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Staff Profile

Professor Bryan Clark

Professor of Law and Civil Justice

  • Telephone: +44 (0)191 2087558
  • Address: 21-24 Windsor Terrace
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

BA (Robert Gordon), LLM (Dundee). PhD (Glasgow)


I joined the Law School in April 2019 as a Professor having previously spent 15 years at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow where I was Head of School from 2013-2016. Prior to that I was a lecturer at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, a researcher at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and have also worked in Further Education. 


I am currently on of the Deputy Heads of Department


I am a socio legal scholar with interests in mediation and alternative dispute resolution and in particular how these processes interact with formal civil justice and the workings of lawyers and judges. I also have interests in aspects of commercial law and access to justice more broadly. 


I am passionate about teaching, aiding students to become reflective learners and an advocate of widening access to legal education and the legal profession. 


Bryan Clark | LinkedInBryan Clark | LinkedIn

Bryan Clark (researchgate.net)


Research

My main research interests lie in the area of ADR, mediation and in particular the interaction of these processes with formal civil justice, the workings of courts and lawyers and access to justice. I also have interests in ODR especially in the field of international commercial dispute resolution. I regularly contribute to national and international seminars and conferences and recently gave keynotes at the Civil Mediation Council Annual Conference (2024) and the Irish Shared Islands Mediation Conference (2024).


I won the ADR Academic Researcher of the Year award at the National Mediation Awards held at the House of Commons in December 2024.


My publications include Lawyers and Mediation (Springer, 2012) and the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia Title on Mediation (Sweet and Maxwell, 2014, update 2018) and works which focus on mediation and its interaction with courts and lawyers' relationship to and experiences of mediation in different settings.


I am active in professional organisations relevant to my fields of expertise. I am currently a Trustee of the Arab Mediation Centre - amcadr.org - Chair of the Validation and Accreditation Panel of Relationships Scotland, former Board Member of Scottish Mediation and former Member of the Civil Mediation Council's Academic Committee.


I am an Adviser to Lex Erudites - LEX ERUDITES - and a Global Adviser (UK) for Mediate Guru - Mediation | Mediateguru I was also a Member of the Expert Group for the recent Members Bill on promoting Mediation in Simple Procedure for the Scottish Parliament.  I was a judge at the CMC biannual mediation awards in 2023. I have served as a judge at a range of national and international student mediation competitions,



Some ongoing work includes:

Examination of court based mediation in Scotland, England and other jurisdictions. 

Research into the impact of the Singapore Convention on Mediation


A study of Scottish judges and their experiences with technology 

Central editorial team member for the 2nd edition of the Rebooting the EU Directive questionnaire study


I am keen to hear from prospective PhD students in my fields of interest





Teaching

I am the leader of the stage 3 UG elective in Mediation and Commercial Dispute Resolution and course leader for the online LLM in Mediation and International Commercial Dispute Resolution which is accredited by the International Mediation Institute.


I regularly conduct CPD training for professionals. Recent training includes mediation training for members of the Nigerian judiciary, negotiation training for high ranking Malaysian government officials and mediation training from Saudi judges, Ministry of Justice officials and mediators.


I am also the coach for the Newcastle Law School student mediation team and heavily involved in training students in mediation and mediation advocacy



Publications