Sadie Whittam
Senior Lecturer (Teaching and Engagement)Profile
Sadie is a practising Solicitor, Senior Lecturer and Director of Clinical Legal Education in the Law School. Sadie holds Higher Rights of Audience and she is a Solicitor Advocate and a CEDR-accredited mediator. Sadie specialises in Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education.
Prior to joining the University, Sadie was a Solicitor at a Magic Circle law firm in London. In this role, she worked on high profile Litigation and Regulatory disputes and was seconded to the firm's Amsterdam office and later to the legal team of a Premier League football club. Sadie also worked as a Solicitor in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team of a global law firm based in Manchester.
Sadie is the Director of Lancaster University’s national, award-winning Law Clinic and she is passionate about community engagement. In the Law Clinic, students interview members of the public about their legal cases, conduct legal research and draft letters of advice to clients under the supervision of a qualified lawyer. The Law Clinic has provided hundreds of thousands of pounds of free legal advice to the public. The Law Clinic won the FASS Outstanding Contribution to Engagement Award in 2020. Sadie founded the University’s award-winning Policy Law Clinic in 2021.
Sadie has designed and implemented numerous innovative modules, including Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Mediation and Legal Tech and Innovation. Sadie was Highly Commended for the Pilkington Teaching Award (2022), won the FASS Teaching Award (2023) and was named Oxford University Press's Law Teacher of the Year (2023).
Sadie's research focuses on Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education. Sadie's current research focuses on artificial intelligence and civil liability. Sadie’s work has been published in leading international journals, including The Company Lawyer, the International Journal of Law and Information Technology and the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education.
Sadie is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Sadie was a 2021/22 Fellow of the Institute for Curriculum Enhancement and a 2023/24 Bonington Leadership Fellow.
Externally, Sadie is the Chief Examiner (Module Lead) for CILEX's Advanced Dispute Resolution module. Sadie is also Assessment Representative on the Learning and Development Steering Group of The Law Society of England and Wales.
Current Teaching
Sadie convenes the following undergraduate and postgraduate modules:
- Law 204 (Legal Tech and Innovation)
- Law 238 (Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution)
- Law 381 (Advanced Clinical Learning)
- Law 385 (Law Clinic)
- LLM 5381 (Postgraduate Law Clinic)
Sadie also guest lectures on Law 101x and Law 101y (English Legal System and Methods).
Research Interests
Sadie's research focuses on Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education.
The Law School Skills Project - Stage 1
01/10/2022 → 31/12/2023
Research
European Network of Clinical Legal Education Annual Conference 2024
Participation in conference - Academic
European Network of Clinical Legal Education Conference, Amsterdam
Oral presentation
'Skills, skills, skills: The Law School Skills Project'
Oral presentation
Lancaster University Education Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Global Alliance for Justice Education Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
CLEO Training Event
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
FASS Outstanding Contribution to Engagement Award 2020
Prize (including medals and awards)
Highly Commended for the Pilkington Teaching Award
Prize (including medals and awards)
Winner - Lancaster University's 'Environmental Sustainability Award' 2023
Prize (including medals and awards)
Winner - FASS Teaching Award
Prize (including medals and awards)
Winner - Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year Award
Prize (including medals and awards)
- Security Lancaster (Policy, Law and Ethics)