Leicester De Montfort Law School

Alan is a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Rights in Criminal Proceedings) with extensive experience specialising in criminal litigation and prison law. He co-founded a legal practice in 2004 and later diversified his career at the Crown Prosecution Service as a District Crown Prosecutor, managing a large team of prosecutors in the West Midlands. He was an elected council member at the Law Society of England and Wales and former chair of its Education and Training Committee. Alan joined higher education in 2010 and has built an international reputation as an innovator and disrupter in teaching, learning and assessment. He pioneered the use of mobile remote telepresence devices with international partners, established a pro bono community legal advice service to develop student’s legal skills and pioneered one of the first advocacy programmes. In 2023 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by Advance HE for his outstanding contribution to legal education.

E: alan.east@dmu.ac.uk

David joined Leicester De Montfort Law School in 2017 having spent the previous 18 years lecturing law at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. A barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, he is the Deputy Head of Law, Associate Professor and visiting Professor of Criminal Law & Advanced Legal Skills at Masaryk Law Faculty, Brno in the Czech Republic. In relation to education, he is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holder of a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education. He has delivered two national education workshops to date namely Association of Law Teachers Conference, Newcastle ‘Promoting Collaboration – students as partners in delivery, not just design’ and Association of Law Teachers Conference, Leeds, 'Responding in advance - what is the future of the legal professions and what changes now to professional legal education?' For ten years he delivered courtroom training to both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Constabularies (Uniform Branch and CID) where officers are trained in the skills needed to give evidence in court. He has authored two outputs, Hodgkinson D, et al. Legal Context, Skills & Ethics (2014) Pearson Education and Hodgkinson D, Virtual Criminal Lawyer (2013) Pearson Education. He was winner of the LawCite.com National Law Lecturer of the Year (2014) and winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Learning and Teaching Award, De Montfort University (2022).

E: david.hodgkinson@dmu.ac.uk

Brett graduated with an LLB Hons degree from the University of Leicester in 2014. Brett then spent 2015-2019 in legal practice as a specialist in Commercial Litigation after qualifying as a Solicitor. He then joined De Montfort University in 2019 to teach on both the Legal Practice Course and on the LLB. Brett teaches across all three years on the LLB including Tort, Law and Medicine, English Legal Systems and Inter-Professional Legal Skills. In addition to this, he teaches Litigation, Advocacy, Drafting, Writing and Interviewing on professional legal programs.

Brett holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. He has become an award-winning teacher after receiving the Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award and Students’ Choice Teaching award and he is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Brett is passionate about encouraging social mobility, diversity and inclusivity in the legal profession. In this role he oversees commercial and executive development activities for the Law school. Additionally he is part of the LLB Programme Leadership team. Brett is a representative for Law at the staff assembly.

Brett is the Associate Head of the Law School and leads on Student Experience and Quality for the School. He works closely with the Associate Dean Education to ensure a high-quality student experience in the School and support department level and faculty wide projects. The role involves implementing faculty strategy with respect to student experience and quality agendas and promoting best practice in these areas.

T: 0116 257 4420

E: brett.koenig@dmu.ac.uk

Liz joined DMU as a Senior Lecturer in 2020 bringing her experience of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students in Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice. Throughout her career she has developed her innovative approaches through her roles as module leader, programme leader and now Undergraduate Subject Lead for De Montfort Law School. As UG Subject Lead, Liz ensures excellence, and the development thereof, in the Law School by developing staff expertise and growth, ensuring a contemporary and impactful curriculum, identifying income generation and commercial opportunities, and raising the profile of the Law School. Liz is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy having successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. She also has an LLB (Hons) and MSc in Criminal Investigation specialising in child sexual exploitation. Liz’s teaching interests include domestic abuse, family law, criminal law, English legal system, feminist legal studies and criminology. Liz is ambitious, committed to enhancing the student experience, dedicated to driving the Law School forward and passionate about empowering and motivating colleagues.

E: liz.doherty@dmu.ac.uk

Kelly graduated with an LLB Hons degree from De Montfort University in 2008 and completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice in 2011. She then spent nearly 6 years in legal practice, working in a Litigation department and specialising as a Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Solicitor.

Kelly returned to De Montfort University in 2017. She teaches across all three years on the LLB on a variety of modules including Contract, Tort, and Law and Medicine. In addition to this, she teaches Dispute Resolution, Advocacy, Drafting, and Interviewing on postgraduate professional legal programs. Kelly is committed to teaching excellence, innovative curriculum design, and improving student experience which she has been able to develop as a module leader, programme leader and now Postgraduate Subject Lead for De Montfort Law School. Kelly is also committed to developing her own pedagogical practices having successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is now working towards her Education Practice MA.

E: kelly.hughes@dmu.ac.uk

Sharan was born in Coventry and graduated with an LL.B. Hons degree in 2007. She completed her postgraduate diploma in Legal Practice in 2008 (the then College of Law, Birmingham) and was awarded an LL.M. in International Economic Law in 2011 (Warwick University).

In 2012, Sharan qualified as a Solicitor and has extensive experience in residential leasehold law. During her time in practice, Sharan was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Young Professional of the Year category at the ERMA awards and was listed within the ‘News on the Block – Hot 100’ most influential people in the residential leasehold property sector.

She became an Associate in 2014 and then transitioned into higher education in 2020 as an Associate Lecturer, teaching property law and practical legal skills. Following completion of her Postgraduate Certificate (with distinction) in Academic Practice, Sharan became a Senior Teaching Fellow in Law. During her short time in academia, Sharan was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ for raising the profile and reputation in the Excellence Awards in 2021, received two ‘I Love My Staff’ awards in 2021 and 2022 and successfully launched an employability initiative titled Raising the Bar. In March 2023, Sharan was appointed the Vice President of the Warwickshire Law Society, with a view to becoming the President in March 2025.

Sharan is passionate about using technology and connections to create opportunities for law students which benefit the community as a whole, this includes the creation of a Social Justice Hub, allowing students to develop legal skills whilst supporting the community, in various ways.

E: sharan.sandhu@dmu.ac.uk