that I worked in Spain for some time before returning to the UK to take my Masters in Law at the University of Sheffield.

Following a second stint working abroad in Ireland as the camp director for an activity camp for children with HIV and cancer, I returned to Sheffield again to begin my postgraduate research, looking at negligence liability in sport. At this time I also began my professional academic career. In 2003 I took up post as a lecturer in law at Sheffield Hallam.

I am a member of the British Association of Sport and Law and also on the editorial board of the International Sports Law Review.

I have held a number of roles during my time at Sheffield Hallam including head of the law and criminology degree and also head of the LLB. In early 2007 I became a principal lecturer and took on the role of subject group leader for the law group

I also lead on work planning for law within the Department of Law, Criminology and Community Justice.

My teaching, research and scholarly activity is focussed very much on the area of sports law. I teach sports law at undergraduate level and also international sports law at postgraduate level to students in the UK and also in Singapore. I have published extensively in sports law related journals both at home and abroad and have also spoken at international conferences in Denmark and most recently in Turkey.

Nigel Johnson

Principal lecturer

I gained my LLB from the University of Warwick before moving to the London School of Economics and Political Science to take an MSc in Economics (Industrial Relations).

At Sheffield Hallam University I have taught across a range of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, mainly specialising in employment law, media law and public (constitutional) law. 

I have been an external examiner at RIMA College, Kuala Lumpur and the University of Northampton. I have participated in teaching exchanges with the Universities of Innsbruck, Jaume 1 (Castellon) and the Public University of Milan, where I currently have an appointment as a visiting lecturer co-delivering a module on Anglo-American public law. I am also a member of the Association of Law Teachers.

In addition to teaching I have held a number of roles during my time at Sheffield Hallam. Currently I am quality lead for the Department of Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice as well as programme leader for the department's postgraduate awards. I am also course leader for the LLM in Law and Corporate Strategy and programme leader for the University's postgraduate courses in forensics.

My research interests and publications are in employment and constitutional law. The major focus of my recent research activity is on constitutional reform in the UK. I am currently supervising an MPhil student and was joint Unit of Assessment Co-ordinator for the law submission to the Research Assessment Exercise 2008.

Sam Burton

Senior lecturer

I joined the law department at Sheffield Hallam in 2004 following the completion of my LLB (Hons) Law degree. Since then I have completed my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. In addition, I am currently undertaking a postgraduate research project which examines the human rights implications of the United Kingdom’s legal responses to terrorism.

Since joining Sheffield Hallam I have taught on a range of modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I am the module leader for land law on the LLB and property law on the Graduate Diploma in Law. I also teach on comparative law, a first year module which focuses on the French and US legal systems, and on the legal perspectives on criminal justice module.

I have supervised a number of dissertations and research projects on UK and US responses to terrorism and the use of coercive interrogation in the war on terror. My teaching interests also extend to public law and domestic and international human rights law.

My principal research interests include states' legal responses to the post-9/11 terrorism threat and human rights law. In particular, my current focus is on the use of preventive counter-terrorism measures and the control orders regime operated under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005; a topic on which I have delivered a number of papers at national and international conferences.

Chalen Westaby

Senior lecturer

I studied for a BA (Hons) in Law and Literature at the University of Derby, and then went on to study at the University of Sheffield for an LLM in International and European Law. 

My academic career began whilst studying for a PhD in public international law at the University of Derby, teaching as part of a bursary provided by the university.  My research focused on the area of international legal history and looked at the development of the customary international law right of self-determination after the Second World War. 

My current research concentrates on the legal profession, and particularly how solicitors manage emotions in their everyday work.  I am also an active member of research clusters in law in society and governance and human rights.

| joined Sheffield Hallam in 2008 from Liverpool Hope University (2004-2008), where I gained my higher education teaching qualification (PGCLTHE), and went on to run the law programme. I lecture mainly on the undergraduate programme, and teach contract law, consumer law, commercial law and tort law. I additionally supervise Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) dissertations in the broad area of international law.  I am also an academic support tutor. 

Outside the University, I am an external examiner at the University of Aberdeen.

Mark Edwards

Principal lecturer

I am a former law graduate from Sheffield Hallam University where I also successfully completed my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. I joined the academic staff in 2006 following a 25 year career in business, most latterly working at operations director level within the distribution industry.  This practical experience is invaluable in my teaching, particularly in company law where I am the module leader for that subject.

I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Currently my teaching is concentrated on criminal law, law of torts and company law and previously I have taught extensively the English legal system and some IT law. I have also taught at Masters level on our law and corporate strategy course.

