Dr David Sixsmith

I studied for both my undergraduate and LL.M. degrees at Northumbria University. I am a non-practising solicitor, having qualified in 2011. I moved into academia in 2016, joining the University of Sunderland where I was senior lecturer in law and Legal Practice Course programme leader, before moving to Northumbria in February 2023. My teaching specialisms include Wills and Administration of Estates, Trusts, and Dispute Resolution.

My research interests and publications are primarily in the area of civil dispute resolution, civil justice reform, online dispute resolution and mediation. I was awarded my PhD, which put forward recommendations to enhance the proposed online dispute resolution model for low value civil claims in England and Wales, in February 2023. I am the co-editor of an edited collection concerning the role and function of mediation within the modern civil justice system with colleagues at the University of Leicester (2025) and I have published a variety of peer reviewed articles and book chapters in the area of mediation. 

My research interests also encompass legal education, particularly solicitor legal training and the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), and I have contributed to a range of publications and outputs in this field. I am also the joint series editor of a series of revision guides designed to assist candidates with revising for their SQE1 assessments, Revise SQE. I authored the revision guide on Dispute Resolution from that series.