Please click to expand each speaker profile to read their biography.
The AULP Conference team are currently finalising speaker details, and this page will be updated as details are confirmed.
Details to follow
Claire is a regulatory barrister who specialises in supporting organisations following adverse incidents. She acts across a range of sectors including health, higher education institutions, housing providers and local authorities.
She supports clients in the immediate aftermath of an incident and throughout the range of investigations and regulatory action that may follow, including criminal prosecutions and public inquiries. A large part of her work involves representing organisations involved in complex inquests. She represented a mental health trust in the inquest touching the death of Natasha Abrahart and recently represented a university in an inquest where it was alleged that systems failures and individual actions of employees contributed to the death of a student.
In addition, she advises organisations in respect of their legal obligations encompassing issues relating to health and safety legislation, information sharing, human rights, mental capacity and mental health. She assists them to resolve non-compliance issues quickly and cost-effectively. She has a nice expertise in cases involving allegations of breach of the Equality Act 2010 in the provision of services.
Mark advises on education collaborations and governance, having spent all of his legal career advising in the education sector.
Mark is a leading adviser to the UK’s further and higher education sectors, with extensive experience in institutional mergers, governance, and regulatory matters.
He has advised on over fifty college mergers and regularly redrafts university and college constitutions, including Instruments and Articles, Royal Charters, and Articles of Association.
Mark has supported the development of more than half of the country’s Institutes of Technology and frequently structures education joint ventures. His international work includes drafting parts of the Universities UK legal guide to overseas collaborations.
He provides governance advice, delivers charity law training, and conducts governance reviews.
He is recognised as a ‘Leading Partner’ in the Legal 500 UK, 2026 guide.
Details to follow
A Research Contracts Manager at the University of Leeds with a previous background in IT and Business Change Management in both the UK and internationally. Alan has led the University’s ORCA Project from its initial inception through project approval to its first implementation in November 2024. He has now extended the vision to service agreements for both Research and Business Engagement, while embracing new technologies such as AI and working practices including self-service for contracts.
Rachel Gower is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with a strong blend of private practice and in house experience. She began her career in private practice at a City law firm, before spending over eight years in-house as Head of Legal and Data Protection Officer at a Russell Group university.
Rachel brings deep insight into the Higher Education sector, having built an in-house legal function from the ground up and advised at senior level across a broad range of issues, including commercial contracts, governance and regulatory, risk and compliance, data protection and freedom of information, as well as complaints and claims.
Known for her calm and reassuring approach in complex and high-pressure situations, Rachel provides strategic, pragmatic advice that is grounded in commercial reality. She builds strong relationships quickly and is valued for her ability to distil complex issues into clear, actionable solutions.
Rachel Gwynne is a highly experienced charities and not-for-profit lawyer with over 20 years’ experience advising complex organisations, including universities. She has deep Higher Education sector insight, having been seconded as Interim Director of Governance at the University of Gloucestershire, where she supported senior leadership on governance, compliance and institutional strategy.
Rachel specialises in corporate and governance matters, leading major projects such as restructures, group reorganisations and collaborative ventures across multi-entity organisations. She advises extensively on university governance frameworks, trustee duties, constitutional arrangements and regulatory compliance, including Charity Commission engagement, land matters and investigations.
A trusted adviser to boards and executive teams, Rachel is known for delivering pragmatic, solutions-focused guidance on complex governance challenges, helping institutions manage risk, strengthen oversight and operate effectively within evolving regulatory environments.
Details to follow
Sara Sayer is a leading specialist in administrative and public law litigation, with particular expertise in dispute management within the education sector. She advises Oxbridge colleges, universities, academies, independent schools, and public bodies on a broad range of sensitive and complex student-related matters, including complaints (notably persistent and vexatious cases) and complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, disciplinary processes, appeals, safeguarding (ad hoc advice and recent and non-recent institutional investigations), fitness to practise proceedings, internal hearings, sexual misconduct (including peer-on-peer cases) and disability and SEND issues, including SEND Tribunal proceedings. Sara and her team also advise on associated County Court and High Court litigation including Judicial Reviews.
Sara also acts for corporate, commercial, and public sector clients across a wide spectrum of litigation and regulatory matters. Her experience spans the full lifecycle of disputes, from early-stage complaint handling and pre-litigation strategy through to representation in complex litigation. She is particularly experienced in disputes involving public bodies, including procurement challenges and judicial review claims across a range of sectors, including tax and planning, and Equality Act claims. Sara and her team also specialise in Charity Board disputes, handling Serious Incidents and Charity Commission Investigations and Inquiries.
