Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Claire Farrell
Senior Lecturer
Claire is a Lecturer in Construction Law at LBU. Her specialism is teaching law to undergraduates and post-graduates on the international Construction Law and Dispute Resolution LLM/MSc research degree courses in the School for the Built Environment, Engineering & Computing.
A dynamic, flexible and hard-working legal professional of 20+ years’ experience, Claire has advised on a broad range of major international and UK construction projects in the health, education, energy, transport and rail industries for both private and public sectors.
She began her legal career working in private practice in the City of London at one of the world’s largest international law firms, where she stayed for five years before experiencing life as a commercial solicitor, in-house, at London Underground. Here she advised on major PFI and PPP infrastructure projects for a number of years before moving to moving to Balfour Beatty Construction where she spent the majority of her legal career, as a legal director, and advising at board level on all major issues including the successful resolution of many business-critical, high value commercial disputes involving litigation, adjudication, arbitration, and mediation.
Claire has sound knowledge of UK and European law and remains active in the field of legal consultancy work. She is a CEDR-accredited mediator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and speaks and writes fluent French and Spanish. Claire’s extensive industry experience allows her to bring what can be rather dry, legal concepts to life as she uses practical examples which make it easier to understand, analyse and apply the law to real life scenarios.
A qualified teacher who is passionate about teaching, learning and assessment, Claire equips her students with the tools to grasp difficult legal concepts, helps them to improve their academic writing skills and seeks to inspire a love for the fascinating and dynamic subject that is the law.
Current Teaching
- Law in the Built Environment (Level 4) - Module Leader
- Property & Commercial Lease Law (Level 5) - Module Leader
- Law of Arbitration: Practice & Procedure (Level 7) - Module Leader
- Adjudication: Law & Practice (Level 7) - Module Leader
- Research Methods (Level 7) - Module Leader
- Dissertation tutor (PG)
Research Interests
Currently, Claire is undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Construction Law on the subject of Adjudication Law, specifically on the question of whether adjudication has been “hijacked by lawyers”.
Claire’s interest in adjudication stemmed from post-graduate research she conducted whilst undertaking a Masters in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution degree at Leeds Beckett University. The theory learned on the MSc was quickly put into practice, during her time at Balfour Beatty Construction, where she became responsible for running and managing a significant number of high value adjudications, the very first of which resulted in successful enforcement by the High Court and is a reported Technology & Construction Court case. Claire’s research benefits her students as the it feeds directly into the development of the Adjudication: Law & Practice LLM and MSc modules that she teaches.
She is also working closely with her colleagues, Martin Green and Katherine Dunn, on the publication of a new edition of a book on building contract claims.
Ask Me About
- Construction
- Education
- Law
- Property
