College of Law and Criminology hits top spot for student satisfaction! The College of Law and Criminology at Swansea University are pleased to announce that all sides of our Undergraduate College have performed exceptionally well in the 2015 National Student Survey (NSS).

The Department of Legal Studies has achieved the top position for law in England and Wales in the 2015 National Student Survey (NSS). 98% of students on the Swansea LLB are satisfied with the course with students rating all aspects of their experience highly; 100% of students verified that staff members are effective teachers and 95% saying that the course is intellectually stimulating.

The Department of Criminology were rated equally well with a score of 100% overall satisfaction in the Survey for the BSc (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice degree programme. We are overjoyed that student satisfaction increased in all areas of the survey for the Department: Teaching, Assessment and Feedback, Academic Support, Organisation and Management, Learning Resources and Personal Development.

The College of Law and Criminology are delighted to have achieved such good results. We strive to deliver an outstanding education and so it’s very rewarding to see the excellence of our student experience recognised yet again.

CONTENTS PAGE

Department of Legal Studies (LLB) 2–3

Department of Shipping and Trade Law (LLM) 4–5

Professional Legal Studies News (GDL & LPC) 6

Department of Criminology 7

Research and Engagement 8–11

Student Success Stories 12

Beginning of a New Era for the CollegeHaving recently appointed one of the UK’s leading lawyers to head up the College of Law and Criminology, Professor Elwen Evans QC, there is no doubt that we are entering into a very exciting phase.

Professor Elwen Evans QC took up her new role at the University on 1st August and is looking forward to the challenge of shaping the future of the Welsh legal landscape and beyond. Prior to her appointment as the Head of College, Professor Evans QC has appeared in numerous high profile cases: she led the prosecution in the April Jones murder case and the defence team in the Gleision mine disaster case. She is also a Crown Court Recorder (a part-time judge) and has been Head of a highly-regarded Barristers’ Chambers for many years.

The College provide legal education at all levels: we have an impressive Legal Studies Department which offers a contemporary LLB programme and is responsible for the legal practice course (LPC) and the graduate diploma in law (GDL); an outstanding Shipping and Trade Law Department which runs the largest LLM programme of its kind in the UK and a Criminology Department that is at the forefront of interdisciplinary research. The College is also the home for various research centres: namely The Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL), Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology (CCJC), Hywel Dda Institute and the Wales Observatory on Human Rights of Children and Young people. All of these centres promote important research in their respective areas and deliver professional training and education to their peers. Further information of the events that our research centres have held throughout the past year are detailed within this newsletter.

Our aim is to continue to engage in innovative teaching and research. We have an impressive team of scholars which will help our students to achieve their potential. We hope you will join us for the journey!

www.swansea.ac.uk/law

College of Law and CriminologyNEWSSwansea

AUTUMN 2015

A Thriving, Student-focussed Learning EnvironmentWorking together for student engagement and student satisfactionThe LLB team at Swansea works hard to ensure that our undergraduate students enjoy an excellent learning experience. As part of our efforts to achieve and maintain this level of student satisfaction and to offer the best possible learning environment, we keep our courses constantly under review and are always looking for new ways to engage with our students.

We have an active Student Staff Committee, which gives our student representatives the opportunity to present their views on proposed new developments, as well as the chance to discuss issues with members of the LLB team. We also have a Facebook group for all LLB students. This allows students to help and support each other, and also gives students quick and easy access to Ruth Costigan, our Director of Undergraduate Legal Studies. Ruth uses the Facebook group to convey information to students quickly and to canvass student opinion on matters pertaining to their studies, as well as to answer student questions.

Innovation in deliveryAs well as traditional lectures and seminars, we use a number of more innovative teaching methods. One of our lecturers, Dr Stuart Macdonald, was keen to discover whether the use of live Tweeting in lectures could increase student engagement and improve learning. He conducted a study to try to find out.

Each of Dr Macdonald’s lectures was assigned its own hashtag, and students were encouraged to live-tweet comments and questions. Students’ opinions on whether live tweeting encouraged greater engagement in lectures and increased student-lecturer interaction were then collected: 91% said tweeting made lectures more enjoyable; 84% said it helped them learn more effectively; and 79% said it increased interaction with the lecturer. Comments from students included: “It’s brilliant to see lecturers using social networking sites to integrate students, and encourage students to express an opinion”; “I felt that my opinions and questions really mattered”; and,

“For the first time in ages, I felt excited about going to a 9 am lecture”. Subsequent analysis of the types of questions and comments students were tweeting seems to suggest that the process not only makes students feel more engaged, but also assists the development of their critical and independent thinking skills.

Another of our lecturers and former solicitor, Dr Pedro Telles runs a scenario-based module designed to help students understand how solicitors work in practice. In this module students are put in the shoes of a trainee at a fictional law firm and tasked with helping a group of friends create a tech-based start-up company.

It is their task to assist the clients dealing with the various legal and practical problems they may face. The module aims to provide the students with real-life-based practical exercises. All the exercises are of a practical nature and are focused in helping students develop critical thinking skills and the ability to express themselves in a way that a non-lawyer (i.e. the client) would understand. The module fosters the development of commercial-awareness skills by exposing the students to entrepreneurs, investors, solicitors and IP specialists who regularly deliver sessions during the module.

New resource developed by students for students Two undergraduate Law students this summer had the opportunity to work on a project, which will make a real difference for future freshers. As an initiative of the Swansea Academy of Inclusivity and Learner Support the paid student interns developed an online study-skills resource for Law students – the result is a unique resource, using student-friendly language and graphics, which we hope will help students make the transition from school or college to university.

The resource, Bridging the Gaps, was launched in September 2015 and has since been adopted as a key learning resource tool in a College study-skills module and to aid Law pre-sessional students. Feedback on the resource will be collected during the year to further enhance its development for the next academic year.

Advocacy TrainingUndergraduate students once again had the opportunity to take part in an Advocacy Training Programme and an internal mooting (mock trials) competition in the academic year 2014/15. Students were trained by members of lecturing staff, final-year student volunteers, and barristers from Iscoed Chambers, who also judged the competition moots. In all, 32 students (16 pairs) took part in the competition. The winning pair won a short work placement at Iscoed Chambers.

Swansea also entered teams for the 2015 LexisNexis Welsh National Mooting Competition, held at Bangor University in March 2015, and the Bristol Inter-Varsity Competition earlier in the year. Our participating teams found the experience both enjoyable and confidence-building.

Student Scholarship WinnersJoint honours student Miriam Adi Manning was this year awarded the £15,500 Leolin Price QC Middle Temple BPTC Scholarship. As an undergraduate Miriam completed internships at Geldards LLP and ETX Capital. Miriam graduated with a first class honours degree in Law and French in July this year. She is currently enrolled on the Bar Professional Training Course whilst working part-time as a music teacher.

