Projects per year
Personal profile
Profile
Sadie is a practising Solicitor, Senior Lecturer and Director of Clinical Legal Education in the Law School. Sadie holds Higher Rights of Audience and she is a Solicitor Advocate and a CEDR-accredited mediator.
Sadie specialises in Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education.
Prior to joining the University, Sadie was a Solicitor at a Magic Circle law firm in London. In this role, she worked on high profile Litigation and Regulatory disputes and was seconded to the firm's Amsterdam office and later to the legal team of a Premier League football club. Sadie also worked as a Solicitor in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team of a global law firm based in Manchester.
Sadie is the Director of Lancaster University’s national, award-winning Law Clinic and she is passionate about community engagement. In the Law Clinic, students interview members of the public about their legal cases, conduct legal research and draft letters of advice to clients under the supervision of a qualified lawyer. The Law Clinic has helped hundreds of clients and has provided over £1,000,000 of free legal advice to the public. The Law Clinic won the FASS Outstanding Contribution to Engagement Award in 2020. Sadie founded the University’s award-winning Policy Law Clinic in 2021. Sadie founded the Law School's Commercial Law Mediation Clinic in 2025.
Sadie is a multi award-winning educator, and she was Highly Commended for the Pilkington Teaching Award (2022), won the FASS Teaching Award (2023) and was named Oxford University Press's national Law Teacher of the Year (2023). Sadie has designed numerous innovative practice-focused modules, including Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Legal Tech and Innovation.
Sadie's research focuses on Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education. Sadie's current research focuses on artificial intelligence and civil liability. Sadie’s work has been published in leading international journals, including The Company Lawyer, the International Journal of Law and Information Technology and the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education.
Sadie is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Sadie was a 2021/22 Fellow of the Institute for Curriculum Enhancement and a 2023/24 Bonington Leadership Fellow.
Externally, Sadie is the Chief Examiner (Module Lead) for CILEX's Advanced Dispute Resolution module. Sadie is also Assessment Representative on the Learning and Development Steering Group of The Law Society of England and Wales.
Current Teaching
Sadie convenes the following undergraduate and postgraduate modules:
- Law 204 (Legal Tech and Innovation)
- Law 238 (Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution)
- Law 381 (Advanced Clinical Learning)
- Law 385 (Law Clinic)
- LLM 5381 (Postgraduate Law Clinic)
Sadie also guest lectures on Law 101x and Law 101y (English Legal System and Methods).
Research Interests
Sadie's research focuses on Civil Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Clinical Legal Education.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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The Law School Skills Project - Stage 1
McKee, T. (Principal Investigator), Whittam, S. (Co-Investigator), Saban, K. (Co-Investigator), Mayfield, B. (Co-Investigator) & Dolmor, E. (Co-Investigator)
1/10/22 → 1/09/25
Project: Research
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May the odds be ever in your favour: The legal risks of prediction markets
Whittam, S., 10/07/2026, (Accepted/In press) In: The Solicitors' Journal.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article
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Take-home Portfolio Assessments
Whittam, S., 10/03/2026, How to Embed Authenticity in Legal Assessments : Responding to Generative AI. Ní Drisceoil, V., Wilson, J. & Ashton, J. (eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, p. 156-159 4 p.Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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The case for a more authentic approach to assessment
Whittam, S., 12/05/2026.Research output: Contribution to conference - Without ISBN/ISSN › Conference paper › peer-review
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The Insider Trading Risks Posed By Prediction Markets
Whittam, S., 8/07/2026, In: New Law Journal.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article
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'We aren't the House': The regulation of prediction markets and implications for global companies
Whittam, S., 10/07/2026, (Accepted/In press) In: Company Lawyer.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Activities
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Humans first: empathy and clinical legal education
Saban, K. (Speaker), Whittam, S. (Speaker) & Lawton, A. (Speaker)
26/05/2026Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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360 Degrees of Legal Education: A Designerly Holistic Enquiry into Student Experience
McKee, T. (Organiser), Doherty, M. (Organiser), Whittam, S. (Organiser), Saban, K. (Organiser) & McGuirk, N. (Organiser)
12/06/2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference - Academic
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The Skills Project
McKee, T. (Speaker), Murphy, D. (Speaker) & Whittam, S. (Speaker)
30/04/2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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European Network of Clinical Legal Education Annual Conference 2024
McKee, T. (Speaker), Saban, K. (Speaker) & Whittam, S. (Speaker)
23/07/2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference - Academic
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European Network of Clinical Legal Education Conference, Amsterdam
Wood, Z. (Speaker), Belshire, E. (Speaker), Whittam, S. (Speaker) & Saban, K. (Speaker)
22/07/2024 → 24/07/2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Prizes
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FASS Outstanding Contribution to Engagement Award 2020
Whittam, S. (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Highly Commended - Dean's Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Engagement - Knife Crime Prevention Policy Law Clinic
Whittam, S. (Recipient), Saban, K. (Recipient), Belshire, E. (Recipient) & Wood, D. Z. (Recipient), 07/2025
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Highly Commended for the Pilkington Teaching Award
Whittam, S. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Pro Bono Recognition List
Whittam, S. (Recipient), 20/04/2026
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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