Disability Law Hub makes national press
The Times recently reported that the new Disability Law Hub is one of the largest groups of disability law scholars in the world and will be headed by Professor Anna Lawson.
The hub will comprise nine legal academics and several PhD researchers.
At its launch last month, Professor Lawson said “I studied law at the University of Leeds in the 1980s because it was the only university that offered a transcription service for blind students.
“Thirty years later, I am proud that my alma mater has taken a leadership role in recognising disability law as an important area of legal research and scholarship and very excited about working with my wonderful colleagues in this area.”
Two new professors of law and social justice have recently joined the School of Law and become members of the hub. Luke Clements is an expert on social care law whose chair is endowed by the charity Cerebra. Oliver Lewis joins the department while retaining his position as executive director of an international human rights charity, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center. He has worked in some 20 countries in Europe and Africa on strategic litigation and advocacy that advances equality, inclusion and justice for people with mental health issues and learning disabilities.
Lord Low, who chairs the School of Law’s advisory board said: “When I taught law at the University of Leeds in the 1970s and early 1980s I did not imagine that the School of Law would one day establish a Disability Law Hub. I am delighted that its scholars have a range and depth of expertise that will be invaluable in closing the gap between the rhetoric of human rights and the lived experiences of disabled people around the world.”
Professor Alastair Mullis, Head of the School of Law, added: “I am immensely proud that the new Disability Law Hub will offer undergraduate and postgraduate students an opportunity to engage with legal theory and practice so as to improve access to justice for disabled people, who have languished on the edges of the margins of law for far too long.”
