Simon Lavis

I have taught a range of law modules at the OU as an Associate Lecturer since starting in 2016. I currently teach W211 Public law and W340 Law, Society and Culture, and have previously taught W203 Public and Criminal Law, W350 Exploring legal boundaries and W821 Exploring the Boundaries of International Law.

Alongside my AL role, I am a Senior lecturer in law at the OU and have worked at an OU central academic since 2013. I previously qualified and (briefly) worked as a solicitor in a corporate and commercial firm, but no longer practice, having decided that my interest in the law was primarily academic. I previously studied both history and law at university and completed my PhD in law at the University of Nottingham in 2015.

Alongside teaching, in my Senior lecturer role I carry out research in the nexus between law, history and theory in relation to Nazi Germany, including the history and theory of the legal system in the Third Reich and its implications for the concept and practice of law today, as well as the representation of Nazi law in academic discourse.

I first became an AL because I was involved in producing new law modules in my central academic role and wanted both to support students studying those modules and understand how they worked from a student perspective.

The AL role can be very rewarding. I enjoying interacting with students, helping them to develop their knowledge and skills through legal study, and using their insight and experience to improve the OU’s law modules.