Role
Simon is a Senior Lecturer at the Nottingham Law School. The main focus of Simon's work is on professional legal training, mainly the BTC, although he also does some skills teaching on the LPC.
He is the sole module leader for Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing on the BTC. Simon is also sole module leader for the assessed element of our BTC Masters, which involves either the submission of a dissertation from the students or an equivalent piece of work in the form of a report based on a legal placement. He is also the BTC careers tutor.
Career overview
Simon has been with NTU for over 26 years, where he has been involved in teaching and assessing solicitors who wish to obtain higher rights of audience in order to appear in the higher courts. Simon has also taught and assessed on those courses, both for prosecutors employed by the Crown Prosecution Service and also defence solicitors in private practice. Simon has also been involved in the writing and preparation of materials for those courses. He is an accredited higher rights teacher.
Simon is one of the members of staff to write the Bar Course. The initial concept, namely a practically-focused training course led by materials provided in a format as they would be for the barrister in independent practice, was devised by Simon and another former colleague from our position, as the first two staff to be employed on the Bar Course. That format, original to them, was then understood to be then followed by other institutions.
Research areas
Simon's research areas are very much practically focused, and day-to-day involve ensuring that our very substantial BTC criminal course is up-to-date and relevant, in what is a fast-moving area, and consistent with the syllabus set by the Bar Standards Board.
External activity
In the past Simon has acted as a trainer and assessor of solicitors wishing to appear as advocates in the higher courts.
Course(s) I teach on
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Professional | Full-time | 2024https://www.ntu.ac.uk/course/nottingham-law-school/pr/this-year/barristers-training-course-llm-btc