Single honours student, Jake Loomes, was awarded the Michael Sherrard Access to the Bar Award and COMBAR Scholarship (Commercial Bar Scholarship). These awards aim to provide talented students with two weeks’ paid experience at the commercial bar in London. Jake spent one week in a set of barristers’ chambers and one week sitting in court alongside a judge. Since graduating with a first class degree, Jake has spent a week shadowing barristers at One Essex Court (a leading Commercial Law Chambers) and another week marshalling Mr Justice Flaux (Head of the Commercial High Court in England and Wales). Jake intends to pursue post-graduate study in Law before qualifying as a barrister.

Single honours student Jake Loomes

Joint honours student Miriam Adi Manning

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Swansea Law & Criminology News | AUTUMN 2015

Summer Placement SchemeOver the past few years we have grown our portfolio of summer student placements considerably. We are able to send students on a placement with a wide variety of providers ranging from local solicitors’ firms and barristers’ chambers, to international corporations and the Federal Public Defender in California. This year for the first time we were also able to offer a number of paid research internships within the College itself. All our placements are awarded on a competitive basis, following an application and interview process.

Four weeks in AfricaDuring the summer 2015, four undergraduate Law students completed a four-week placement in Botswana organised by the College of Law and Criminology, the Swansea Employability Academy and the International Development Office, in association with the Pyramid Group. The students spent two weeks volunteering with disadvantaged children, a week with Aon Insurance, and a week in Botswana’s largest law firm.

They also had the opportunity to meet Mr Oliver Richards, Deputy British High Commissioner to Botswana. Welcoming the group, Mr Richards said: “It is great to see the team from Swansea making a difference here in Botswana, and contributing to strengthening links between the UK and Botswana in the field of education.” Additional placements of this type are planned for next year to give more students the chance to benefit from this fantastic opportunity.

California SummerFollowing on from last year’s success, the College sent students to California again this summer. Three Law students went on a four-week placement to the Federal Public Defender at Riverside California. In addition to shadowing FBI Agents they researched legal issues, observed court proceedings, read and summarised cases and prepared materials for trials and hearings.

The students thoroughly enjoyed their time on the placement and found it an extremely valuable experience. Katey McShane said: “It was a very interesting work placement and a huge eye opener! I not only learned a lot about the US legal system and criminal law but I also visited places I have only ever dreamed of visiting! Amazing place - amazing experience.”

Researching cyberterrorism in BostonThe College sent a number of undergraduate students to Massachusetts this summer where they took part in a research project examining the official publications of designated terrorist organisations. This study aims to allow for the creation of effective counter-narratives for use in de-escalation projects.

In all eight second year undergraduate students took part from Swansea University; five from the College of Law and Criminology and they were accompanied by a PhD student from the College of Law and Criminology. The group was based at the Centre for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, near Boston. The students worked under Dr James Forrest, an expert in terrorism and editor of the journal Perspectives on Terrorism.

Placements in EuropeThis year three students went on paid internships of between 4 and 8 weeks at the legal headquarters of ALSTOM (now GE) in Mannheim Germany. They worked with the company’s lead counsel, Dr Christoph Benedict, who is also an Honorary Professor at Swansea University. Another two students had an internship with the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace, Heidelberg, Germany.

The College is actively working to increase the number of opportunities for students to spend time on placement in Europe and hopes to have further opportunities to offer in the academic year 2015/16.

Award-winning teachingWe are delighted to report that Ruth Costigan, Associate Professor, Joint Head of Department of Legal Studies and Director of Studies for the LLB, was once again recognised by the university for her inspirational teaching in 2015. Swansea University gives a number of annual awards to recognise excellent teaching. All nominations for these awards originate from students, and student views and feedback are sought on all nominees before the panel makes its decisions on the ultimate prize-winners. Ruth has won a number of teaching awards in recent years. This year, she walked away with the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Ruth received the award at our summer degree ceremony, where she was warmly applauded by the graduating students.

School Outreach SessionsThe College’s Annual Sixth Form Conference continues to attract a very high number of enthusiastic participants from schools and colleges in the South Wales region.

The Conference gives students the opportunity to experience a little of what it would be like to study law or criminology at university, to ask any questions they may have about studying or pursuing a career in the area of law or criminology and to obtain information about employability matters more generally. To this end, the Conference is organised around a series of seminars facilitated by academics within the College. Seminar topics included children’s rights, criminology, the right to privacy, international law, medical law, legal practice, criminal evidence and anti-terrorism law, with each student participating in four seminars during the course of the day.

In addition to the seminars, there were talks by members of the legal profession. During the course of the two days, Ms Nerys Jefford QC, Keating Chambers, London and Mr Alun Price, solicitor, Red Kite Law, Carmarthen spoke to the students about employability issues as well as their own experiences in pursuing a career in the legal profession. Dr Jon Howden-Evans and Ms Lucy Norman from Careers and Employability at Swansea University spoke about the range of opportunities and support available to students at university to enable them to enhance their skills and employability. They also encouraged students to reflect on the wide range of options available to them on graduation. During the course of the event, the participants had opportunities to talk informally to academics and existing students especially during a lunch hosted by the College.

Dr Helen Quane, who convenes the Sixth Form Conference, commented that “the College of Law & Criminology is very pleased to offer sixth form students an opportunity to participate in lively seminar discussions about legal and criminology issues, to gain some insight into what studying law or criminology at university can entail and to learn about the range of careers open to them on graduation. We are delighted by the number of students participating in the conference this year, by their enthusiastic participation in the seminar discussions and by their very positive response to the event.”

Ruth Costigan, winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching 2015

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Swansea Law & Criminology News | AUTUMN 2015

Swansea students Hannah Gormely and Emma Rizk with pupils from Old Naledi Primary School, Gaborone, Botswana

Corale Holmes, James Powell and Katie McShane on placement in California

Undergraduate Law students Elliot Parry, Kate Thomas, Jodie Parker, David Nezri and Nyasha Marvanyika with PhD student David Mair and students from the College of Arts and Humanities on placement in Boston

Mooting Success The Department of Shipping and Trade Law at Swansea aims not only to deliver a first-class educational experience in commercial and maritime law but also to develop its LLM students’ transferable skills vital to a career as a legal practitioner. Such skills include the ability to conduct research, understand the relevant area of law and put together credible arguments based on legal principle and authority, as well as the confidence to speak in public and think on one’s feet. To this end, the Department organises a number of mooting initiatives throughout the academic year, which include inter alia a Mooting Competition on Commercial and Maritime Law, hosted by the 7 King’s Bench Walk (probably the foremost commercial and shipping set of barristers’ chambers) and sponsored by Informa Law (part of Routledge, and far and away the leading publisher in the field). The event attracted 12 mooting teams from premier law schools. The initial rounds of the Competition were held in Swansea on 20th-21st June. Two teams, one led by Martin Karst/Siddharth Mahajan as speakers and Styliani Kounakou/Maria Skylodimou as researchers, and one led by Marilena Papgrigoraki/ Wuraola Debbie Obiegbu as speakers and Delphine Defossez as a researcher, represented the Department of Shipping and Trade Law at the Competition and performed in an outstanding fashion during the initial rounds by winning their matches against mooting teams representing University of Exeter, University of York, University of Birkbeck, University of Liverpool and University of Geneva. Martin and Siddharth deservedly reached the Final of the Competition, which was held at the Parliament Room of Middle Temple Inn in London on 22nd June 2015. Whilst we narrowly lost out to Bristol University in the Final; Swansea mooters had every reason to celebrate with Marilena Papgrigoraki collecting the overall Best Speaker Award. It was a tribute to the Swansea Mooting Coach, Tabetha Kurtz-Shefford, that the shortlist for the Best Speaker Award also contained the names of Martin Karst, Siddharth Mahajan and Wuraola Debbie Obiegbu.

