Dr Guth was unanimously elected for a two-year term as Vice-Chair at the recent ALT Annual General Meeting. She will work alongside the incoming Chair, Professor Mark O’Brien, Deputy Dean of The City Law School at City St. George's, University of London. Their priority areas will include increasing membership numbers by championing the value of teaching law, and helping members thrive in the current legal education landscape. 

A leading academic in the subject of law, Dr Guth has written extensively about legal education and training. Her other main research interests include legal skills, legal pedagogies, and the link between legal education and social justice. 

Founded in 1965 and currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, the ALT provides legal educators across the world with a platform to collaborate and share ideas, celebrate teaching excellence, and discuss the development of practices at events such as its flagship annual conference. 

Dr Jess Guth said: “I put myself forward to be Vice-Chair as I believe I can support the Association’s mission and values and help build a supportive, collegiate, and inspiring legal education community. I am excited to work with the team to help raise the profile of legal education, support law teachers in the UK and further afield, and provide members with an exciting programme of events and initiatives that showcase the best that law teaching has to offer.” 

Professor Mark O’Brien said: “I am delighted, as is the Executive Committee, that Jess has been elected Vice-Chair of the Association of Law Teachers. Jess has been a very influential force on the national legal education stage for well over a decade and has been closely involved in many of the most important legal education policy developments of recent years. Moreover, via her journal editorship, wider scholarship activities, and indeed her multitude of former roles within the Association of Law Teachers, she has been central to supporting and inspiring many in the Association’s community, as well as the academic sector more widely, and many cohorts of law students. I'm really looking forward to working closely with Jess over the next few years.” 

This is the second time Dr Guth has been appointed Vice-Chair of the ALT having previously held the post between 2015 and 2017. She also served as the Chair between 2017 and 2019, and has carried out committee roles including Membership Secretary, Recruitment Secretary and Treasurer since joining the Association in 2008. 

Dr Guth added: “Changes to legal education, as well as my own development since I first became Vice-Chair ten years ago, will help shape the approach I take now. I have a deeper and more nuanced understanding of legal education, and I am more convinced than ever that we need to equip our law graduates with the knowledge and skills to tackle big problems while ensuring we hold true to key values and principles which underpin the rule of law.” 

The Law School at Leeds Trinity University is based at the University’s new City Campus in the heart of Leeds and was ranked 9th in The Guardian University Guide 2025, which ranks universities in the UK based on criteria including satisfaction with teaching and feedback, employability and continuation. 

For more information about the Law School at Leeds Trinity, visit the University website.