After a quick spell as a corporate commercial lawyer, Giles seized the opportunity to work with in-house legal teams and universities from across the globe to modernise their legal functions. With experience supporting teams of all shapes and sizes, he advises on improving legal intake, contract and matter management, external spend visibility, and the adoption of legal-grade AI.
Gayle is a corporate commercial partner specialising in advising universities, higher and further education institutions, private education providers and banks lending to the education sector on mergers and joint ventures, regulatory issues, commercial contracts, acquisitions and disposals, shared services, outsourcing, commercialising activities, student unions, charity law, corporate structures and constitutional and corporate governance matters. She has advised on all the mergers in the higher education sector over the last 14 years.
She is acknowledged as a Leading Individual advising educational institutions by Legal 500 and won EducationAdvisor Transactional Lawyer of the year in 2025.
Poppy Short has over 20 years’ experience advising universities on corporate matters, including partnerships, academic arrangements, governance and mergers and other forms of radical collaboration. Poppy has led the legal work on the three recent complex mergers in the higher education sector, navigating numerous regulatory, governance and contractual challenges along the way. Her strategic and commercial insight makes her a valued and highly respected advisor. One client said: “Her attention to detail, expertise in higher education law and solution-focused advice were invaluable without which our merger would not have been possible.”
I’m a partner in the firm’s Employment, Education and Pensions team, working with clients across a broad range of sectors including education, tech, finance, hospitality, transport and retail. My focus is on helping clients strategically – bringing insight, clarity and direction to complex employment issues. I work closely with senior leaders and boards to understand their priorities and shape solutions that align with their goals, whether they’re navigating change, managing risk or responding to sensitive challenges. My experience spans high-profile investigations, complex restructures, TUPE processes and litigation. This has included whistleblowing, discrimination, fraud and misconduct cases. I also acted as an external expert for the BBC on bullying and harassment complaints for a number of years.
Stewart advises professionals, public bodies and private sector organisations on a range of regulatory issues. His work encompasses professional disciplinary proceedings, regulatory compliance, primary care contractual disputes, governance and data protection advice.
Details to follow
Kirstyn Burke is a Managing Associate at TLT, specialising in public and administrative law. She is qualified in Scotland and in England & Wales, and advises clients across the public, private and third sectors.
Kirstyn has significant experience advising universities on complex and sensitive matters, including governance procedures, equalities law, student conduct investigations and compliance with statutory duties.
She is regularly instructed in judicial review proceedings and statutory appeals and maintains a varied litigation practice.
Kirstyn has particular expertise in public inquiries, including representing core participants in the UK and Scottish Covid-19 Inquiries. Her experience in this area has led to recognition by Chambers UK as an “Associate to Watch” in public inquiries.
Dr Julie Nixon is a solicitor in TLT’s Scotland team, specialising in intellectual property, commercial contracts, data protection and early-stage investments. She has a strong focus on the life sciences sector, underpinned by a PhD in molecular biology, and regularly advises start-ups, spin-outs and investors on protecting and commercialising innovative technologies.
Julie’s practice includes advising on UK GDPR compliance, equity investments and a wide range of commercial agreements, including licensing, collaboration, technology and data sharing arrangements. Her scientific background enables her to provide practical, commercially focused advice on complex IP-rich transactions.
She has gained valuable in-house experience through secondments to the University of Edinburgh, the Roslin Institute and Historic Environment Scotland, developing particular expertise in public sector contracting. Julie is recognised as a Leading Associate for Intellectual Property in Legal 500.
Legal Session 4B: International Collaborations – Risks and Opportunities in 2026
Jeremy is head of the Higher Education practice at Farrer & Co advises many of the UK's leading universities on research funding, collaborative activity, data protection, freedom of information and consumer law. He is an experienced education lawyer, and advises universities on sensitive matters such as student disputes and regulatory compliance. He also advises on domestic and overseas collaborative activity, including the opening of campuses abroad.
