Issue 4 | Summer 2011 | Southampton Law School

VerdictSchool of Law academics, students and alumni are at the forefront of developments in the legal world. This newsletter gives you a flavour of our activities over the last year in the classroom, the lecture theatre and the wider world. For more information about Law at Southampton see www.southampton.ac.uk/law

Students offer help at Housing Clinic | page 2

Lawyers work towards social justice | page 5

Leading judge remembered | page 6

Students at the University of Southampton with accommodation problems are getting a helping hand from tomorrow’s lawyers.

Housing lawin action

A monthly Housing Clinic is run on a voluntary basis by 13 second and third year undergraduates in collaboration with one of the barristers at 12 College Place Chambers. PhD student Emma Nottingham is also involved with the clinic.

More than 75 clients have been helped so far in the Clinic’s first two years; feedback has been positive with all clients rating the service ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

“Not only is such pro bono work very beneficial for the students’ career development, it really brings to life the legal issues they read about in books and gives a sense of purpose to the study of law,” says lecturer Liz Williams who set up the clinic in 2009.

Some of the law students offering advice have taken the Shelter training course ‘Students and Housing’ to gain a greater understanding of the issues involved in student accommodation. Issues covered deal mainly with private landlord and tenant advice; some complex problems have ended in court.

The Housing Clinic was nominated in the ‘best new pro bono activity’ category for the LawWorks Student Awards 2011.

2 Neighbourhood News | Spring 2011

Welcome to the Southampton Law SchoolSince the teaching of law first started in 1923, the Southampton Law School has combined a reputation for excellence in teaching and research with a pioneering attitude that has spawned a variety of innovative courses such as law of the human body.

Although the School is world-famous for the study of commercial law and maritime law, a much wider array of disciplines is on offer. The School places great importance on the link between research and teaching: members of staff are involved at both national and international level in the development of law, whether it be shipping law or information technology law, all of which feeds back into teaching.

The School is situated on the main Highfield campus close to the library, the students’ union and the University’s acclaimed sports facilities. The University Library offers excellent facilities: it houses both the Law Collection and the Ford Collection of Parliamentary Papers. Increasingly materials are supplied via freely available electronic means. The Library also has extensive subscriptions to legal databases.

Southampton Law School alumni include partners in some of the top law firms in the UK and globally, successful barristers and judges. Not all of our students qualify for professional legal practice, but their degree enables them to have a wide choice of careers. Our international graduates are also exceptionally well placed in practice in their home countries.

The annual LLM Careers Fair is attended by the leading UK firms, and the unique two-week Employability Skills programme aims to ensure that students acquire the necessary skills that make them attractive to prospective employers.

Should you decide to study here, we look forward to meeting you.

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Housing lawin action

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Law in health and society It has been a busy few months for HEAL, the University of Southampton’s interdisciplinary network for Health, Ethics and Law which explores the nature of law, its processes of production and its impact on society.Led by Professor Jonathan Montgomery, Dr Caroline Jones and Professor Hazel Biggs, HEAL draws together a group of scholars from different disciplines to build upon the broad range of expertise in the field of health care within the University and across local health care services.

In summer 2011, HEAL is hosting a conference on Hidden Lawmakers: the impact of litigation strategies on the development of health care law. This will form the initial stage of a wider project investigating the development of Health Care Law through test case litigation.

Other activities by HEAL members:

Jonathan and colleagues from other faculties of the University of Southampton have helped draw up the British Society for Human Genetics report on genetic testing of children. He was joined by Angela Fenwick and Anneke Lucassen of Medicine

Hazel was awarded a highly commended prize for her book Healthcare Research Ethics and Law: Regulation, Review and Responsibilities by the Society of Authors.

Caroline was invited to the House of Lords to attend the Bioethics in Parliament 2010 seminar. It dealt with the question of how far we should go to meet the demand for organs, eggs, sperm and other bodily material.

Senior lecturer Remi Nwabueze has been appointed to the International Review Group of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and will be involved in reviewing its code of ethics.

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Prospective lawyers learn about life in the workplaceLaw students have been finding out for themselves what life is like for a lawyer. The School organises a two week employability programme every January to highlight all aspects of work in the legal profession. City solicitors, local practitioners, barristers and judges travel to Highfield to give talks and conduct workshops for our students.

