Trainer Profiles

At Altior, we're extremely proud to be able to offer you the opportunity to work with extensively experienced qualified trainers and examiners from across the legal sector.

If you're interested in working with Altior as a trainer, please contact us for more information.

Browse our trainer profiles:

Alan Wilkinson

 

Profile 

Alan has studied at Harvard University, Leicester University, the London School of Economics, the College of Law, and the University of Greenwich. 

On being admitted as a solicitor, he worked in private practice before becoming the Director of Legal Affairs and Compliance for a London Stock Exchange-listed financial services company. 

Alan has been involved in education and training for over 25 years.  He has lectured to a wide variety of audiences in the UK and internationally on topics including The City of London, Financial Services, Compliance, Banking and Investment Law, Islamic Financial Law, Corporate Finance, Insolvency, Fraud, Pensions, Business Crimes and Negotiation. 

Alan is a solicitor of the senior courts of England and Wales (non-practising) and is currently a senior external examiner at the University of Law.

 

Courses

Andrea Spears

 

Profile 

Andrea is a UK qualified lawyer, who develops and delivers technical and skills training programmes to a broad range of commercial clients and law firms.

She has more than 20 years’ experience in negotiating and drafting commercial contracts and resolving disputes.  Andrea began her career as a corporate lawyer in a top-20 law firm in the UK, where she gained eight years’ experience acting for a broad range of commercial clients, investors, and financial institutions in domestic and international transactions.  She then worked as UK legal counsel for an international manufacturing company.  Andrea provided legal support and guidance to the company’s business operations in the UK, Asia, and the Americas.  In addition to providing legal support, she also provided training across sales and procurement teams in relation to the drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts and competition law issues.

Andrea’s education and training career started with the University of Law in London, where she was responsible for the design of bespoke legal and commercial training programmes to young lawyers heading for careers with the top city law firms in the UK.  She then moved to Kaplan UK, where she headed up all training programmes for Kaplan Law School.  As Head of Legal Professional Development at Kaplan, Andrea was responsible for developing and delivering bespoke technical and skills training solutions to business executives and lawyers in both the UK and overseas.  She combines a consultative training style with a business focus and a determination to help deliver results.

 

Courses

Andy Shanahan

 

Profile

Andy is a solicitor-advocate and Managing Partner of Shanahans Solicitors and Advocates in Cardiff.  He has been qualified for over 30 years. 

Andy specialises in criminal defence, but also has good experience of general civil litigation.  He has been a duty solicitor for over 25 years and has worked in the higher courts for over 20 years. 

At BARBRI Altior, Andy has been a trainer and examiner for the Professional Skills Course (“PSC”), Higher Rights of Audience, CILEx Criminal Proceedings Advocacy Skills and various other courses for over 15 years.

 

Courses

Chris Reeves-Croft

 

Profile 

Chris was called to the Bar in 1992 and is experienced in both civil and criminal work.  He is also an accredited mediator.

Chris has had substantial involvement in litigation skills training and assessment since 1997.  He has designed and delivered a range of courses and assessments, was head of the civil team on the Bar Professional Training Course (“BPTC”) and the training manager at a UK top 20 law firm.

Since 2007, Chris has worked closely with BARBRI Altior as a freelance litigation skills trainer, whilst also practising from St. Albans Chambers.  He regularly appeared in court until recently but now focusses on helping other litigators, from trainees to post-Higher Rights and partners.

 

Courses

Chris Sweetman

 

Profile

Chris is a non-practising solicitor, trainer, and chartered manager.

He began his legal career as a stagiaire in the Competition Directorate of the European Commission before training and qualifying with a major UK firm.

Chris specialised in large-scale commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions support, and IT system procurements for a range of private and public sector clients.  He was also seconded to legal roles at:

  • RAC Motoring Services (advising commercial managers in its consumer services division);
  • The UK Department of Health (where he was part of a national project team to bulk buy public health care services from the private sector); and
  • The Welsh Government Legal Services (advising on economic development policy and drafting local government finance statutory instruments).

Chris also worked in a commercial role at national workplace office supplies provider, PHS Group, identifying targets for acquisition in the context of the group’s growth strategy.

Having worked in the legal learning and development field for over 10 years, he has designed and delivered hundreds of programmes to delegates from a diverse range of firms, specialising in skills development sessions.

Alongside his training role, Chris has also held senior management positions with profit and loss responsibility in the professional services sector, as well as commercial and non-executive director roles outside the sector.  Qualified to postgraduate level in strategic leadership, he recently became a chartered (professionally qualified) manager.

 

Courses

David Bittiner

 

Profile

David is a business coach and trainer specialising in helping professional firms to grow.  He is a solicitor (non-practising) with very strong experience delivering training and business development advice to professionals of all ages and levels of experience.

David has been both a partner and Business Development Director for law firms.  He also successfully ran a hospitality business for 12 years.

David has deep understanding of the pressures faced by professionals in their daily working lives and knows how to provide practical advice to build professional development skills.  He has deep experience of how firms really work and how to connect with lawyers at all levels.

David loves delivering workshops and enjoys consistently excellent feedback.

 

Courses

Dominic De Saulles

 

Profile

Dominic is a solicitor-advocate.  He is a Visiting Professor at the Jersey institute of Law and a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff Law School.  He currently delivers the Civil Litigation programme on the Bar Professional Training Course (“BPTC”), as well as the Commercial Litigation elective, having previously taught both subjects on the Legal Practice Course (“LPC”).

As a Commercial Litigation Manager at Eversheds, Dominic acted for finance companies against insurers.  He was later an associate and partner in smaller practices, dealing with general commercial litigation, commercial landlord/tenant, and large personal injury claims.

An experienced trainer, Dominic has delivered sessions to legal professionals at all stages of their career.  He recently completed a research project with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is the author of Reforming Civil Procedure: The Hardest Path, published by Hart Publishing (2019).

 

Courses

  • Insurance Law: An Introduction (in-house)

Ed Mynott

 

Profile

Ed has been practising in all areas of immigration law since 2003.  He currently practices as a tribunal advocate, regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.

Ed has been a member of the Law Society’s Immigration Law Advanced Accreditation Scheme since 2010 and is also a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (“ILPA”).

In 2012, Ed joined the Consulting Editorial Board of Lexis PSL Immigration, a subscription-based online platform which provides specialist practical guidance.  He remains a board member and a contributing author, writing practice notes designed for immigration lawyers.

Before practising in this area, Ed conducted academic research in immigration and taught at undergraduate level, both before and after obtaining his PhD in 1995.

 

Courses