The City Law School welcomes visit from the Legal Services Board

On Wednesday 3 June, The City Law School, City, St George’s, University of London, were delighted to welcome a delegation from the Legal Services Board (LSB) to find out more about the School; its programmes, facilities, initiatives and student and alumni experiences

The Legal Services Board is the independent oversight regulator for legal services in England and Wales.

The visit was organised by James Catchpole, Director of Executive Education and Professional Engagement at the School, with the delegation welcomed by Professor Richard Ashcroft, Executive Dean of the School, who delivered a summary overview of the School and its functions, and chaired the wider meeting between the delegation and School staff, students and alumni in attendance.  He was supported by Deputy Dean of the School, Professor Mark O’Brien.

The LSB delegation included Sukh Walia-Chahil (Regulatory Policy Manager), Tomoko Langtry, (Regulatory Policy Manager), Huma Munshi-Burch (Regulatory Policy Manager – Consumer Protection), Gabriel Ruffini (Policy Associate), Clare Brown NED (Board Member), and Dian West (Senior Legal Advisor).

The delegation were able to hear from Sally Gill and Tejal-Roma Williams, Director and Supervising Lawyer at the City Community Legal Advice Centre (CityCLAC), who spoke about the Centre’s work with some of the people most in need of legal advice and support. Gill shared of the Centre:

We are committed to leading the way in delivering innovative, high-quality legal services that bridge the growing gap in access to justice. By providing free, supervised initial legal advice where legal aid is no longer available, we not only support individuals at moments of real need but also equip the next generation of lawyers with authentic, practice-based experience in a safe and professionally supervised environment.

They heard from Professor Peter Hungerford-Welch about the work of the School’s Legal Practice Hub, including its research into training the judiciary and police to address Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) cases, and its work to support  a wide group of professionals by way of collaboration, such as with the Sentencing Council.

Professor Susan Blake and Professor Danon Pritchard provided an overview of the AI and legal tech initiatives they are driving at the School.

The convened group were then joined by students and alumni from the School, including Adam Shank, Fergus O’Brien, Kylie Sacksick, Daria Eremina and Whei Wong.

From among many questions posed to them about their experiences at City St George’s,  they shared their views of the teaching of ethics at The City Law School. Bar Vocational Studies student, Whei Wong, remarked:

For me, I think that because I’m doing a Masters project as well, I can see where a lot of the skills like ethics come in. For example, when I’m volunteering at a charity; how do I apply these ethics there as well, such as confidentiality, which is really important. I need to make sure I get the consent to store data.

Reflecting on the event, Tomoko Langtry Regulatory Policy Manager at the LSB commented:,

Visits like this are invaluable to us. Hearing directly from students, academics and practitioners gives us a richer understanding of how the legal profession is developing and the challenges people are navigating day to day. The conversations we had at The City Law School will help to inform our thinking and shape our regulatory approach. This was exactly the kind of visit that reminds you why collaboration matters.

James Catchpole added:

We were delighted to host colleagues from the Legal Services Board for what proved to be a highly engaged and constructive visit. The discussion highlighted the importance of aligning legal education with evolving regulatory expectations, particularly in areas such as ethics, professional preparation and access to justice. It was especially valuable for the LSB to hear directly from our students, whose insights reflect the strength of our approach. We look forward to building on these conversations.

Find out more

Visit the Legal Service Board website

Visit the Legal Practice Hub at The City Law School

Visit the City Community Legal Advice Centre at The City Law School