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your faculty

London Moorgate

Led by Campus Dean Aruna Verma, the academic staff are dedicated to bringing their real-life experiences in practice into the classroom, providing students with genuine insights into the subject matter studied on our courses. Each of our students are assigned an academic coach and have regular one-to-one meetings where they can get advice on their course and on their career aspirations. Our lecturers operate an ‘open door’ policy, so students can talk to them whenever they need to.

Aruna Verma, Campus Dean at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Aruna Verma
Campus Dean

Aruna has an LLB Hons and studied her LPC at Ulaw Guildford. She began teaching in 2008. Aruna is a qualified Solicitor working predominantly in litigation. In 2019, Aruna was seconded to Hong Kong to set up the first international Campus. She enjoys developing international activities and non-standard programmes such as summer schools.

Mohammad Abdullah, Tutor at The University of Law Nottingham campus
Mohammad Abdullah
Head of Lecturers

Mohammad read Law at the University of Leicester and thereafter qualified at Shoosmiths in 2017. He worked in civil litigation before joining the Nottingham campus of The University of Law in 2019. He went onto become Programme and Student Lead for the PGDLMA and Academic Masters in Law programmes. He was also Module Lead for Law of Organisations and taught primarily on business law related modules. In August 2023, he moved to the London Moorgate campus where he took up his current role of Head of Lecturers.

Mary Medyckyj
Mary Medyckyj
Skills Coach

Mary has a BSc in Biology from Manchester University and an LLM from Bristol University. She qualified at Mishcon de Reya and worked at Bird & Bird, specialising in Intellectual Property, before moving to Mewburn Ellis. Mary also set up her own legal practice specialising in Intellectual Property and worked at Charles Russell. Mary is also Scottish qualified, a qualified mediator and a magistrate. She teaches on the Intellectual Property elective of the LPC.

Gareth Richards
Gareth Richards
Academic Manager

Gareth studied history at Cambridge University before converting to law at ULaw in London. He trained and qualified as a solicitor at Linklaters, specialising in commercial property, planning and environmental law, before moving into legal education in 1997. He's taught on the GDL, LPC, PSC and Master's courses and been involved in designing LPC modules.

Sarah Hargrave, Senior Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Sarah Hargrave
Academic Manager

Sarah has a BA in Law & Criminology from the University of Sheffield and trained and qualified at Clyde & Co, specialising in insurance and reinsurance litigation. Sarah initially joined ULaw in 2008, returned to practice at Clyde & Co for a number of years, then re-joined the University in 2016. Sarah currently teaches Dispute Resolution and Insurance Law on the LPC and Contract Law and Criminal Law on the GDL.

Robert Foxall
Rob Foxall
Academic Manager and Associate Professor

Rob has an MA in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford. He studied for the Law Society Finals at Manchester Polytechnic and trained as a solicitor at the City firm of Lewis Silkin. He has practised in a number of regional firms across the South East, working in Real Estate (residential and commercial) and Private Client. Rob joined The University of Law in 2007, teaching Equity & Trusts on the GDL and Real Estate and Private Client on the LPC.

Dessy Ohanians, Academic Resources and Quality Manager (Business School)
Dessy Ohanians
Academic Resources and Quality Manager (Business School)

Dessy has a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration from Huron University and MSc in Data Analytics and Marketing from Arden University. She has worked in education for over 25 year first as an entrepreneur and then as a managing director of a charity. Dessy transitioned to Higher Education management when she became a managing director of London School of Business and Finance Executive Education in 2014 and subsequently also took on the role of an interim CEO of the London Academy of Trading. Dessy is currently undertaking a PhD study with the University of Worcester Business School researching the topic of applications of artificial intelligence in the field of Marketing.

Andrew Strong
Andrew Strong
LPC and SQE Programme and Student Leads

Andrew is currently the Programme and Student Lead for the LPC. Andrew took an MA (Hons) in French and Spanish from the University of Cambridge (Clare College). After graduating, he studied the GDL and LPC at ULaw. Andrew trained and qualified at Walker Morris in Leeds, specialising in employment law. After a spell with Thrings in London, Andrew moved into legal education. He now teaches Dispute Resolution and Employment Law and Practice on the LPC. He is course leader on the Part-time evening LPC at the Moorgate Campus.