Lynne Macfarlane is a Partner, Solicitor Advocate and accredited specialist in personal injury law. Lynne joined DWF from Clyde and Co in September 2019 to strengthen and enhance the firm's technical expertise in complex and high value litigation, and leads the DWF Scottish large loss team. She has practiced exclusively in the field of defender personal injury for over 25 years. She trained with Simpson and Marwick in Edinburgh, working alongside Gordon Keyden, Dr Pamela Abernethy, Peter Anderson and other senior partners, before transferring to the Glasgow office to work for Paul Wade in 1999. Lynne was promoted to Senior Associate in 2005, and to partner in 2012. She was the first woman in Simpson and Marwick's history to achieve rights of audience in the higher courts. She has extensive defender personal injury experience, having acted for the majority of insurers in the UK, as well as their insureds. She has represented local authorities and corporate entities at Fatal Accident Inquiries and civil proofs throughout Scotland, most notably representing Argyll and Bute Council at the 85 day Fatal Accident Inquiry held following the suicides of Georgia Rowe and Niamh Lafferty. Lynne has extensive experience of dealing with employers' liability, public liability and road traffic disputes, involving a huge variety of injuries, including orthopaedic, neurological, psychiatric and neuro-psychiatric injury.
Lauren Rae is the Head of Dispute Resolution (Scotland) at DWF LLP, a Solicitor-Advocate and a part time Tribunal Judge in the First Tier Tribunal, Housing and Property Chamber. Lauren has acted for higher education and further education institutes throughout her career including advising on high profile intellectual property disputes; claims involving latent defects; recovery and preservation of documentation for future litigation and student discrimination claims. Lauren tutored Civil Advocacy at the University of Dundee and is currently a mentor to a law student through the Law Scot Foundation.
The UK Higher Education Research Security Association (HERSA) is a sector-led, institutionally agnostic association established in 2021 by research security professionals from leading UK research-intensive universities. HERSA supports collaboration, knowledge exchange and the development of best practice across the higher education sector. Formerly known as the Higher Education Export Control Association (HEECA), the organisation has evolved alongside the changing security landscape and now focuses on the broader research and economic security agenda, working closely with practitioners, government and regulators to promote consistent approaches to legal and regulatory compliance, provide sector guidance, and support informed institutional decision-making.
Mills & Reeve is a top-ranked provider of legal services in the education sector, advising over 90 Higher Education clients in the UK. David is a partner in our infrastructure projects team. He leads our student accommodation practice and sits on the British Property Federation’s student accommodation committee. Respected legal directory, Chambers, has described us as “leading the market” on student accommodation projects in the UK. Our team has closed more than 40 projects, including a number of the largest and most complex in the sector, acting for universities, investors, operators, funders and contractors. We acted on the last student design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) project to close, the University of Exeter’s new development at West Park, which will accommodate c1,850 students. We are also advising on a number of live procurements, including the University of Southampton’s Wessex Lane development, to deliver c1,000 new and refurbished beds.
Victoria leads our international universities practice, heading the UK’s top ranked team advising over eighty institutions on governance, estates, HR, finance, IP and student matters. A leading authority on student accommodation, she has with others shaped many of the sector’s most widely used delivery structures and is one of the go to advisers for major off balance sheet campus developments. She sits on the BPF Student Accommodation Committee and was until recently a trustee of Student Minds. Her clients include Unipol Student Homes, the charity behind the ANUK Code. Under Victoria’s leadership, the team has won Property Week’s Student Accommodation Professional Advisor of the Year three times in five years and continues to lead the market, advising on the sector’s largest live schemes, including LSE’s 2,000 bed Bankside project and the University of Manchester’s 3,300 bed Fallowfield redevelopment.
Details to follow
Tim Stuart is the founder and CEO of Docfield, the collaborative document generation platform for repetitive documents. With a background in software development and over a decade of experience across the Netherlands, UK, and Germany, Tim has developed deep expertise in the challenges facing legal teams at universities and other organisations when it comes to creating, updating, and managing repetitive documents that need to be highly consistent and accurate.
At Docfield, Tim leads product strategy and customer relationships, working closely with institutions to reduce the administrative burden of repetitive documentation: from research contracts and policy documents to NDAs and compliance reports. He is passionate about the role automation can play in improving institutional efficiency and document quality.
Tim is presenting at AULP 2026 alongside Oliver Geidel, University of Bristol.
With over a decade of experience, James has developed deep expertise in the law surrounding academic freedom and free expression on campus. He has worked closely with universities, academics, think tanks, parliamentarians and government bodies on both contentious and compliance related matters.