Currently my research is forming part of a Master of Philosophy degree looking at employment legislation, its impact on employers and their responses to regulation. It will analyse what strategies and innovative techniques employers have adopted in response to increased and evolving employment regulation, why they have felt a need implement these tactics and how have these been treated by tribunals, the courts and the legislature. It will also focus on the potential impact that a coalition government may have in this area.

In 2009 I was appointed as the market and recruitment lead for the Department of Law, Criminology and Community Justice.

Debbie Fox

Senior lecturer

I graduated from Leicester University in 1979 and qualified as a solicitor in 1982. On qualifying I worked in the North East specialising in public and child care law.

In 1987 I was appointed secretary and solicitor to the Northumbria Probation Service where I was responsible for the provision of legal services to the then Probation Committee and staff. This included a variety of matters relating to criminal law and the management of offenders, contractual and property work and all staffing matters which were heard by a panel of committee members such as serious disciplinary cases, appeals and grievances. I represented the committee in the Magistrates Courts in contested cases of breach of Community Orders.

I was co-opted to the National Council of Probation Committees and the Association of Chief Officers of Probation as an adviser. During this time I was involved with the Northern Group of the Law Society's Local Government Group and was chair of the Group for two years.

After moving to Sheffield I did public procurement work for a local authority and consultancy work for several probation areas. I also became an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and took up a full time appointment in 2004. I gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in 2005.

My main role is in clinical legal education and I am the module leader of the Law Clinic which operates as a fully regulated solicitors practice. I also teach on the criminal law module.

Seamus Burns

Senior lecturer

I graduated with an LLB (Hons.) Law degree from Queen's University, Belfast, completed my professional solicitor examinations at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, at Queens University, and qualified as a solicitor after successfully completing my articles/ professional/practical training.

I joined Sheffield Hallam University as a lecturer in 1991 and set up the law of evidence and law and medicine modules in 1993 and 1994.

In 1995 I became a senior lecturer in law and I also currently teach constitutional law. In 1999 I successfully completed an MA in Biotechnological Law and Ethics at the University of Sheffield and also a Postgraduate Diploma in Further and Higher Education at Sheffield Hallam in 2004.

Since October 2005 I have written and had published over 70 articles in a variety of legal journals

Currently, I am researching and writing a monograph, (200,000 words long), namely 'The Law on Assisted Reproduction' to be published by Bloomsbury Professional, and I submit the manuscript on 31/1/2011.

Since 2000 I have successfully delivered the Medical Ethics and Law for Specialist Registrars 3-day CPD programme over 30 times, which I created and developed having been commissioned by the then Yorkshire and Humber Postgraduate Dean. I have been commissioned to deliver five more of these programmes in 2010/2011.

I was elected the legal vice-president of the South Yorkshire Medico-Legal Society in April 2010, (2010-2012), and have been a committee member since 2005.

Dr Miroslav Baros

Senior lecturer

After graduating in 1982 I practised law as a solicitor for seven years specialising in business, company and criminal law.

I obtained a masters in international, commercial and European law from the University of Sheffield in 1998. In the same year I was granted a British Academy Award for my research project on the application of international law to the resolution of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

The following three years I conducted the research in the Law School, Nottingham University, where I was teaching public international law on a LLM course, mainly on international human rights and collective security. My research included the examination of the development of the conflicts in the region, reaction of the international community (mainly the European Union, the United Nations, NATO) to the situation and eventual resolution of the crisis culminating with the Dayton Peace Agreements and the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.  

In February 2002 I joined Sheffield Hallam and taught a number of modules including immigration law, international human rights, constitutional law, introduction to law, theories on law, law and contemporary society. My other responsibilities included leading the dissertation module for a number of years and designing and coordinating the law induction module.

Currently I teach immigration law, international human rights, constitutional law, law and contemporary society on our LLB programme and public international law and international human rights as LLM modules. I am also involved in designing and leading personal development planning processes for all students in the department.

From 2003 to 2007 I acted as the principal and subject external examiner in the Law School, Hertfordshire University, examining a number of modules at both LLB and LLM levels and coordinating the work of all other external examiners.  During the same period I acted as an external examiner at Athens University, Greece for a number of LLM modules.      

My main research interests involve examination and assessment of the role of law in resolving international disputes; the relationship between politics and law. I published several major articles concerning the role of law in either resolving an international dispute or application of law, legal principles and human rights standards to other areas of regulation, especially areas where discretionary decision-making plays a significant part such as maintaining immigration control.

Presently, I am analysing the role of law in international efforts to bring a lasting peace and substantive democracy to the troubled regions of the world where civil wars and struggle for independence were taking place.