Karen Watts, Senior Tutor and Teaching Fellow at The University of Law Chester, Moorgate and Online campus
Karen Watts
LPC and SQE Programme and Student Leads

Karen is the Programme and Student Lead for the Online LPC and holds a Masters degree in Law. She trained and qualified with Kennedys before joining Fieldfisher (then Field Fisher Waterhouse), both firms based in the City of London. Her practice area is Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution. She has taught on the GDL, LPC, and, prior to her current appointment she held the position of Course Leader for MA Law at the Moorgate Campus.

Shireen Nakhuda
Shireen Nakhuda
Senior Lecturer and Course Leader

Shireen graduated with a First Class Honours LLB Law degree and was awarded the Drapers' Company Award for Academic Excellence. She studied the LPC at ULaw Bloomsbury before going on to train and qualify as a solicitor at Rochman Landau. Shireen specialised in Mergers and Acquisitions until she moved into legal education. She joined The University of Law in 2008 and has extensive teaching experience on the Business Law and Practice and Banking and Debt Finance modules of the LPC. Shireen is the Course Leader for the January Start LPC programme.

Shehnaz Varda
Shehnaz Varda
Senior Lecturer and Teaching Fellow

Shehnaz has an LLB Hons from Queen Mary University, London and studied the LPC at ULaw. She has also completed a PGCHE. She trained and qualified as a solicitor at Wilde Sapte (now Dentons) and worked in shipping finance and banking before moving into legal education. She has previously taught on the International Foundation Course. Shehnaz currently teaches Tort on the GDL and MA as well as Business Law & Practice and Debt Finance on the LPC. She also teaches Islamic Finance on the Banking Finance Training Consortium.

Emma Bertuzzi
Emma Bertuzzi
Senior Lecturer and Teaching Fellow

Emma studied law at the University of Manchester. She trained and qualified as a solicitor at Ince & Co, specialising in mediating, litigating and arbitrating shipping disputes and acted for ship owners in several high profile major pollution incidents. Emma teaches Dispute Resolution, Commercial Dispute Resolution and Advocacy on the LPC as well as Criminal Law on the GDL and MA law course. Emma is Course Leader for the January Accelerated LPC and is the Team Leader for the Civil Dispute Resolution team at Moorgate.

Lynn Smith
Lynn Smith
Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor

Lynn is the Module Lead for Advanced Real Estate and Real Estate Team Leader for Moorgate. She has an MA (Jurisprudence) from Jesus College, Oxford, a Diplome Approfondi from Universite de Basse-Normandie and a London Chamber of Commerce Business French qualification. Lynn teaches on a variety of courses, including Real Estate, Advanced Real Estate, Debt Finance, Interviewing, Practical Legal Research, Conduct and Land Law.

Anna Elmirzayeva, Senior Tutor & ULTRA Member at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Anna Elmirzayeva
Senior Lecturer and ULTRA member

Anna is from Ukraine where she gained a BA in International Relations and a Master's in International Law. She has an LLM in European law, a PhD in Law from University of Essex, and completed the Oxford Blockchain strategy programme at Said Business School. Anna teaches EU on the GDL and is developing a module on AI and Blockchain for the MSc in Legal Technology. She is a member of the University’s legal tech research academy ULTRA.

Alex Laski
Alex Laski
Senior Lecturer

Alex studied Modern Languages at Cambridge and Performance Arts at Middlesex. He then studied for an M.Phil (by research) in Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. Alex completed the CPE and LPC at MMU and qualified as a solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard. Alex worked for Chambers Legal Directory before moving into education. He teaches Business Law and Practice and Commercial Law on the LPC, Contract and EU Law on the GDL and MA and Law of Organisations on the GDL.