This year undergraduates also got the chance to visit courts and tribunals in Southampton and Winchester. “The idea was to give our second years’ new insights into commercial awareness, presentation skills and negotiating practice,” says Head of School Professor Natalie Lee.

Student Harvi Lee from Singapore enjoyed his time on the programme and shadowed lawyers at Winchester Combined Crown Courts for four days: “The attachment gave me greater understanding of proceedings in court which I trust will help me greatly in my future studies.”

New developments in legal trainingSouthampton will be educating the next generation of insurance lawyers, thanks to additions to our programmes. An LLB option in Insurance Law will start in autumn 2011 and a master’s module will follow in 2012.

“The UK leads the world in insurance law,” explains Professor Rob Merkin. “We have specialised in maritime insurance law for many years but this is the first time we have developed general courses in this particular area. The subject is taught at very few universities in the UK so we are expecting the module to be popular, especially with international students.”

Rob, who is Vice-President of the International Association of Insurance Law and President of its affiliated domestic chapter, the British Insurance Law Association, has been in Beijing to establish a branch in China, with the assistance of Southampton PhD graduate Wenhao Han, who works for international law firm Norton Rose in Hong Kong. The launch of a Hong Kong branch will follow later in the year.

Rob’s colleagues who are involved in the programme are Dr Ozlem Gurses, Johanna Hjalmarsson and Dr Andrea Lista.

This year’s subject is human trafficking and guests have included Gemma Wolfes from the Anti-Slavery Organisation. Previous topics covered have included domestic violence and forced marriage.

Founders Christine Little and Shabana Ali say: “We feel social justice is a largely underemphasised area of our overall education.

We wanted to create awareness of the adversities faced by marginalised members of society by focusing on the role of the law in protecting and promoting the rights of vulnerable peoples.

“We also want to inform law students about the broad scale of possibilities within the area of social justice in which a legal career may be pursued.”

Lawyers work towards social justiceLaw students interested in social justice have formed a group to highlight issues and invite expert speakers to explain more about latest developments.

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Leading judge rememberedLord Justice Aikens delivered the 2010 Donald O’May Lecture in Maritime Law at the Merchant Taylors Hall in the City of London.

Sponsored by Ince & Co and hosted by the Institute of Maritime Law, the event attracted almost 400 Law alumni and other interested people to hear his speech on Lord Bingham, Bailment and Bills of Lading, which paid tribute to the former Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord who died in September 2010.

The lecture was introduced by Institute Director Filippo Lorenzon and chaired by Simon Rainey QC. James Wilson, a senior partner at Ince & Co gave the vote of thanks. Among the guests was Justice Donnell M Ryan of the Federal Court of Australia.

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Legal arguments revealedSummer 2011 will see the first publication of the Southampton Student Law Review. It will showcase high quality work by students at all levels and give them a taste of academic practice.

The idea of the journal came from postgraduate research students who wanted to bring together assessed work which had achieved high grades with articles written specifically for the Review.

“We are very excited about the new journal and hope that it will be around for many years to come,” Harry East, Chief Editor

Negotiation. It’s good to talkThe skills of negotiation are vitally important to lawyers so it makes sense to learn them early.

Students Franca Bosompim and Ling Pham have formed the University of Southampton Negotiation Society to help people hone their talents.

They have held several events with law firms and chambers such as Pinsent Masons and Serle Court. After taking part in an international negotiation competition, two teams also went on to represent Southampton at regional level.

Law in actionSteve Saxby Professor of Information Technology, Law and Public Policy is part of a group of academics who have been awarded £1.94million over three years to research issues surrounding national security and identity. The Principal Investigator is Dr Sarah Stevenage from Psychology at Southampton.

Hilton Staniland, Professor of Maritime Law has joined the Advisory Board of the Seafarers’ Rights International Centre. He will advise on the organisation’s strategic legal direction.

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www.southampton.ac.uk/lawUK and EU enquiries: undergrad.law@southampton.ac.uk +44 (0) 23 8059 2596 International (non EU) enquiries: global@southampton.ac.uk +44 (0) 23 8059 9699