Conference Speaker Profiles 

Diana is Director of the Finsbury Institute, City St George’s, University of London. The Finsbury Institute is the University’s new public policy hub; she also serves as Assistant Vice-President (Policy & Government Affairs). Previously Chief Executive of London Higher, where she led the organisation through a significant period of business transformation, member growth and political advocacy. Prior to this, Diana served as Policy Advisor to three Universities and Science Ministers under the last UK Government. Other previous appointments include serving as Head of Government Affairs at the University of Warwick, the first Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and as an official in the Department for Education with specific responsibility for the programme management of the establishment of the Office for Students.

Alex Hall has been Chair of AULP since December 2021. Under his leadership, AULP has increased its membership to over 700 individual members and significantly expanded its role, representing the voice of university in-house lawyers in discussions about the HE sector and proposals for legal and regulatory change. Alex joined City St George’s, University of London as General Counsel and Director of Governance and Legal Services in April 2025, following ten years at the University of Hertfordshire, where he was Director of Legal and Compliance Services and University Solicitor. Whilst at Hertfordshire, Alex was legal adviser to University Alliance. He is also a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professor Funke Abimbola MBE is an award-winning lawyer, AI governance expert, keynote speaker and General Counsel specialising in technology, AI, SaaS and healthcare businesses operating internationally.

Funke has held senior leadership roles across private practice, global pharmaceuticals, life sciences, healthtech and executive advisory including acting as General Counsel for Roche, the world's largest biotech company. She currently works as a fractional General Counsel through TLD, supporting scaling and innovation-led businesses on complex legal, regulatory and strategic matters.

Funke is also widely recognised for her thought leadership on inclusive leadership, social mobility and the future of the legal profession. In 2017, she was awarded an MBE for services to diversity in the legal profession and to young people.

She is the author of Climbing Mountains and co-host of The Power of Privilege and Allyship podcast, which has reached listeners in over 100 countries worldwide.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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 c1,500 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.

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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 13 years working for two London universities most recently as General Counsel to a specialist healthcare institution, whose Students Union recently recognised his contribution to that Institution by awarding him life membership of the students union. 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 is a non-executive director of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium and the Employment Lawyers Association. 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.