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Chris Simmonds

Assistant Professor

School: Northumbria School of Law

Chris graduated from Northumbria University in 2005 and qualified as a solicitor in 2008.  His practice has been primarily in the area of Housing Law.  Chris was a legal aid practitioner with a large North-East law firm for a number of years, before moving to Durham City and then Durham County Councils where he continued to act in-house as a housing lawyer, and also in Planning Law.

Chris joined Northumbria Law School in 2011, initially as a Solicitor Tutor working in the Student Law Office, Northumbria University's multi-award winning free legal advice and representation clinic.  Chris is now an Assistant Professor, teaching in the Student Law Office but also teaching a module on Housing Law.

Chris is also Joint Programme Leader for the Solicitor Higher Apprenticeship at Northumbria University.

Chris Simmonds

Chris's research interests focus on the use of problem-based learning pedagogies in legal education, and in particular the responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as both a tool to develop our approach to teaching, but also as a tool that students are able to engage with in order to improve their understanding of the subject.

  • PGCert March 19 2014
  • Law LLB (Hons) September 01 2001
  • Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2014
  • Solicitor Law Society 2008


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