Dr Mike Varney confirmed as new Head of Lincoln Law School

The Lincoln Law School is pleased to welcome a new permanent Head of School, Mike Varney, who joins us from the University of Hull, taking over from Martyn Heathcote who has been Acting Head of the School for around 18 months.

Mike graduated from the University of Hull in 2000 with a first class Honours LLB and completed his PhD in 2005. He was appointed as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Hull Law School in 2003 and since then has taught many subjects on both LLB and LLM programmes, with particular focus on public law, employment law and company and commercial law. In 2015, Mike won the LawCareers.net Law Teacher of the Year Award and was promoted to Senior Lecturer.

Mike brings with him a wealth of experience having undertaken almost all of the administrative roles that existed within the Law School at Hull at one time or another, so has an appreciation of the challenges posed by many areas of strategic and operational management faced by a university Law School. Mike has sole or co-authored a number of research outputs over the years, with particular research interests in comparative administrative law, data protection and access to government information and local government law. He was returned to REF 2021. He is keen to continue his research in Lincoln and is presently involved in a number of ongoing research projects in his areas of expertise. Mike enjoys supervision of PhD students and has more than 10 students who have completed their PhDs with success.

Mike has always enjoyed building national and international links as part of his work. Mike is presently a visiting Faculty Member at the Institute of Law, Jersey, a member of the Global Faculty for Brickfields Asia College, Malaysia and also holds a visiting role at the Chinese University of Politics and Law, Beijing. Mike has delivered a wide range of training events over the years for both public and private sector audiences in areas as diverse as data protection, digital (public) procurement and transparency of local government throughout Europe and the world.

Mike is delighted to join Lincoln Law School at an exciting time in its development, with growth in numbers of students and staff, and we are just as delighted to have him here with us. He hopes to support the School in continuing its excellence in the teaching of law, while developing its international outlook, research profile and reputation. His approach to this aims to be collegial, constructive and driven by a desire to support all in the development of their careers.

              Dr Mike Varney