Meet Regent's Head of Law, Professor Claire De Than
This week we were lucky enough to get time to speak with Claire De Than, the Head of the School of Law here at Regent. From finding out a little more about her exciting background in the field to uncovering the benefits of the courses and all the unique things they offer to students; our interview was the perfect insight into all things Law.
Who is Claire and what is her background in Law?
Professor Claire de Than has an extensive background in Law and is an award-winning senior legal academic of more than 25 years. Alongside managing the Law courses at Regent, Claire is also a senior lawyer, advising the government on media organisation law cases. She has over 85 academic publications in total, including more than 15 books, chapters in leading legal monographs and edited collections, and articles in a variety of leading national and international journals, including the Modern Law Review and the Criminal Law Review.
Which subjects does our Law school offer students?
We offer a wide range of degrees, such as Law with Business, Politics, and other Social Sciences, such as Criminology and Sociology. Claire summarises that we have “a comprehensive portfolio of flexible Law courses- all of which offer students the opportunity to study anything from Level 3 up to a full bachelor’s degree.”
“All of these are life skills that can be applied to any career or job position, so regardless of “whatever life throws your way, whether you become a lawyer or not, the skills that you learn with us will put you in excellent stead with most employers”.
What are the most valuable skills and competencies that students will learn with us?
By studying Law, “you open yourself to a flexible and transferable set of skills to gain, so whatever level you choose to study at, you will learn the following:
- How to reason
- How to argue
- How to solve problems
- How to negotiate
- How to read complex documents effectively and reasonably quickly
- How to present yourself to other people in a way that wins
“All of these are life skills that can be applied to any career or job position, so regardless of “whatever life throws your way, whether you become a lawyer or not, the skills that you learn with us will put you in excellent stead with most employers”.
“By studying combined degrees such as Law and Business at Foundation level, students are keeping their options open and can go into a career using the Law side, the Business side – or in many cases, both.”
What is unique about Regent’s Law courses?
One of the most significant contrasts that Claire explained between Regent and other universities is our class sizes. At Regent, no Law class has more than 30 students in it; when compared to a lecture at any other university. “Many universities often have hundreds of students in the same lecture theatre- it’s not unusual for Law lectures to have over 400 students in the same session.”
The benefit of having 30 students in the class is that “every class is designed to be interactive- that way, students get more individual attention. We know our students- and we are proud to know their names! We know how they are doing, and we build a warm, friendly, and supportive relationship with every student. That’s the way we work.”
What jobs can I go into with a Law degree?
Claire explained the many different career paths students can go down after graduating. “With a degree in Law, you can be an in-house lawyer in almost any type of organisation or business; however, the following sectors and job roles are also popular with our graduates:
- Finance
- Commerce
- Courtroom lawyer
- Solicitor
- You can work for the charity sector, the third sector, which often takes a lot of law graduates.
- Despite Law being different worldwide, the skills you learn during your degree can be applied to any country you decide to work in
By studying combined degrees, such as Business and Law at Foundation level, Claire explains that “students are keeping their options open and can go into a career using the law side or the business side- or in many cases both.” There is also the possibility of entering the “film industry and TV, as need people to cast a legal eye over scripts to ensure that the scripted law is presented well and accurately”.
We enjoyed speaking with Claire and learning more about her and what the School of Law at Regent offers.
Watch the full interview with Claire: Law at Regent – YouTube
Related pages
Professor Claire De Than
Read about Claire’s professional and academic background in Law.
Want to learn more about Law at Regent?
Find out about of Law school and the courses we offer.
