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your faculty

Chester

Led by Campus Dean Amanda Hedayati, our lecturers are dedicated to bringing their real-life experience in practice into the classroom, providing our students with genuine insight into the subject matter. Each of our students are assigned an academic coach and have regular one-to-one meetings where they can get advice on the course and career aspirations. As lecturers are based in our campuses they operate an ‘open door’ policy, so students can talk to them whenever they need to.

Amanda Hedayati
Amanda Hedayati
Campus Dean

Amanda is the Dean at the Manchester campus and held positions as Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead for LLB/GDL before her appointment. She has vast experience in employment law with particular expertise in discrimination and diversity. Previously Employment Law Head for BPP’s Professional Development faculty, she designed and presented a range of professional training courses, and now brings that knowledge to ULaw’s aspiring legal professionals.

Nicola Walker, Campus Manager at The University of Law Liverpool and Chester campus
Nicola Walker
Campus Manager

Nicola is the Campus Manager for both the Liverpool and Chester campuses. Nicola graduated with a degree in English and later converted to Law, studying the GDL and the LPC at the University of Law’s Chester campus. She qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and then went on to practice as a Commercial Property solicitor. Before joining Ulaw, Nicola worked in Education, teaching Law as well as being a Course Leader and Head of student progression.

Mark Pimblett, Tutor at The University of Law Manchester, Liverpool and Chester campus
Mark Pimblett
LPC and SQE Programme & Student Lead and Senior Lecturer

Mark completed his Law degree at Liverpool John Moores University before going on to study the Legal Practice Course and qualifying as a solicitor. Mark worked in private practice for almost 10 years, specialising in Civil Litigation, in particular Landlord and Tenant matters.

Mark joined the University of Law in October 2017 and is the LPC and SQE Programme & Student Lead at the Chester, Liverpool and Manchester campuses, and oversees the running of the LPC and SQE programmes across those campuses. In his role as Senior Lecturer, Mark has taught across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes such as the LLB, LPC, MA Law and SQE, with a particular focus on Real Estate and Land Law.

Niall Macdonald, Programme and Student Lead at The University of Law
Niall Mac Donald
Programme and Student Lead, Postgraduate Academic Programmes in Law

Niall Mac Donald is Programme and Student Lead for the postgraduate academic law courses at the Manchester, Liverpool, and Chester campuses of the University of law. These courses include the GDL, PgDL, MA (Law), MA (SQE) and MA (Conversion) courses, as well as the academic AMIL/LLM courses. He teaches Ethics and Professional Legal Practice, The Law of Torts, Medical Law and Ethics, and supervises postgraduate students’ and faculty members’ dissertation work. He is a member of the Ethics Committee (reviewing research proposals from the Law and Business Schools) and the Teaching and Learning Committee. He is also the Director of a small private company which invests in real estate and global equities.

Marian Turnbull, Senior Lecturer at The University of Law
Marian Turnbull
Senior Lecturer

Marian qualified as a Solicitor in 1992 and worked up to equity partner level in private practice, advising on various areas of law, including civil litigation, criminal litigation and family. She joined the University of Law’s Manchester campus when it opened in 2009. Marian teaches across all courses (LLB, GDL, LPC), and now focuses on the LPC, teaching Dispute Resolution, Personal Injury and Insurance, along with various professional skills courses.

Raury Mason, Senior Tutor at The University of Law
Raury Mason
Senior Lecturer

After studying Law at the University of Liverpool and the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law (now the University of Law), Raury qualified as a solicitor in 2005. Raury was a Commercial Litigation specialist in practice, handling complex business disputes in the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. Before joining the University of Law in 2017, Raury was a Senior Associate at a large law firm in Manchester. Raury is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and teaches business law subjects on all of our law courses. Raury has a particular interest in Constitutional Law, and is National Module Lead responsible for designing the Constitutional Law subject content on the University’s law conversion course.

Rachel Benn, Senior Lecturer at The University of Law
Rachel Benn
Senior Lecturer

Rachel joined the University in October 2019. She studied Law at the University of Leicester, before completing the LPC at the College of Law in Birmingham. Prior to joining the University, Rachel worked in private practice for around 15 years, specialising in Private Client work, including Wills, tax planning, Lasting Powers of Attorney, administering estates, setting up and administering trusts, advice relating to care fees and a small amount of Court of Protection work. Rachel has specialised in advising high net worth clients, small business owners and has been involved in a number of cross-border estate matters. Rachel successfully completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Trusts and Estates in July 2019.

Lauren Dodge, Senior Tutor at The University of Law Liverpool and Chester campus
Lauren Dodge
Senior Lecturer

Lauren qualified as a solicitor in 2012 after training at Covington & Burling LLP, including a secondment to a pharmaceutical company in Switzerland. She practised at Bristows LLP as a Life Sciences solicitor, including a secondment to a major artificial intelligence company in London. Her career highlight is successfully representing a French pharmaceutical company before the Court of Justice of the European Union. With a degree in Cell Biology, Lauren converted to law with ULaw before gaining the LPC. She has also completed a post-graduate Diploma in EU Law, a PGCHE, and is a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. Lauren has authored legal texts published by Oxford University Press, Practical Law, Lexis Nexis, and Criminal Law Week. Lauren joined ULaw in 2019 and teaches EU Law, Contract Law, Law and Business, Intellectual Property, and Introduction to Professional Practice, as well as teaching on the SQE Plus.

Mark Hogan, Tutor at The University of Law
Mark Hogan
Lecturer

Mark graduated in History from Edinburgh University, before completing the GDL and LPC at The University of Law in Chester. Mark qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and worked in Commercial Real Estate at leading firms in London and Liverpool for 11 years, specialising in retail sector work. He requalified as a teacher in 2018 and spent 2 years teaching History at a secondary school in Liverpool before joining The University of Law in Manchester in 2020. Mark teaches across all courses, with a particular focus on Land Law and Real Estate.

Mark Evans, Tutor at The University of Law
Mark Evans
Lecturer

Mark joined the University of Law in October 2021 and has been teaching real estate, private client and professional skills on the Legal Practice Course, SQE, PgDL and LLB courses. Mark qualified as a Solicitor in 1995 and worked in a general high street firm with offices in North Wales and Chester for over 28 years. Mark has been on the Law Society of England & Wales Council since 2015, representing the constituency of Cheshire & North Wales from 2015 to 2023 and North Wales from 2023 to 2027.

In October 2023 Mark will become the Deputy Vice President of the Law Society of England & Wales and will be the President in 2025/26. As an Office holder Mark will be an ambassador and represent the Law Society at home and abroad. The President also acts as the chair of the Law Society Council.

Helen Saunders, Lecturer at The University of Law
Helen Saunders
Lecturer

Helen joined the University Manchester Campus in 2022, having previously taught as a Visiting Lecturer at Liverpool Campus. Helen qualified as a Solicitor in 2009, she worked in private practice property and completed an LLM in 2015. Helen teaches across PgDL/ MA, LPC and SQE courses.