LLM Students Benefit from Our Links with Legal Practice and Other Commercial EntitiesThe Department of Shipping and Trade Law, and in particular the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL), has always enjoyed close and cordial links with legal practice and with other leading enterprises in both the shipping and business sectors. These links provide various opportunities for our students as can be seen below:

6th LLM Careers FairFollowing large success in previous years, the Department itself hosted for the sixth time its own annual LLM Careers Fair. This event attracted large numbers of International law firms and P&I Clubs, including Holman Fenwick LLP, Ince & Co, Britannia Steam Ship Insurance and the Skuld P & I Club (just to name a few who gave invaluable advice to our students on the recruitment process). As is becoming ever more common, a number of the organisations attending the Fair were represented by Swansea alumni such as Florian Schaker (a trainee with Ince & Co), Kristoffer Snaprud Johannessen (Claims Executive, Skuld) and Jessica Waring-Evans (a solicitor with M.Taher & Co).

Insurance “Meet the Market” EventIn November 2014, a group of Swansea LLM students were given the opportunity to attend the BILA ‘Meet the Market’ annual networking drinks and canapés event; there they got a unique chance to meet and talk to key figures from London insurance and reinsurance market and also to gain an insight into the London market itself. This event also included a tour of the iconic Lloyd’s building with a useful chance to see first-hand how the unique and vibrant London insurance market works.

Educational Trips to LondonEach year the Department arranges a number of educational trips to leading enterprises in London. This academic year brought a very informative seminar on the role of insurance brokers in general by Stephen Harris, Senior Vice President of Marsh Marine, not to mention a thorough introduction to P&I by Nick Sanson from the Standard P&I Club. There were also guided tours of landmarks such as the UK Supreme Court, Lloyd’s of London and Lincoln’s Inn.

Internship OpportunitiesThe Department’s close connections with London regularly bear fruit in the shape of internships. Félix Cahagne (France), Theodora Kostara (Greece), Benthe Menzfeld (Germany) and Min Shen (China) went to the Standard P&I Club; Daniel Adriel Septiano (Indonesia) went to Marsh Marine and gained hands-on experience of how the Lloyd’s market operates. In addition to her P&I internship, Theodora Kostara (Greece) was also offered a summer placement at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Athens office, during which she dealt with general matters of maritime law and carried out tasks in the shipping litigation and shipping finance departments of the firm. Martin Karst from Denmark interned with Watson Farley & Williams, a well-esteemed City firm, obtaining an unequalled opportunity to work side-by-side with a partner in a big law firm on a maritime-related law project. Another student, Munhak Pahk (South Korea) was invited to participate in a number of internships with international maritime law firms in London (Stephenson Harwood, Mays & Brown and Tatham Macinnes) and Newcastle (Mills & Co).

BIMCO Event in LondonLast but not least, BIMCO very generously allocated 15 free places to Swansea students at its dramatic interactive event ‘Double Jeopardy’ in the City of London in November. Sponsored by top law firms Holman Fenwick Willan LLP and Ince & Co, this provided an exciting opportunity to witness all the stages of a real life case scenario involving a maritime casualty and bunker spill on a US river. The event started with the initial communication between the shipowners and charterers, demonstrating how complex and pressured such events quickly become, and often how susceptible to enormous media interest and pressure. That afternoon, the students attended the arbitration proceedings where barristers debated the case before a panel of arbitrators from London, New York and Singapore. Following the show, the LLM students joined the networking drinks reception, where they had the invaluable opportunity to speak with lawyers, senior shipping industry representatives and others.

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Swansea Law & Criminology News | AUTUMN 2015

LLM Students and Employers during the Career Fair held at Swansea

LLM Students at the “Meet the Market” Event at Lloyd’s

LLM Students during their Internship at Standard P&I Club in the summer

LLM Students during the BIMCO Event at London

LLM Students at the Mooting Final at Middle Temple (London)

Swansea LLM students go places – like ChinaThrough the years the Department of Shipping and Trade Law has assiduously been developing links and contacts all over the world. In July and August this year, a number of adventurous LLM students leapt at the chance to take advantage of this and participate in the Summer Law and Culture Exchange Program at Nanjing Normal University in Jiangsu province, China. This program promotes exchanges between Chinese and foreign law students, introduces the latter to the ancient culture of Nanjing and its surrounding areas, and offers an unrivalled opportunity to understand both Chinese society and the legal system in China.

Following a rigorous application and interview process, five students were selected (Debbie Obiegbu and Ogaga Omekeh from Nigeria, Jack Lavalette from the UK, Marine De Geofroy from Switzerland and Amaury Sainte-Cluque from France) to represent us. The trip turned out highly rewarding, with extraordinarily informative sessions with Chinese professors and students, together with other international visitors, and a number of visits to ancient sites and the local courts. Our LLM students found the trip an amazing experience that exposed them to the people, the law and the fascinatingly rich culture in China, which has certainly given them very useful knowledge and contacts that will be tremendous for their career.

LLM students’ AchievementsThe LLM programmes already offered at Swansea are well-established as specialist master’s degrees of the highest calibre, attracting enormous attention and support from the UK and worldwide. They are highly regarded by employers and others in the global maritime, insurance and financial community, who rightly value them for their strong mix of practical insight and academic rigour. Recognising the prime position of Swansea, a number of leading international law firms offer LLM prizes. Among these are Ince & Co, who have always had a strong relationship with the IISTL at Swansea and in 2008 introduced an annual prize of £1,000 for the student with the highest grade in the taught element of any of the LLM Programmes, won this year by Georgios Charalampidis from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki who received it at a ceremony on 23rd June 2015 at the firm’s offices in London. Another prizegiver is Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW), one of the foremost shipping and commercial law firms in the world. They have very generously agreed from 2014 to sponsor no less than three prizes known as the HFW prizes and each worth £500. In 2015, these went to the best students in Admiralty Law (Sebastian Trigub), Oil and Gas Law (Ayodele Ikhaghe) and Carriage of Goods (Jack Lavalette) respectively. The award ceremony, held at HFW’s London offices, was a great opportunity for the winners to meet partners and network with other people in the firm.

