Division of General Counsel, Governance and Compliance

Legal Counsel

The aim of the Office of the General Counsel (Legal Counsel) is to deliver at pace consistently excellent legal advice across a broad range of the University’s activities, ensuring value for money in the services that we provide.

We cover a wide range of topics including data protection, contract law, commercial law, consumer law, staff & student complaints, staff & student discipline, public law, visas & immigration, intellectual property, regulatory law and employment law, to name a handful.

Request for Legal Advice

If you require legal advice, please complete the Request for Legal Services Form and email it to generalcounsel@sussex.ac.uk.  We aim to get in touch within 10 working days of receiving all necessary information. If the matter is time sensitive, please mark the email as urgent, and provide details of the required deadline (including if it is an internal or external deadline) to assist our prioritisation. 

We have recently changed our processes and we welcome feedback on the Request for Legal Services Form and the OGC advice process, and any recommendations for improvements. Please do email us at generalcounsel@sussex.ac.uk with any suggestions.

Please see below for contact details and information about individual areas of expertise:

Laila El Baradei - General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance 

l.elbaradei@sussex.ac.uk

Lucy-May Tarafder - Legal Counsel

Areas of expertise: Estates and property; CMA; employment matters; housing; online learning.

L.Tarafder@sussex.ac.uk

+44 (0) 1273 873988

Michele Balfe - Legal Counsel

Areas of expertise: HR and employment; trade union matters; UKVI; safeguarding; charity law.

M.Balfe@sussex.ac.uk

+44 (0) 1273 873871

Emily Rees - Legal Counsel 

er413@sussex.ac.uk

+44 (0) 1273 877808

Kit Buchanan-Lee - Trainee Solicitor 

k.buchanan-lee@sussex.ac.uk