Lucy Welsh

Lucy holds a BA (Hons) in Law with Human Resource Management (BCUC, 2003), an LLM in Criminal Justice (Kent, 2010), and a PhD in Socio-Legal Studies (Kent, 2016). She completed her Legal Practice Course with distinction at BPP in 2005, and qualified as a solicitor in 2006.

Lucy has a long standing interest in all aspects of criminal law and criminal justice. She spent 10 years working as a criminal defence solicitor before moving into academia, although she also retains a role as a consultant solicitor in private practice. During that time, she represented defendants in all types of criminal case, from murder and serious fraud to road traffic offences. Lucy also provided assistance in matters of prison (public) law. In her current role, Lucy is a Senior Lecturer in Law, specialising in criminal law, the law of evidence and the criminal process. She is also the supervising solicitor of the Criminal Justice Law Clinic and Deputy Director of Clinical Legal Education.

Lucy's main research interests are in the area of criminal justice and politics. She has a particular interest in analysing policies which facilitate or hinder access to justice, both in terms of legal representation and legal process, and is interested in the examining the lawyer/client relationship in criminal cases. Lucy uses empirical research methods to examine the impact of policy on procedures which affect due process. She is also co-director of the Crime Research Centre, which is based at Sussex Law School.