The LLM is now nearly 15 years old, and the Department is very proud to see its LLM graduates increasingly holding significant positions in the maritime, banking, insurance and legal sectors all around the world. With these and other alumni we are careful to maintain close contact and offer opportunities to meet, exchange news and keep up contact with faculty members. This year we held events in London and Athens. The LLM teaching team were very excited to learn that their alumni were doing so well in their professional lives, holding excellent jobs in the shipping sector, including law firms (Clyde & Co, Freshfields, Ince & Co, Daniolos Law Firm, G.E.Bairaktaris & Partners), insurance companies (P.L.Ferrari & Co SaRL, Vangmar Insurance Brokers Ltd,), P&I Clubs (London P&I Club, Shipowners’ Club, Skuld), shipping companies (Navig8 Group, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc., Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd, Franco Compania Naviera SA), ship management companies (V-Ships) and commodity trading and logistics houses (Trafilgura, Freight Investor Services), just to name a few.

Furthermore, it is very rewarding to see LLM alumni such as María Belén Espiñeira receiving international recognition for their services in the legal sector. María Belén is an Argentinean lawyer who graduated with an LLM in International Maritime Law in 2008 (with distinction). She then began working for leading maritime law firms in Argentina before establishing her own legal consultancy (International Transport & Logistics Legal Consultants). She also regularly provides pro bono legal advice. In addition to her own practice, she works as an honorary lecturer in maritime law at the Faculty of Law in the University of Buenos Aires, and is the founder and President of WISTA Argentina (Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association). In recognition of her invaluable contribution to the legal profession, the International Bar Association honoured her with the 2014 IBA’s Outstanding Young Lawyer award at its Annual Conference in Tokyo. This is a very prestigious prize awarded annually to a young lawyer from anywhere in the world who has shown not only excellence in work and achievements to date but also a commitment to professional and ethical standards.

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Swansea Law & Criminology News | AUTUMN 2015

Georgios Charalampidis collecting his Prize from the Senior Partner of Ince & Co

María Belén Espiñeira (second from the right) collecting her Prize

Prize Winners at HFW with Professors Soyer and Williams and Richard Neylon (Partner HFW)

Swansea LLM Students at Nanjing

Fuelling progress: a new LLM in Oil and Gas LawThe Swansea LLM programmes already enjoy an international recognition among professors and practitioners alike for offering their students an excellent specialisation in the fields of maritime and commercial law. Building on this success, the Department of Shipping and Trade Law is delighted to announce the launch of an entirely new LLM degree in Oil and Gas Law. The new LLM offers a comprehensive curriculum, recognising that petroleum law encompasses not only raw exploitation of oil and gas but also many different aspects of law and business, including intellectual property rights in new technology, intricate joint venture contracts and compensation regimes for pollution liability. The modules on offer reflect this.

The entire course is taught by a team of acclaimed experts from the internationally renowned Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL) at Swansea University (which indeed recently organised an international colloquium on offshore contracts and liabilities, attracting a stellar cast of speakers).

Reflecting the position of Swansea as the leaders in teaching commercial law in the UK, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP, one of the foremost shipping and commercial law firms in the world, has very generously agreed to award an annual prize to the LLM student with the best performance in Oil and Gas.

Congratulations to the GDL Class of 2015This year the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) cohort celebrated their academic successes alongside LLB graduates at Swansea University’s summer graduation awards. As has become very much the norm for those completing their GDL at Swansea, some admirable results were achieved and the group are now preparing to move on to an exciting variety of new projects. Many of the 2014/15 cohort will remain at Swansea to complete a Legal Practice Course (LPC) before moving on to complete their training as solicitors, while others hope to undertake higher degrees or prepare for life at the Bar. Further options opening up to our graduates include entry into the world of work as legal executives or paralegals, while others are considering options in teaching, human resources and the world of business management, to name but a few. Exciting times indeed and the College of Law and Criminology not only congratulates them but also wishes them the very best for the future.

Student Success StoriesThe Professional Legal Studies Department are very proud of the success that our students achieve after they pursue their dreams in the workplace. We are particularly aware of the importance that internships and work experience placements have in attaining that all important training contract.

Former student, Megan Williams undertook work experience with the Welsh Assembly Government which has assisted in her securing a training contract. In addition, Scott Dummett has now joined local law firm Douglas-Jones Mercer and Leanne Mathias has moved from Douglas-Jones Mercer to Eversheds where she is now an Associate Solicitor. Equally impressive is our former student, Samuel Minshall who has recently joined International Law firm, Taylor Vinters in their Cambridge branch.

Ms Michaela Leyshon, Senior Lecturer and Admissions Tutor for the LPC commented that “The achievements of our former students are fantastic to see! The entire Department works extremely hard to support our students in the hope that they will be successful in their future careers so it is great to see that everyone’s efforts; both staff and students are paid off.”

GDL student achieves place at “Top of the Tree” law firm Clifford Chance LLPHearty congratulations to GDL associate student Philip Cox, who will be taking up a training contract with one of the world’s pre-eminent corporate law firms on completion of his LPC, here at Swansea. Philip, who attained first class honours, also at Swansea, for his BA in Philosophy, Politics and Law in 2014, joined the GDL programme in order to complete his academic law studies. After achieving a distinction in each module studied, it’s hardly surprising that he has been snapped up by Clifford Chance, a multinational law firm headquartered in London and a member of the “Magic Circle” of leading British law firms. The firm is recognised as the No 1 Global Firm by the prestigious Chambers Global Top 30. Philip Cox has secured a training contract with Clifford Chance, Canary Wharf commencing February 2017.

Philip says, “my progression within the legal field has been vastly accelerated by the teaching environment here at Swansea; in particular, the hard work and support of the members of staff.”

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Combined LPC & Masters proves a hit!The Professional Legal Studies Department at Swansea University is always looking for ways to enhance our students expertise and employability prospects. To this end, we are now offering an LLM in Legal Practice and Advanced Drafting which has proved extremely popular with our students this year. There has been significant demand by students who want to take advantage of this innovative opportunity to obtain an internationally recognised LLM qualification alongside their LPC (Legal Practice Course).

Internship opportunities within the University In-house Legal DepartmentAfter a successful internship last year, the work placement scheme with the University Legal Department will be extended for the academic year 2015/16 so that this fantastic opportunity will be available throughout the academic year for current students. The University Legal Department provides successful students with paid internships through the summer vacation and are now recognised as a training provider. A former LPC student, Rachael Hughes will be the first trainee solicitor to train within the University In-house Legal Department showing how valuable these internships can be.