Dr Alexandra Allan, Senior Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Dr Alexandra Allan
Senior Lecturer

Alex qualified as a solicitor at Salans LLP, before moving to Reed Smith LLP where she specialised in shipping dispute resolution and international financial and trade sanctions. After leaving practice, Alex completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge on case management in civil litigation. She currently teaches Dispute Resolution and Commercial Law and Practice on the LPC, as well as Legal Services, Case and Matter Analysis, and Commercial Law and International Trade on the SQE and LLM Legal Practice.

Daniela Saretti
Daniela Saretti
Senior Lecturer

Daniela Saretti is a dual qualified solicitor. She studied law at the University of Bari, Italy. She trained and qualified in Italy, practising corporate and commercial law at CMS Adonnino Ascoli Cavasola Scamoni. Daniela gained experience in England at Radcliffes Le Brasseur and GlaxoSmithKline, completing the QLTT at ULaw in 2005. Daniela teaches EU Law on the GDL and Introduction to Professional Practice, Business Law and Practice and Commercial Law on the LPC.

Dipa Mandal, Academic Manager & Senior Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Dipa Mandal
Senior Lecturer

Dipa studied her LLB at the University of Warwick and the LPC at the Bloomsbury Campus of The University of Law. She trained and qualified as a solicitor at Charles Russell LLP, London and also worked at Cripps Harries Hall LLP until she moved into legal education. Dipa has extensive teaching experience on the LPC, GDL and Master's courses. She teaches Introduction to Professional Practice, Business Law and Practice, Public Companies and Equity Finance, Law and Business, and Equity law.

Elizabeth Lyus
Elizabeth Lyus
Senior Lecturer

Elizabeth has a BA in History from the University of Leicester and completed the Law Society Finals at ULaw. She trained and qualified at DJ Freeman before working at Cripps Harries Hall, advising on professional negligence claims. Elizabeth teaches Tort on the GDL and manages the GDL Tort team at Moorgate. She teaches Drafting, Dispute Resolution, Advocacy and Commercial Law on the LPC. For a number of years Elizabeth has been the Joint Head of Advocacy at Moorgate. She also teaches Commercial Law on the LLM.

Malcolm Roger
Malcolm Roger
Senior Lecturer

Malcolm has an LLB from the University of Hull where he won the Lewenstein Prize before completing his Law Society Finals at ULaw's Guildford Campus. He trained and qualified as a solicitor at Maples Teesdale in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Having taken an LLM at University College London in 2007, including modules in EU Environmental Law and Comparative European Law, Malcolm joined the University in 2008 and was appointed Senior Lecturer in 2014. He teaches EU Law on the GDL and Dispute Resolution, Employment Law and Commercial Law on the LPC. He became an Academic Manager in 2016.

Marie Calleja
Marie Calleja
Senior Lecturer

Marie qualified as a solicitor after studying at The University of Law's Guildford Campus. She passed the Law Society finals with first class honours. Marie joined The University of Law as a lecturer in 1994 and has taught on the LPC, GDL and Master's courses. Marie specialises in corporate law, teaching Business Law and Practice and Mergers and Acquisitions on the LPC and Law of Organisations and Contract on the GDL.

Natalie McGibbon, Senior Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Natalie McGibbon
Senior Lecturer

Natalie trained as a solicitor at Clifford Chance and practised in one of their Commercial Real Estate departments. She joined ULaw in 2007, teaching Property Law and Practice on the LPC, then moved to Singapore for two years where she worked as a Knowledge Management lawyer at Allen and Gledhill. She continued to work on design projects for the University remotely. Natalie returned to the UK in 2010 and now teaches Business Law and Practice and Banking on the LPC. Natalie is the Team Leader for the Business Law and Practice team at Moorgate.