His work includes advising on sensitive disputes, drafting policy frameworks, and guiding institutions through evolving statutory duties. He has submitted evidence to Parliamentary committees and international human rights bodies, and has published extensively on academic freedom in leading legal journals. He has held positions as a Research Fellow (Law and Policy) (Hon.) at the University of Buckingham and as an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford. He is currently a doctoral researcher at the University of Westminster and writing a book for Cambridge University Press on academic freedom and free expression on campus.
Chaitali is the Head of Research Compliance at the University of Bristol. She is a qualified solicitor with over 16 years’ experience in the private legal sector, before joining the HEI sector in 2021. She began her career in higher education as a team of one just as the sector was waking up to the impact of expanding national security regulation, developing widespread awareness, training, and understanding of how partner engagement and research collaboration can be safeguarded in a shifting geopolitical landscape. She has designed and developed process and policy in a heretofore unknown area at the University and secured growth of the team to ten members, expanding the scope of expertise they can provide. The Team is responsible for advising senior management and academics across the breadth of the institution in relation to the application of Export Control Regulations, the National Security & Investment Act, the Nagoya Protocol and ABS legislation, UK Subsidy Control, the Trusted Research agenda, and the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. Chaitali is currently leading a sector advisory group to create sector-wide Trusted Research and research security training for HEIs.
Anna Feros holds a BSc, LLB, LLM (intellectual property) from The University of Queensland, Australia and is currently the Director of Research Legal at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) following over 25 years’ global experience including leadership roles as a partner in law firms in London and Brisbane, Australia. Anna spent 14 years in the UK first in Cambridge with Mills & Reeve and then in the London office of Shepherd & Wedderburn working her way up to partnership in the media and technology practice. During her time in the UK, she also had substantial secondments with Astra Zeneca (then MedImmune) and Pernod Ricard.
Anna is also the President and Chair of the Society of University Lawyers Limited (SOUL) – a national body of 300+ Australian university lawyers fostering sector-specific representation on matters to government bodies and targeted professional development including an annual national conference.
When not stuck behind her desk, Anna likes to travel with her family which became an infinitely longer and more expensive task after they moved back to Australia.
Mike has been the Chief Legal Officer at the University since August. He manages the University’s Legal Services which works across the University including commercial/contractual matters, HR, student conduct, capital projects, litigation, and the University’s Research Contracts Team. The Legal Services team sits within the wider University governance function. Before joining the University in 2019 Mike was a senior in-house counsel in various utility companies. Mike’s particular areas of interest are governance, innovative commercial arrangements (and disputes!), and any work that allows him to look at leases or property titles.
Audrey Huggard is a qualified solicitor in Ireland (practicing) and England and Wales (non-practicing) who has been working in the Higher Education sector for over 10 years. During this period of time, she has held a number of roles in University College Cork and has been an active member of AULP. She is currently the Director of Legal and Information Compliance and manages a team of sixteen professional support staff across the areas of University Archives, Information & Compliance (FOI/GDPR) and In-House Legal Services.
Ken Morrison joined the Office of the General Counsel in April 2024 as the Associate General Counsel (UK). In that role, Ken provides first line advice across the business of Northeastern University London on a broad range of issues. Ken has an extensive background in the law related to Higher Education in the UK having spent over 15 years working for London universities.
Before joining Northeastern he was General Counsel to a specialist healthcare institution, whose Students Union recognised his contribution to that Institution by awarding him life membership. Ken sits part-time as a Judge in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Ken has also served as the Treasurer of the Association of University Legal Practitioners (AULP) for several years and was a board member of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium and is a former chair of the Employment Lawyers Association's inhouse committee. Originally from South Africa, Ken qualified there as an Attorney and Notary in 2002 before moving to the UK and requalifying as a solicitor in 2004. He is also admitted to practice in the Republic of Ireland.
Joy Morton is the General Counsel and University Secretary with overall responsibility for governance and legal matters at the University. A member of the Vice-Chancellor Executive team, Joy works closely with the Chair of the Governors and the Vice-Chancellor through the Secretariat.
As University Secretary, Joy works to ensure the highest standards of governance in liaison with the Chair of the Board, the Vice-Chancellor and the University's Vice-Chancellor Executive Team.
As Clerk to the Board she is accountable to the Board through the Chair and reports to both the Chair of the Board and to the Vice-Chancellor in her dual role. Joy provides strategic, independent advice and support to the Board including on their powers and procedures.