Former LPC student shares experience with studentsMarc Anson, a former Swansea LPC student and now a qualified and practising solicitor has taken up employment with the University in the Department of Research and Innovation dealing with intellectual property and commercial agreements. Marc has generously offered to share his practice experiences with LPC students which will undoubtable be invaluable for them.

Networking Event a Resounding SuccessA significant networking event took place on the 15th October in relation to Legal Wales. The session focused on the challenges and opportunities of devolved law and governance in Wales for the legal professions, and implications for those wishing to practise law in Wales. The session was led by senior practitioners from the Senedd (including the Deputy Presiding Officer), the regional legal profession and local authorities and was considered a great success by all.

College marks a decade of Legal Practice CourseThe College of Law and Criminology at Swansea University has marked a decade of running its successful Legal Practice Course (LPC). The course gives students essential practical skills for a professional career in law. The College marked the occasion with an event and reception which brought together past and present students and lawyers from across the region. Swansea University Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Iwan Davies, a leading academic expert in law, spoke of how pleased he was to see how the course had developed and the impact it was having on the local profession.

Gary Burkhardt receiving an award from Karen Davies for the best performing GDL student in 2015

Ede and Ravenscroft Awarded to two PhD criminology students for outstanding contributionTwo PhD Criminology students David Mair and Gemma Morgan have been awarded the Ede and Ravenscroft Anniversary Student Prize 2014/15 for Outstanding Contribution. The Prize is funded by a unique donation from Ede and Ravenscroft to celebrate their 325th anniversary.

There were 40 prizes and members of staff were asked to nominate students, with a supporting statement outlining their contribution and the enhancing impact this has had on the University. The prize was available to all current and enrolled students and has been awarded in recognition of a significant contribution to student life outside of normal academic studies. This input could include, but was not limited to;

n Development of initiativesn Improvements to the curriculumn Student representationn Students’ Unionn Improving student satisfactionn Work within the Communityn Sport at a national/international or elite leveln Positive contribution to University lifen Volunteeringn Enhancing the profile of the Universityn Contribution to cultural activities at a national/international level such as the Arts/Music

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“ I was absolutely thrilled to receive the Ede and Ravenscroft Anniversary Student Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the University beyond academic study. I have always felt that I am very fortunate to be in a position that I am. I have the best job in the world. I am also incredibly fortunate to do that job in a department that is always so supportive of me, my work and my travel. Being nominated for this award was a terrific surprise, and I am very grateful to the department members who nominated me. Thank you very much.” David Mair

“ I was delighted to receive the Ede and Ravenscroft Anniversary Student Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the University beyond academic study. I have been very fortunate to be a part of such a supportive department that has provided me with so many great opportunities. I would also like to thank Debbie Jones and Dr Pamela Ugwudike for nominating me and for their continued support and guidance.” Gemma Morgan

From undergraduate to lecturerGemma Morgan graduated from Swansea University in 2013 with a BSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Gemma is now in the third year of her ESRC funded PhD, which is evaluating youth offending services and outcomes in Wales. Gemma has recently been appointed as a Tutor in Criminology for a temporary period of six months. This position will enhance Gemma’s employability and enable her to further develop her teaching skills in order to pursue an academic career.

Rewarding our graduatesFollowing the 2014/15 graduation ceremony, Programme Director Dr Steve Case awarded a series of departmental prizes to outstanding Criminology students. The Highest Academic Achievement went to Jordan Ward, whilst Highest Contribution awards were given to Katie-Leigh Corcoran, Ayyub Maadani, Bethan Morris and Rhodri Jones-Pritchard. The department awarded Outstanding effort prizes to Ceri Louise Beecham, Amelia Comer, Jordan Dawson, Mollie Jackson, Joseph Janes, Anna Major, Darius Niamir and Rhodri Jones-Pritchard, whilst the Highest Overall mark for dissertation went to Amelia Comer. Prizes also went to several graduating students for Outstanding Achievement in employability and Outstanding achievement for dissertation.

Dr Case commented that ‘it was my great pleasure to reward the efforts and achievements of so many of our fantastic graduating students. This year was our most successful ever in terms of student achievements and these awards are testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of students and staff alike.’

Research Internships This year, 12 research internships have been offered to undergraduate Criminology students. These internships, which are aligned with local schools, the Police and justice and inclusion projects are partnerships that enable students to undertake original research. This research feeds into undergraduate degrees. Also, through working closely with key officers, students gain invaluable experience of the work of partner agencies, are presented with networking opportunities and are enabled to develop their interpersonal and academic skills.

New appointmentsWe have made a number of new appointments this year. Jane Donoghue has been appointed as a new Professor of Criminology – Jane will be joining us from the start of the 2015-16 academic year. Ms Lella Nouri and Dr Anthony Charles have also been successful in obtaining permanent lectureships in Criminology. We look forward to working together.

Enhancing EmployabilityAs part of the Employability element of the Criminology programme, staff organise events which help students to focus on employability post-graduation. For example this semester students will visit Swansea prison and attend a talk by prison staff on what it means to work in a prison. There is also a session on how to apply for the police service. A presentation and recruitment activities will also be offered by staff from the Western Bay Early Intervention and Prevention Service, CAIS Cymru and the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme on volunteering opportunities for students.

Professor of Criminology – Jane Donoghue

SHIPPING AND TRADE LAW

Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL)The IISTL has continued to develop apace in 2014-2015. Marking a ten year tradition of a successful combination of academia and legal practice, it held its eleventh annual colloquium in September 2015. The event, on the theme of international sales and the carriage of goods, attracted record numbers; a guest of honour was the Hon. Mr Justice Males from the Commercial Court, who enthusiastically participated in the debates and chaired one of the sessions. Earlier on in May, it had organised a five-day advanced seminar in Athens in co-operation with Athens University Law School and the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law in Oslo. This international event attracted over 200 delegates from legal and shipping practice, including a gratifying number of our own Swansea alumni. Its purpose was to discuss and provide updates on recent developments in international maritime law. By common consent it was hailed as a great success, and it now seems set fair to become an annual fixture.

Members of the IISTL have, as ever, been busy at prestigious events around the globe. Professors Soyer and Tettenborn delivered papers by invitation to the China Maritime Law Association’s 8th International Conference on Maritime Law, held in October 2015 in the major seaport city of Dalian. Professor Soyer, in a stimulating address, focused on the impact on insurance law and practice of the Insurance Act 2015 (an Act in respect of which the IISTL had been involved at the drafting stage). The discussion generated by the paper showed unambiguously that it had hit home. On the same day Professor Tettenborn offered an illuminating analysis of the vexed interrelation between ship arrest and international insolvency law, making the point that the priority traditionally gained by ship arrest was being thrown increasingly into doubt and suggesting means to improve matters. Earlier in the year, Professor Soyer had delivered a paper entitled The OPOL Regime and its Shortcomings at the CMI Colloquium held in Istanbul in June 2015 hosted by the Turkish Maritime Law Association. Professor Baughen and Associate Professor Nikaki presented a joint paper at the international conference on Current Issues in Freight Forwarding: Law and Logistics, organized by the University of Edinburgh; and Dr Leloudas spoke at the 2015 International Conference on New Challenges in Space Law, organized by the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University in Montreal. Meanwhile Professor Tettenborn was a member of the committee drawing up the Restatement of English Contract Law, which finished its work this year, and has been invited to deliver papers in December in Brisbane at the conference on Private Law in the Twenty-first Century, and again four days later in Sydney at the major event on Contracts in Commercial Law.

