Our faculty
Our faculty has unrivalled experience of training students for legal careers.
We employ more than 500 tutors across our eight centres who deliver our postgraduate and professional development training.
All have substantial experience of working in practice – whether this be as a solicitor or barrister. Many combine their teaching work at The College of Law with continuing work with law firms or as in-house lawyers.
This will benefit you because it gives you direct, face-to-face access with practising lawyers and you’ll gain valuable insight into contemporary work as a lawyer.
It also means that our tutors can help you build your own networks within practice and help you to raise your profile and get yourself known.
A part of that help will be through a personal tutor who is assigned to you.
Here are some brief profiles of typical tutors at The College of Law:
Samantha Johnson, Associate Professor
Samantha worked in commercial litigation in Manchester before joining The College of Law in 2004. She became Senior Lecturer, Centre Head of Business Law & Practice in 2005, but in 2006 took on the role of Senior Lecturer, Director of the Centre for Legal Practice at Aberystwyth University. Samantha returned to The College of Law in 2007 and acquired her Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in the Context of Higher Education (Distinction) the same year. In 2010 she was appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the Northern Circuit. She’s also responsible for coordinating student musical activities.
Heather Smith, Senior Lecturer
Heather won the Liverpool Law Society Prize for best results in the area at the 1978/1979 Law Society Finals. From 1975-82 Heather worked in Liverpool, where she qualified as an assistant solicitor. She currently teaches GDL and LPC students and is a lead tutor for pro bono projects at The College of Law. In addition, Heather is a lay manager of a mental health care group, a magistrate on the Wirral Bench, Adult Court and a magistrate on the Liverpool Bench, Family.
Neil Buzzard, Associate Professor
Appointed as a fee-paid Employment Tribunal Judge in 2009, Neil was first admitted as a solicitor in 1998 during a five-year period working in Liverpool. During those years he focused on employment law. He moved to The College of Law in 2003, becoming Deputy Director (Staffing) in 2006, and was Acting Centre Director during 2009/2010. He teaches GDL and LPC students and has designed coursework and assessments.
Susan Evans, Associate Professor
After completing the Law Society Finals course as a College of Law student, Sue was admitted as a solicitor in 1988 and practised in Cardiff. Sue joined The College of Law as a tutor in 1993, after teaching on the LL.B and Law Society Final courses at the University of Glamorgan. Sue has designed a number of The College of Law courses and is also co-author and designer of the Criminal Law module of the Open University undergraduate law degree. In 2010 Sue was appointed as a part-time Judge sitting on Employment Tribunals.