Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Association of Law Teachers
Published on 24 June 2025
On 3rd June 2025 Nottingham Law School’s Centre for Legal Education hosted a celebratory event in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Association of Law Teachers (ALT). Starting with an introduction from Mark O’Brien, president of the Association, the event took the form of a series of panels and short presentations from people at all stages of legal education: from students and recent graduates, through lawyers in their early career to Visiting Professor Pat Leighton, a founder member of the ALT and other senior colleagues. Presenters and attendees, face to face and online, came from many universities in the UK and elsewhere, and from legal practice.
Presentations and panel contributions included discussion of the likely impact of Generative AI as the next big thing for legal education. Andy Unger and Lucia Otoyo of London South Bank University discussed how universities around the world are adapting their teaching, learning and assessment strategies to take account of the threats and opportunities of new digital technologies, commenting:
"Our students helped shape the way we use AI in teaching. By co-creating tools and policies, we’ve shown how responsible innovation can enhance learning and prepare students for a tech-driven legal future."
Paulo Karat, introducing the emerging topic of 'psychological safety', concluded:
“Do we as law teachers do enough to acknowledge student vulnerability and create a sense of safety in which they can engage and contribute as best they can without fear of humiliation or judgement?” He concluded that vulnerability and diversity came through as strong themes.
In that light, Sarah Singh, representing Nottinghamshire Law Society, and discussing access to the professions, said
“I think ensuring inclusivity, equality and diversity within the professions by continuing to work hard to eradicate causes of exclusion (both in academic law and in legal practice) is essential if we are to be truly representative of the communities we serve, and this renewed focus will enable us all to continually learn and to tailor our support effectively for the people most in need of it.”
Reflecting on the variety across the talks, commonalities are the genuine care, curiosity and dedication that colleagues demonstrate, and how this is not limited to ESE but also extends to how we care about legal academy and each other as a community.
Hannah Gibbons-Jones, Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham
As a final word from Pat Leighton: “Let's not forget in the ALT the FE and other sectors-they still need our support and were the origin and lifeblood of the ALT itself".
We are grateful, and honoured, to have been asked by the ALT to run the event, and would also like to thank all participants, Nottingham Conference Centre and all those involved behind the scenes, and Nottinghamshire Law Society. We look forward to the next sixty years!