In her role as General Counsel, Joy is responsible for providing strategic legal advice to the University, as well as overseeing legal services, information governance (she is also the data protection officer for the University), internal audit, risk, Welsh language compliance and the administration of the corporate governance of the Board and their respective committees. In addition, she manages communication to and from Medr as the principle regulator for reportable and notifiable events ensuring compliance with the public interest governance principles, ongoing registration conditions.
Joy is also a member of the Valuation Tribunal for England.
Lynne specialises in both contentious and non-contentious employment law and has experience of alternative dispute resolution as an accredited mediator. On the non-contentious side, Lynne advises on equalities issues, TUPE, variations to terms and conditions, industrial relations and union issues, policy audits and reviews, data protection, contracts, settlement agreements, executive hiring and termination. Lynne is a lay member of the University of Stirling Court, having recently been reappointed. She acts for a number of clients in the education sector and has particular experience of working with a range of higher education institutions across the UK. With many of these clients Lynne takes on the lead partner role for all employment and immigration advice.
Niall is a partner and also chairs Brodies’ firm-wide Education Group which has a particular focus on higher education clients. Niall is the client relationship partner for higher education clients across the UK, playing a leading role in the firm's appointment to higher education frameworks. Niall has significant experience advising higher education clients on governance and student matters, including advice on legislation, governance powers, admissions, discipline, examinations, equalities, and reputation management. He helps higher education clients deal with complex and sensitive issues in relation to students, including complaints handling.
Robert is a Partner in Eversheds Sutherland’s national Education Sector employment team. He specialises in providing advice to the education sector and is a member of the senior management team for the firm’s education practice. Robert leads the education employment team in our Manchester office. Robert advises HEIs across a full spectrum of employment law issues. This includes advising on restructuring, redundancy and outsourcing exercises; HE governance matters; collective disputes, including industrial action; a range of EDI issues, including tensions between equality legislation and rights of freedom of expression and academic freedom; conduct of complex, multi-day employment tribunal claims; and advising institutions on their response to the ‘anti-casualisation’ agenda in the higher education sector. Robert regularly delivers training to sector clients and employer associations, produces briefings for internal and external publications, and plays a lead role in developing and delivering the firm’s annual national education training programme.
Chris Mordue is a partner in our Education Sector team, specialising in employment advice to universities. With over 25 years’ experience of advising HE clients across the UK, Chris has a national sector reputation as a go-to lawyer with a focus on helping universities to achieve their strategic, commercial and operational objectives, taking a robust and business focused attitude to legal risk. Chris is ranked in the Leading Individual: Hall of Fame category for education in the latest edition of the Legal 500 legal directory. Chris has worked with many university HR teams on taking less risk averse approaches to everyday employment case work, saving time and money and focusing on achieving business outcomes. He has also advised universities on making more effective use of the positive action provisions in the Equality Act to reduce pay gaps and increase the representation of women and ethnic minority staff in their workforce.
Richard Wilkins is a barrister and legal director in the dispute resolution team at Russell-Cooke, with a long-standing specialism in challenging disputes affecting higher education institutions.
Richard is able to offer a rare perspective for institutions; having been a partner in a national practice acting for institutions for over 20 years, he has more recently undertaken work as well for individuals. He believes that sharing the insights that arise from this will benefit the sector as a whole.
Richard’s work reflects a “beyond borders” approach, advising on matters that span governance, regulation, misconduct and discrimination across institutional, legal and cultural boundaries. In higher education and other work, in particular public law, Richard regularly supports clients navigating emerging sector challenges and high stakes issues with reputational impact, including judicial review and appellate litigation. Known for his collaborative and solutions-focused style, he aims to support institutions think creatively and strategically.
Chris joined AULP in September 2025 as an Executive Officer, where he serves as a lead representative for the association and provides strategic support to the AULP Executive Committee. His work spans member engagement, sector coordination, policy development and the delivery of key initiatives that strengthen the university legal community across the UK and Ireland.
Before joining AULP, Chris built a broad career within higher education, working across roles that supported education, student experience and employability. This background gives him a strong understanding of the operational, academic and strategic pressures facing universities, and informs his commitment to improving collaboration, clarity and shared practice across the sector.
Shannon is a Trainee Solicitor at the University of St Andrews working across both the technology transfer centre managing the University’s Intellectual property portfolio and the legal team. Shannon works across a range of different legal matters for the University and has a particular interest in Intellectual Property and AI.
Shannon joined AULP as Junior Lawyer Network co-lead in September 2025 and became a member of the executive committee earlier this year to help provide a voice for other junior lawyers working in the higher education sector.
