Research in Law is led by Dr Jess Guth and Dr Simon Best.
The School of Law focuses on substantive legal research taking both doctrinal and more socio-legal and empirical approaches to a variety of legal topics. We also have strength in legal education research.
In particular, we have leading and emerging research expertise in the following areas:
- Legal education including legal pedagogy, transnational education, and legal education reforms.
- The Legal Professions
- Corporate Governance
- Employment/Labour Law
- EU Law and Policy
- Socio-Legal and Empirical approaches to Law Property Law and Practice
All our work is underpinned by ideas of social justice, and we welcome PhD proposals from candidates interested in exploring any of our areas of expertise. You can learn more on our research degrees page and view potential supervisors on our research portal.
Research in Law is led by Dr Jess Guth and Dr Simon Best.
The School of Law focuses on substantive legal research taking both doctrinal and more socio-legal and empirical approaches to a variety of legal topics. We also have strength in legal education research.
In particular, we have leading and emerging research expertise in the following areas:
- Legal education including legal pedagogy, transnational education, and legal education reforms.
- The Legal Professions
- Corporate Governance
- Employment/Labour Law
- EU Law and Policy
- Socio-Legal and Empirical approaches to Law Property Law and Practice
All our work is underpinned by ideas of social justice, and we welcome PhD proposals from candidates interested in exploring any of our areas of expertise. You can learn more on our research degrees page and view potential supervisors on our research portal.
Legal Education and Training and Social Justice
Various members of the Law Team are researching the links between Social Justice and legal education and training. Dr Jess Guth is carrying out research which seeks to understand the extent to which Law Schools ‘walk the walk’ rather than just ‘talk the talk’ when it comes to social justice. This research employs a case study methodology and build on previous desk-based research around legal education and training. James Shipton’s PhD, supervised by Dr Jess Guth, Dr Simon Best and Dr Sean Walton, focuses on legal aid/social welfare lawyers and the knowledge and skills they require in their day-to-day jobs in order to better understand how legal education, and law degrees specifically, shape the lawyers we choose to become. Dr Best is writing around transnational education in law considering the benefits international activities with transnational partners can bring to students at all participating institutions.
Case Study
Gender and the European Court of Human Rights
Dr Jess Guth, working with Dr Sanna Elfving (University of Lincoln), is undertaking research considering the impact of Gender on the composition and work of the European Court of Human Rights. This work follows the successful 2018 book Gender and the Court of Justice of the European Union by Drs Guth and Elfving. The research explores the impact gender has on the appointment of the judiciary in this specific international context and then goes on to consider whether the Court’s ways of working have gender implications. The research further considers selected areas of the Court’s jurisprudence to examine the extent to which the Court is or is not gender aware in its decision making. The findings from this research will be published as a book which is due to be submitted later in 2024.
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