Professor Susan Blake's career, at the Inns of Court School of Law and then at City Law School in London, has focussed on developing legal skills training for barristers and solicitors. This includes a full range of skills from opinion writing to advocacy, and she has focussed in particular on using litigation and other forms of dispute resolution effectively. Most recently, her work has focussed on the impact of technology and generative AI on the work of lawyers, and the ongoing development of the delivery of legal services.
Associate Professor Julie Browne was in practice at the Bar of England and Wales for over 10 years doing a wide range of civil and commercial work. Since joining the Inns of Court School of Law (now City Law School) she has held a variety of roles, including Deputy Course Director (Students) on the Bar Professional Training Course for over 10 years, Director of Student Services and, most recently, Director of Bar Training. As Director of Bar Training, she has responsibility for designing the school's new blended learning programme to meet the needs of the Bar Standard's Board new regulatory changes for future bar training. During her time at City Law School, Julie has also been the subject lead for many modules, including commercial law, company law and drafting and has written and designed many new modules over the years, including alternative dispute resolution and most recently advanced civil advocacy and international arbitration in practice.
Professor Stuart Sime started his academic career at the Inns of Court School of Law primarily teaching civil procedure, but also a range of other subjects, such as evidence, company law and commercial law. He also led at various times skills modules such as civil advocacy and opinion writing. He was the programme director of the largest Bar programme in the country for 15 years. He is currently the Head of Department for the academic programmes at The City Law School, and teaches mediation, international commercial arbitration, and assists with teaching english legal system and ethics.