Leigh Rice

Profile

I joined the Law School as a Student Success Fellow in 2023 following a period in corporate legal practice. I completed both my LLB (First Class) and MA (Distinction) at the University of Leeds.

I am currently pursuing a Doctorate in Law, having been awarded the School of Law PhD Scholarship (2025/26).

Research interests

My doctoral research examines the legal profession and access to justice, with a particular focus on the relationship between professionalism, pro bono practice, and commitments to diversity, equality, and inclusion. The project is both theoretically informed and empirically grounded, and considers how ongoing transformations within the profession shape professional legitimacy, the rule of law, and broader conceptions of justice. This work builds on my Master’s thesis, which analysed the economisation of pro bono within large UK law firms through a neo‑Marxist lens.

My scholarship is interdisciplinary, engaging with perspectives from law, sociology, history, and politics. I also maintain broader interests in critical legal theory, including feminist and Marxist traditions and in the sociology of the professions.

Qualifications

• LLB (University of Leeds)
• MA by Research (University of Leeds)

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Student education

I currently support with the following topics law and legal skills, professions, reflections, identity, motivations and ethics.

I design and deliver Masterclasses across various undergraduate modules that promote academic and professional skills development and address key aspects of the hidden curriculum. In addition, I also supervise undergraduate Dissertation projects.