Inspirational leaders

Professor Joanne Conaghan was appointed Head of the Law School in August 2014. Her leadership has resulted in the expansion of facilities, courses, and centres of research, an increasingly diverse student body and the recruitment of over 40 new academics, bringing new areas of expertise and reducing staff student ratios. Joanne has written extensively on issues relating to gender and law and is internationally recognized as a leading scholar in that field.

Lady Hale was appointed to President of the Supreme Court in 2017, representing a remarkable victory in the long campaign for gender equality among the senior judiciary. Her rise to this position marks the peak of the extraordinary career of a feminist committed to diversity on the bench. Lady Hale held the position of Chancellor of the University of Bristol for 13 years and continues to support the University and the Law School.

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Shadow Attorney General and former Director of Liberty, has been appointed an Honorary Professor of the Law School until 2020. Over the past few years Shami has been coming to Bristol to give an annual lecture to our constitutional rights students - and this year was a keynote speaker at the University of Bristol Law Conference.

Dr Foluke Adebisi joined the Law School in September 2013 and is leading on the recruitment of students from Nigeria. She is particularly committed to exploring diversity in the content process and structure of education, especially legal education. Foluke explores the postcolonial nature of law by researching legal education in Higher Education Institutions and encouraging accurate study of the Global South. “Systems rise and fall on similar ideologies which impact educational outcomes, employment, and quality of life, for people (especially for women) of colour. Teaching should change the world. I teach for the world I want to see.”

Dr Katie Bales is a lecturer in law, whose research areas include socio-economic rights, labour law, and asylum and social policy. Her work with the Migration Research Group played a key role in the introduction of the Sanctuary Scholarship Scheme, which offers support towards the cost of undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The scheme aims to enhance opportunities for people from asylum seeking communities, aiding integration and breaking down the barriers that individuals from refugee backgrounds face in accessing higher education and employment.

Dinah Rose QC, the University of Bristol Bar Society’s Patron, is the UK’s leading Silk in the world of Constitutional Law. Having worked on cases such as UNISON, R (Evans) v AG, R (Bourgass) v Secretary of State as well as advising the BBC on Sexual Harassment in the workplace, she is, as Chambers UK puts it “one of the most supremely talented advocates of her generation.”