Annabelle James

Dr Annabelle James is Course Director for the LLB (Hons) courses at Leeds Law School. She has more than 25 years' experience in legal education, with particularl expertise in criminal law, criminal justice, legal education and academic leadership. Annabelle began her academic career at Leeds Metropolitan University in 1999 where she worked until 2008 before moving to Teesside University. During her time at Teesside she held a number of senior academic and leadership roles. She retruned to Leeds in September 2026 to take up her current role at Leeds Beckett University. Annabelle holds an LLB (Hons) and MA by Research from the University of Leeds, an MBA Psychology from Wrexham University and a Doctorate in Education (EdD) from Teesside University. Her doctoral research examined the impact of hybrid learning, teaching and assessment strategies on student achievement. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests span legal education, criminal law and criminal justice with a particular focus on miscarriages of justice. Current projects include research into the effect of hormonally induced cognitive impairment on criminal responsibility and work examining the portrayal of lunacy in Gothic literature and its relationship with the criminal law.