Timothy Hawkins
Timothy Hawkins
Senior Lecturer

Timothy has an LLB from Kings College London. He studied the LPC at ULaw and qualified as a solicitor at Withers, working in alternative investment market flotations until he moved into legal education. Timothy teaches Ethics and Professional Legal Practice and European Law on the GDL as well as Business Law, Competition Law and Intellectual Property on the LPC. He is Module Lead for Ethics and Professional Legal Practice and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Victoria Macfarlane
Victoria MacFarlane
Senior Lecturer

Victoria has an LLB (Hons) from the University of Liverpool and studied for the Law Society Finals at ULaw. She trained and qualified as a solicitor at Slaughter and May and worked in the Company/Commercial Department. Victoria teaches tort on the GDL as well as Business Law, Law and Business and Mergers and Acquisitions on the LPC. Victoria is the Module Lead and Team Leader for Mergers and Acquisitions, and Course Leader for the Part-time evening LPC.

Emma Velkova
Senior Lecturer

Emma studied Law and French Law at University College London and Paris II Pantheon-Assas. She completed her LPC at ULaw Bloomsbury before qualifying as a solicitor with Dentons. She qualified in their Dispute Resolution Department specialising in Commercial Dispute Resolution and Arbitration, including International Arbitration. Emma has an MA in Social Policy and Criminology from the Open University. She joined ULaw in 2008. She has taught on the Business Law and Practice, Dispute Resolution and Commercial Dispute Resolution courses on the LPC. Emma also teaches on the Contract Law and the Criminal Law course on the GDL.

Claire Darbourne
Lecturer

Claire studied law at Bristol University and completed her LSFE at the College of Law (now the University of Law) in Guildford. She trained and qualified into the general litigation department of Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, soon specialising in employment law. After 10 years in practice, she became a Professional Support Lawyer in the employment team where she worked for 20 years before joining the University of Law. She teaches the Dispute Resolution module and the Employment law elective on the LPC.

Hayley Trovato, Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Hayley Trovato
Lecturer

Hayley graduated with a first class honours in History before converting to law and completing the LPC at Ulaw in 2003. As a solicitor she practised family law for almost 15 years, with a particular specialism in international child abduction. Hayley is also a trained mediator. She teaches the Dispute Resolution module and the Family elective on the LPC.

Karen Waller, Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Karen Waller
Lecturer

Karen studied law at Cambridge University before attending the Bloomsbury campus of ULaw. She qualified at Wilde Sapte (now Dentons) and worked for many years in the restructuring department at DLA Piper. She has a Diploma in Business Spanish from the Chamber of Commerce and was recently awarded a PGCE from UCL. Karen teaches real estate and international capital markets and loans practice on the LPC course.

Nadia Adil, Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Nadia Adil
Lecturer

Nadia studied Law at Brunel University on it’s four year programme, which required her to work at a law firm for a year, giving her early legal experience. She has a LLB (Hons) and a LPC Distinction from The College of Law (now ULaw). She trained with GSC Solicitors, a firm based in the City of London, qualifying in 2005. She left in 2016 to join a law firm in East London as founding partner and where she remains in practice. Nadia has experience of employment and business immigration and specialises in civil litigation. She works at ULaw as a part time lecturer teaching Dispute Resolution on the LPC.

Jim Tsihlis, Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Jim Tsihlis
Lecturer

Jim has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney (NSW, Australia), where he qualified as a solicitor. He soon moved to the UK and qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales. Jim's legal experience is largely as an inhouse legal counsel for commercial organisations (such as Price Waterhouse Coopers) and public authorities across both Australian and English jurisdictions. Prior to joining the University of Law, Jim was the Law Module Leader and lead law lecturer and tutor for King's Foundations, the academic preparation department of King's College London, for 7 years. Jim has gained an applied linguistics and teaching degree from Cambridge University, post graduate playwriting degree from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney, and a distinction in his LLM in Constitutional Law, Politics and Practice from Birkbeck, University of London.

Jane Wright, Tutor at The University of Law Moorgate campus
Jane Wright
Lecturer

Jane spent her first career in the City. She has a LLB (Hons) and LLM (International Finance Law) from Queen Mary, University of London and is a Sloan Fellow of London Business School. Jane qualified at Slaughter and May, leaving at mid-associate level to study at London Business School before working at an investment bank. She subsequently returned to private practice and was a partner specialising in capital markets and securitisation for twenty years.