The IISTL was delighted to hear that Professor Soyer’s recent book Marine Insurance Fraud had won the 2015 BILA Book Prize. This prize, for the best book on insurance law, is awarded annually by the British Insurance Law Association Charitable Trust, a body existing to promote research on the interrelationship between law and insurance.

Last but not least, the Institute has some excellent new blood. Dr Nima Tabari Mersadi, fresh from a PhD from King’s College London, joined in May 2015 as a lecturer. Three months later, the Institute was delighted to welcome another lecturer on board, Youri van Logchem, who is in the final stages of completing his PhD at Utrecht. He is an expert in law of the sea; Dr Tabari in oil and gas and investment disputes. Both will be contributing handsomely to the improved and expanded LLM in Oil and Gas Law, launched successfully by the Institute in September 2015.

For academic discussions and recent developments please visit the IISTL’s blog: https://iistl.wordpress.com/

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Professor Tettenborn and Professor Soyer at The China Maritime Law Association’s 8th International Conference

Professor Soyer’s award winning book on Insurance Law

From left to right: Dr Frank Stevens (Roosendaal Kezer Advocaten, Antwerp), Professor Michael Sturley (University of Texas, Austin), Mr Justice Males (Presiding Judge of the North Eastern Circuit) and Simon Rainey QC (Quadrant Chambers and IISTL)

CYBERTERRORISM

The Cyberterrorism Project on Tour PhD student David Mair has just returned from a visiting scholar position at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in the USA. While there, he supervised a research project on English-language magazines produced by designated terrorist organisations that follow a jihadist ideology conducted by undergraduate students from Law, Criminology and the College of Arts and Humanities at Swansea University. The project lasted a month and the results from this research will be disseminated in November at the Cyberterrorism Project Symposium on Terrorist Narratives. He also recently took a research development trip to Dublin, Ireland to discuss the research that the Cyberterrorism Project is engaged in and possibilities for collaboration between European terrorism research networks and ourselves.

David Mair has been invited back to the NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism headquarters in Ankara, Turkey to lecture on their Terrorist Use of Cyberspace training course. These courses are designed to bring academic research to military and security personnel and act as a networking opportunity within the NATO membership. This will be the sixth NATO COE-DAT course that the Cyberterrorism Project has engaged with.

David Mair was also invited to attend the inaugural National Terrorism Reinsurance Pools Congress drinks reception at the British Academy. This event was attended by researchers, terrorism insurance executives, security personnel and ministers and was an opportunity to network within the field and act as an ambassador for the College.

David Mair with the cyberterrorism project interns at the British Academy

CRIMINOLOGY

Centre for Criminology Justice and Criminology (CCJC)Academics and Post-Graduate Researchers from Swansea University’s Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology (CCJC) exhibit their research at influential WISERD and British Society of Criminology conferences.

Researchers from the CCJC have made valuable contributions to two prominent international inter-disciplinary conferences. The sixth annual Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) conference took place from Tuesday 30th June to Thursday 2nd

July in Cardiff Millennium Stadium and brought together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss key social, economic and political issues facing society. The British Society of Criminology (BSC) annual conference was hosted in Plymouth from Tuesday 30th June until Wednesday 3rd July and provided a forum for delegates from across the criminological world to present their research and engage in critical discussion.

The CCJC was represented at the WISERD conference by Associate Professor Dr Stephen Case, Lecturer Dr Anthony Charles and PhD researcher Helen Hodges who combined to present a joint colloquium to delegates.

The colloquium entitled: Recasting understandings of youth justice in Wales: Kindling the dragon’s flames? incorporated examination of the ground-breaking shift to embed pro-child rights approaches in Swansea, the role and impact of children-first diversion through Welsh Bureau and finally the way in which Bayesian techniques are being used to comprehend and tackle youth offending behaviour.

This year’s BSC conference overarching theme for the conference was ‘Criminology: voyages of critical discovery’ and saw some of the world’s leading criminologists in attendance. The CCJC was represented at the conference by Associate Professor Dr Stephen Case, Senior Lecturer Dr Pamela Ugwudike and PhD researchers Miss Gemma Morgan and Mr Aaron Brown who were each invited to present their research to delegates.

The postgraduate strand of the BSC conference got underway on Tuesday 30th June and ran until Wednesday 1st July. It provided an

opportunity for Post Graduate Researchers to share and discuss their research through a series of parallel sessions that encompassed themes such as Gender and Crime, Critical Criminology, Processes of Justice, Hate Crime, Policing and Law Enforcement, Supporting Offenders and Restorative Justice.

Within the ‘Supporting Offenders’ parallel session, that took place on the afternoon of Tuesday 30th June, Miss Gemma Morgan presented her paper entitled: The ‘Black Box’ of Supervision Practices within the Welsh Youth Justice System: Initial findings from the Swansea Service Evaluation Team’s Pilot of the ‘Correctional Programme Assessment Inventory -2010’.

The main BSC conference began on Wednesday 1st July and concluded on Friday 3rd July, with key-note speeches, discussions and presentations from a wide selection of respected criminologists. On Thursday 2nd July, Dr Pamela Ugwudike chaired the ‘Changing Probation’ parallel session and in it presented a joint paper with Miss Gemma Morgan entitled: From ‘what works’ to ‘how things work’: strategies for harmonising criminal justice practices with the evidence base.

Dr Stephen Case also presented a paper entitled ‘Children First, Offenders Second, Positive Youth Justice’, a talk that highlighted the importance of treating children who offend in a principled and engaged manner. This was followed by a paper given by Mr Aaron Brown in the same session entitled: The Bureau: A Children-First Model of Diversion in the Youth Justice System. The talk encompassed analysis of the formulation, aims, structure and also effectiveness of the Swansea Bureau, a model which serves as a pragmatic and localised example of Positive Youth Justice in action.

On the final morning of the conference Dr Stephen Case also took part in a Youth Justice Roundtable alongside Dr Nicola Carr, Dr Patricia Gray and Dr Jo Phoenix in which future directions of youth justice were discussed.

