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 helped hundreds of clients and has provided over £1,000,000 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 founded the Law School's Commercial Law Mediation Clinic in 2025.

Sadie is a multi award-winning educator, and she was Highly Commended for the Pilkington Teaching Award (2022), won the FASS Teaching Award (2023) and was named Oxford University Press's national Law Teacher of the Year (2023). Sadie has designed numerous innovative practice-focused modules, including Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Legal Tech and Innovation.

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.

Humans first: empathy and clinical legal education
Invited talk

360 Degrees of Legal Education: A Designerly Holistic Enquiry into Student Experience
Participation in conference - Academic

The Skills Project
Invited talk

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

Introducing the Law School's Policy Clinic 2022
Invited talk

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)

Pro Bono Recognition List - 2025
Other distinction

Highly Commended - Dean's Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Engagement - Knife Crime Prevention Policy Law Clinic
Prize (including medals and awards)

Pro Bono Recognition List
Prize (including medals and awards)

  • Security Lancaster (Policy, Law and Ethics)