Claire Farrell

Claire Farrell is a Senior Lecturer in Construction Law at Leeds Beckett University, affiliated with the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. She specializes in teaching law to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, particularly within the international Construction Law and Dispute Resolution LLM/MSc programs.

Her research interests focus on Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, with a current emphasis on adjudication. She is pursuing a Professional Doctorate on the topic of whether adjudication has been 'hijacked by lawyers,' building on her MSc research and extensive industry experience. Claire actively integrates her research into her teaching, especially in modules such as Adjudication: Law & Practice.

Claire has over two decades of professional legal experience, having worked in private practice in the City of London, served as an in-house solicitor at London Underground, and held the position of Legal Director at Balfour Beatty Construction. Her expertise spans major infrastructure projects in sectors including health, education, energy, transport, and rail, with a strong focus on PFI and PPP projects and high-value commercial dispute resolution through litigation, adjudication, arbitration, and mediation.

She is a CEDR-accredited mediator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Fluent in French and Spanish, Claire brings real-world legal scenarios into the classroom to make complex legal concepts accessible and engaging. She is currently co-authoring a new edition of a book on building contract claims with colleagues Martin Green and Katherine Dunn.

Her teaching responsibilities include:

• Law in the Built Environment (Level 4) – Module Leader
• Property & Commercial Lease Law (Level 5) – Module Leader
• Law of Arbitration: Practice & Procedure (Level 7) – Module Leader
• Adjudication: Law & Practice (Level 7) – Module Leader
• Research Methods (Level 7) – Module Leader
• Dissertation tutor for postgraduate students

Claire is a qualified teacher with a strong commitment to student development, particularly in academic writing and understanding complex legal frameworks. She supervises postgraduate dissertations and is actively involved in curriculum development and legal consultancy.