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Dr Stephen Case taking part in the Youth Justice Roundtable

Dr Pamela Ugwudike presenting in the ‘Changing Probation’ session

Dr Stephen Case presenting on Positive Youth Justice

NATO Advanced Training CourseDr Stuart Macdonald was a member of the organizing committee for a NATO Advanced Training Course on terrorist use of cyberspace, held in Ohrid, Macedonia, in December 2014. He also delivered a lecture during the event, on assessing and responding to the threat of cyberterrorism. PhD student David Mair was also invited to attend and present a lecture during the event. He discussed how terrorist groups use social media to propagate their messages online.

Leading study into radicalisationDr Stuart Macdonald and Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus (College of Arts and Humanities) are co-leading a study of online magazines produced by terrorist organisations. The study will analyse what makes radicalisation narratives so attractive to some audiences by using corpus-based forensic linguistics to identify themes and patterns, and will generate recommendations for the production of effective counter-narratives to be employed in social marketing and public information campaigns. As well as drawing on existing cross-campus partnerships, this interdisciplinary

project will involve collaboration with one of the world’s leading terrorism research centres: the Center for Terrorism & Security Studies (CTSS) at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. A further feature of the project will be the involvement of eight Swansea undergraduate interns, including four Law and one Criminology student. The students’ participation will consist of: (a) a two-week intensive training course (15th – 26th June); and, (b) a four-week internship at CTSS in Boston (24th August – 18th September).

Dr Stuart Macdonald and David Mair presenting at the NATO Training Course

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The Student Sex Work ProjectResearch as Art: In June 2015 Dr Tracey Sagar and Debbie Jones together with their partners ProfessorChristopher Morris and a peer researcher on the Student Sex Work Project ‘Belle’ won the ‘Emotion in Art’ prize for the Swansea ‘Research as Art’ competition. The competition is a mechanism for researchers to

communicate key messages about their research across the disciplines. The image entitled ‘Who am I?’ is a photographic still from the Student Sex Work Project’s film ‘The Fog of Sex’. Tracey and Debbie explain the story behind their winning entry at: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/research/surf/art-competition/ The ‘Fog of Sex’: Completed in 2015, the Student Sex Work Film ‘The Fog of Sex’ is a one hour social documentary which includes the testimonies of nine women who work in a variety of occupations in the sex industry. For a glimpse behind the scenes of the making of the film go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGCG6dkYQRk

Dr Tracey Sagar and Debbie Jones with the film’s director Professor Chris Morris of University of South Wales and its producer Chris Britton of Visual Influence attended four film premiers that were followed by question and answer sessions. See for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrDIhQQzpWc

These initial premiers that were sponsored by Bafta Cymru were

followed by several others across Wales that were predominantly held in Welsh Universities. Importantly, through these events, Tracey and Debbie together with their partners were able to take their findings from the project in a visual form back to students, academics and student support officers across Wales.

The film ‘The Fog of Sex’ was nominated for two Bafta Cymru Awards and won a Bafta for photography in October 2015. A clip from the film can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M5Ajq2koMo

Impact Awards: In June 2015 Dr Tracey Sagar and Debbie Jones were nominated for a Swansea University ‘Impact Award’. Their submission focused on six research projects that have resulted in changes to policy and practice at the local and national level in Wales. Tracey and Debbie who were runners up of the Impact Award for Outstanding Impact in Law and Public Policy were thrilled to be nominated and to have their important work recognised within and outside of the University.

A new Sexuality Research and Practice Consortium: The Consortium brings together three key strands of sexuality research: sex work, sex and the life course and sexual exploitation. It was officially launched in November 2015 by the Co-Directors – Dr Tracey Sagar and Debbie Jones, with an event at Swansea University that focused on combining innovative research and service development/delivery and public engagement to address pressing sexuality challenges for Wales.

HYWEL DDA INSTITUTE

Language Laws and Language RightsThe Hywel Dda Institute has held a series of research seminars, in early 2015, on the theme of Language Laws and Language Rights led by international experts in the field of minority language law and policy. The first in the series was given by Professor Michel Doucet Q.C., Director of the International Observatory on Language Rights at Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, entitled “Language Laws in New Brunswick and Canada”, which was held on Tuesday, 14th April 2015. The second on Tuesday, 9th June 2015 was given by Professor Nicolas Kanellos, Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies at University of Houston, entitled “Recovering the Written Legacy of Suppressed Languages and Cultures”.

The Institute is developing a programme of research on the theme of Law and Language, led by Professor Gwyn Parry, who completed his three-year term as member of the Statutory Advisory Panel to the Welsh Language Commissioner in April 2015. Recent projects include an evaluation of the implementation of the EU Directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, and analysis of Ireland’s status as a bilingual state in light of the recent judgements of the Irish Supreme Court. Professor Parry was an invited speaker at the colloquium “Regulating Language, Regulating Rights”, hosted by Cardiff University’s School of Welsh on the 28th April 2015. His paper on “Language Rights in the Bilingual State” will be published in a forthcoming volume of essays.

Planning and Environmental Law in WalesDr Victoria Jenkins, Senior Lecturer in the College of Law and Criminology at Swansea University, has appeared before the National Assembly for Wales’s Environment and Sustainability Committee, on three occasions this year. She has represented the views of the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) Wales Working Party, alongside Professor Bob Lee, Birmingham University and Haydn Davies, Birmingham City University, on proposed planning and environmental protection legislation for Wales.

The Annual LectureThe Institute hosted the seventh annual Youard Lecture on Welsh Legal and Social History on Tuesday, October 14th 2014, given by Rt Hon Lord Judge. This was the second time that the Hywel Dda Institute has hosted the Youard Lecture. Prof Parry is a member of the society’s executive committee. The lecture entitled “Magna Carta – Some Reflections” was very well attended by staff, students and members of the public.

Future EventsThe Hywel Dda Research Institute is hosting a series of public lectures by distinguished speakers from Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales and legal practice which will consider the new legislation on planning and environmental law in Wales. This will be followed by the Institute’s Annual Lecture. We are delighted this year to welcome Sir Roderick Evans, Pro-Chancellor, Swansea University whose lecture is entitled “The Duel – the Trial of Robert Morris”. Further details are available from the website.

Professor Nicolas Kanellos with members and friends of the Hywel Dda Institute

Who am I? image

Observatory’s annual lectureSome 150 guests attended the Observatory’s third annual lecture on the 25th June, given by the Rt. Hon. Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, who was welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Davies and introduced by the President Elect of the Swansea and District Law Society.

WALES OBSERVATORY ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

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Sir James Munby with Observatory co-directors Jane Williams and Dr Simon Hoffman

Lleisiau Bach Little Voices

The first year of the Little Voices Shouting Out project (Big Lottery funded, 2014 – 2017) saw Helen Dale and Arwyn Roberts working with children aged 7 – 11 in 24 different primary schools across Wales, supporting them to design and carry out research within the framework of the UNCRC, and to take their recommendations to local and national decision makers.

