Claire Sparrow

Areas of specialism include Evidence and Contract Law and in the past have taught advocacy and other legal skills on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). While teaching on the BPTC, I have also gained accreditation from the Inns Advocacy Training Committee as an Advocacy Trainer. I have been an External Examiner in Criminal Advocacy, Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing, Professional Ethics and Advanced Criminal Law on the BPTC at the University of the West of England (UWE). I have worked with the Bar Standards Board on accreditation of Bar training courses and approval of organisations as Approved Education and Training Organisations (AETOs). 

Before coming to teaching, I was a barrister in independent practice for seven years, specialising mainly in criminal practice. I maintain a door tenancy at Pallant Chambers in Chichester.

I use my experience as a lawyer to bring practical legal skills into the classroom so that students can see how the law operates in the ‘real world’.

Before becoming the Head of Undergraduate Business Courses I was the Undergraduate Law Programmes Course Director.  I am currently the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law.

My research interests reflect my professional background and I have given conference papers and published on clinical legal education and the scholarship of teaching.  As part of my PhD studies I have used activity theory to define and understand academic research and teaching activities and the ways in which these interact.