Northumbria Law lecturer appointed to the Law Society’s Education and Training Committee

Northumbria law lecturer, Victoria Roper, has been appointed to the Law Society’s influential Education and Training Committee.

Victoria, a solicitor who joined the Faculty of Business and Law from private practice in 2013, supervises students in Northumbria’s award-winning Student Law Office, and also teaches on a range of other programmes. The Law Society’s Education and Training Committee represents solicitors’ interests in matters relating to education and training, and sets and oversees the implementation of policy in this area.

Victoria’s appointment is timely, as sweeping changes are proposed to the way in which solicitors train and qualify. The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA), the organisation which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, has confirmed its intention to introduce a centrally set “super exam”, known as the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), which any aspiring solicitor will need pass in the future in order to qualify. At present, students are not required to sit any centrally set exam at the point of qualification. Instead, they have to pass a specific course, the Legal Practice Course (LPC), before commencing a period of training.

Victoria has a wealth of teaching and assessment experience and a particular interest in innovative and collaborative learning. She is currently leading a collaborative cross-disciplinary teaching project involving law and business students and last year she and another colleague were shortlisted for the Routledge/ALT Teaching Law with Technology prize for their student-led blog project, “We Take Care of Business”. Learning and teaching theory is also one of Victoria’s research areas and she regularly speaks at national and international conferences and has published in this area.

Commenting on her appointment Victoria said: “I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to contribute to the important work of the Education and Training Committee at such a crucial time for the solicitors’ profession. As both a university lecturer and a practicing solicitor, I am passionate about the education and training of solicitors and I want to contribute to decisions that will shape the future of legal education and impact both universities and law firms.”

Professor John Wilson, Pro-Vice Chancellor Faculty of Business and Law, added: “Victoria’s appointment to such an important and influential committee exemplifies the way in which Northumbria is a business-focused university with strong links to the professions. It also reflects the quality of teaching at Northumbria Law School, and the way in which we strive to be at the forefront of developments in legal education for the benefit of our law students and graduates.”

For more information on Northumbria Law School, please visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/law