In addition, the children designed and carried out a national survey with over 800 respondents, to inform the report submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on July 1st 2015. We believe this is the first time the Committee has received a report generated by children in this age group.

On the 24th June Lleisiau Bach Little Voices presented their research and methods to Swansea University staff and guests. Work is continuing to integrate these methods in Observatory and other Whole Mission projects in The College of Law and Criminology (COLC).

‘Made to Measure’ presentationOn July 6th 2015 the Observatory presented at Swansea University a session that was delivered in Texas in October 2014, on the making of the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. Swansea University’s contribution to the policy and passage of this unique law on children’s rights won high praise as a research impact case study in REF 2015.

On October 7th, with two young people from Wales, Observatory co-director Jane Williams attended the pre-sessional hearing for the fifth UK state Party report before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.

This was the culmination of seven years’ work with the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group, a year’s intense work by Lleisiau Bach Little Voices to produce the children’s report, and, latterly, work with the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales on the FUNC + report.

Observatory research projects are expanding. Students can participate in these projects within degree programmes, in SPIN or WOW work placements or as volunteers. Work continues with the Welsh Government and Welsh public bodies on embedding rights and two new projects, on mental health and well-being and on asylum, began in September, each with mixed community and academic partners.

The new Observatory Advisory Board met for the first time in July, with Sir Roderick Evans in the chair and a powerful, mixed disciplinary, cross-institutional membership. The Board will support and advise the Observatory in its continuing development.

University of Houston VisitIn June 2015 the College of Law and Criminology welcomed scholars from University of Houston as part of the Swansea Texas Strategic Partnership. Amongst the delegates was Dr Suzanne Pritzker, from the Graduate College of Social Work at University of Houston. Dr Pritzker is working with the Observatory to promote a seminar series and publication comparing accountability for children and young people’s human rights in the UK and the US. Dr Pritzker gave a presentation on engagement of students in public policy and politics, a fascinating insight into pedagogical approaches to ensuring that tomorrow’s professionals understand the wider context of their work.

Junior Lawyers DivisionSwansea and District Law Society’s annual summer supper was the occasion for a commitment by a group of junior practitioners and law students, brought together by Lynne Naylor (solicitor, Cameron, Jones, Hussell and Howe) and Jane Williams (Wales Observatory co-director).

Their pledge was to work together to re-establish an active Junior Lawyers Division that will link local junior practitioners at the Bar and in law firms with Swansea Law students. A first meeting was held on 10th August at the College of Law and Criminology. The JLD will have a presence in Freshers’ Week, supporting the student Bar and Law societies, and there are plans for help with mooting, getting quality work placements, talks and tips on careers in the law.

Suzanne Pritzker with Jane Williams, Observatory co-director

Swansea Law students with Lynne Naylor and Wales Observatory co-director, Jane Williams

Jack LavaletteAfter graduating from Swansea University with a first in law (LLB), Jack worked within the legal department at Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong. Whilst in China Jack also began learning Mandarin, Chinese. After two years in China Jack was offered a scholarship to return to Swansea University to study an LLM which he was delighted to accept. Having achieved a distinction in the LLM Jack is now undertaking the LPC with a view to commencing a training contract in 2016.

Jordan ThomasJordan graduated from Swansea University in 2012 with First Class Honours in Law (LLB). Jordan is now a solicitor in the corporate department of the Cardiff and London law firm Capital Law, having completed his training with the firm. Capital was recently awarded the title of Welsh Law Firm of the Year by the Legal 500 and Jordan has experience with management buy-outs, acquisitions, disposals, investments and general company advice.

Jonathan Kurtz-SheffordJonathan graduated with Second Class Honours (2.1) in Law (LLB) and completed his Legal Practice Course both at Swansea University. Jonathan has an array of experience from working within the legal sector. He has conducted in-house work for the Ospreys WRU on various matters, assisting and advising on the set-up of a number of subsidiary companies and employment matters within the organisation. He has also been working in the private sector for the past 3 years on contentious and non-contentious matters. Jonathan has conducted work in multiple jurisdictions and most recently advised an international corporation on a multi-million pound claim in the Middle East.

Emily SummerEmily graduated with a degree in Law and Criminology in 2012 from Swansea University. Following which she worked in Australia and travelled to South East Asia before starting as a Paralegal in the Residential Property Team at JCP Solicitors in September 2013. Emily deals with a number of property transactions on a daily basis including sales, purchases, remortgages and transfers of equity. Emily has been successfully awarded a training contract with JCP Solicitors commencing in September 2017 and is currently studying the Legal Practice Course part-time at Swansea University, whilst continuing her role as a Paralegal.

Eleni BaxivanouEleni graduated with an LLM in International Maritime Law. She is working as an Associate with Daniolos Law Firm, a Greek firm specialised in commercial and maritime law. Eleni specializes in shipping finance transactions, mainly in the preparation and negotiation of loan agreements and other finance documents. She also represents maritime companies in the acquisition and sale of new buildings and second hand vessels.

James Tian After graduating with an LLM in International Maritime Law, James took employment as Claims Handler at the London P & I Club, dealing with both P&I and FD&D claims on behalf of the Club’s Far Eastern membership. In October 2015, James moved to Hapag-Lloyd AG offices in Singapore - the company’s headquarter in Asia. Since then, James has been working in the company’s Corporate Insurance Risk Management team as Manager, overlooking/handling all China (including Taiwan) related (P&I/FD&D) claims.

Jemima JonesJemima passed the Legal Practice Course at Swansea University with Distinction and was awarded the Sweet and Maxwell Prize for the Best Performing LPC Student. After completing the LPC, Jemima started at Hugh James in Cardiff in July 2013 as a paralegal in the Trusts Administration Team. She worked there for 6 months before obtaining a position at Peter Lynn and Partners in Swansea as a paralegal in the Commercial Property department in December 2013. Jemima started her training contract in 2014 with Peter Lynn and Partners and is due to qualify in September 2016. She deals with residential and commercial property matters, including sales, purchases, leases, agreements and private financing.

Student Success Stories

College of Law & Criminology

Contact Information

Undergraduate Programme Enquiries (LLB): llb@swansea.ac.uk

Postgraduate Taught Programmes Enquiries (LLM): llm@swansea.ac.uk

Professional Courses – LPC Enquiries: lpc@swansea.ac.uk

Professional Courses – GDL Enquiries: gdl@swansea.ac.uk

Research Degree Enquiries: lawpostgradresearch@swansea.ac.uk

Criminology Undergraduate Enquiries: criminology.UG@swansea.ac.uk

Criminology Postgraduate Taught Masters Enquiries – Dr Pamela Ugwudike, Director of Postgraduate Taught Masters: p.ugwudike@swansea.ac.uk

General Enquiries – Samantha Duffy, Recruitment & Marketing Officer: s.duffy@swansea.ac.uk

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