Law with Politics LLB (Hons)

Nicola Monaghan

Nicola Monaghan is the Head of the School of Law and a Principal Lecturer at the University of Worcester. She has taught at the University of Worcester since the School of Law opened in 2016. She took up the role of Head of the School of Law in 2022.

Nicola is an unregistered barrister and a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.

She has been teaching law at Higher Education institutions since 2001 and specialises in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and the Law of Evidence.

She is the author of textbooks on Criminal Law and the Law of Evidence: Criminal Law Directions (7th edn, Oxford University Press, 2022) and Law of Evidence (Cambridge University Press, 2015). She also co-edited and contributed to Financial Crime and Corporate Misconduct: A Critical Evaluation of Fraud Legislation (Routledge, 2018) and has contributed chapters to, and written, other books.

Nicola’s research interests include jury misconduct and the criminal trial and she has published a wide range of journal articles in the Journal of Criminal Law, International Journal of Evidence and Proof, and Information and Communications Technology Law. Her work has been cited widely by academics and by the Law Commission.

Dr Luke Devine

Luke is currently Course Leader for Sociology

Dr Chris Monaghan

Chris Monaghan is a Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of Worcester. He has taught at the University of Worcester since the School of Law opened in 2016. Chris is course leader for LLB course teaches on the LLB and LLM courses. He previously led the development of the LLM in Legal Practice Course.

Chris has a keen interest in constitutional law, the role of parliament (with an emphasis on accountability), broader notions of executive accountability, and the global use of impeachment. His current main research projects explore the Chagos litigation and impeachment as an accountability mechanism. Chris established and is the director of Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group at the University of Worcester. He is the editor of the Routledge Studies in Law, Rights and Justice book series and he is the co-editor of Routledge Frontiers in Accountability Studies book series.

Chris is happy to supervise PhD students and welcomes expressions of interest.

Dr Josie Welsh

Josie is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Worcester. Alongside her current teaching across the LLB courses, Josie completed her Doctorate in Public law at the University of Sheffield.

Josie’s doctoral research relates to the challenges of analysing judicial power in the United Kingdom constitution. Entitled ‘Changing patterns of judicial power: developing current analysis’, the research presents an approach to analysis that leads to a more sophisticated understanding of the changing nature of that power.

Josie has received nominations for her teaching through the University’s Student Union Students’ Choice Awards: nominated for Outstanding Lecturer, Exceptional Personal Academic Tutor and Module Excellence. In November 2020, Josie was awarded a University of Worcester Teaching Award which recognises innovative, inspiring, and excellent practice.

Dr Aisha Shah

Aisha is a Lecturer at the School of Law. Her research interests lie in the field of English Private Law and in particular claims for restitution in equity, trusts and unjust enrichment.

Her completed doctoral thesis is titled ‘Proprietary Claims and Restitution’ and focuses on the availability of proprietary responses in the law of unjust enrichment. Her research uses the classic example of mistaken payment as the basis for developing her approach and builds upon the work of the late Professor Peter Birks.

Stephen Hurley

Stephen was previously an Employment Law Partner in a large commercial law firm. He has extensive experience of advising both employers and employees, including substantial Employment Tribunal litigation and advocacy.

He has since taught law in a number of universities at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, including on the Legal Practice Course. He has been consistently nominated by students for a number of awards including Outstanding Lecturer, Outstanding Personal Tutor and Module Excellence.

He has a particular interest in client interviewing skills and supports students to compete in national competitions. He still retains a practising certificate to advise members of the public in the University’s Legal Advice Centre.

Jenny Watkins

Jenny is a Lecturer at the School of Law and teaches on the LLB undergraduate programme and on the Legal Practice LLM. She is the module leader for the Professional Legal Skills and Ethics module on the LLB, and the English and Welsh Legal System module on the LLM. Jenny is also involved in teaching Family Law, Tort Law and Commercial Law.

Prior to becoming an academic Jenny worked in legal practice in the West Midlands, training in Family Law, Dispute Resolution and Property Law, before qualifying as a Solicitor specialising in Family Law.

Before joining the University of Worcester, Jenny led multiple undergraduate Law modules at Newman University and was the Foundation Year Link tutor and Placements lead for law. Jenny was nominated for the award of ‘Staff Member of the Year’ and the ‘unsung hero’ award, and was awarded two ‘you’re great’ awards by the Students’ Union following nominations from students.

Qualifications

• LLB Law (First Class Honours)
• Legal Practice Course (Distinction)
• Advance HE Certified External Examiner
• Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales (Non-Practising)
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) (Advance HE)

Jenny is currently undertaking the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE).

Doug Wotherspoon

After practising company and commercial law for 20 years in the city of Worcester, representing clients ranging from sole traders, ordinary partnerships, LLPs and limited companies to multi-national companies in transactions covering everything from business formations to business insolvencies, Doug embarked on a change of career and is very much enjoying transferring his practical experience in a legal environment into the classroom environment for the benefit of HND and undergraduate students alike.