Liz Polding

Liz Polding read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, before joining Customs & Excise as a VAT officer. During her two years in this role, Liz developed an enthusiasm for tax law in general and VAT in particular and decided to requalify as a solicitor, intending to specialise in tax. With a view to gaining experience in a legal environment and to finance her training, Liz worked as a legal secretary before passing CPE and LPC at the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University). Liz was admitted as a Solicitor in 1997, and started her legal career in-house with PricewaterhouseCoopers advising large international commercial clients on VAT and corporation tax matters.

Liz continued in practice for four years, at both Pitmans Solicitors in Reading and TLT Solicitors in Bristol, where she continued her commercial and private client tax work in addition to advising clients and colleagues on employment taxation, trusts, and estate planning.

Liz has been teaching on the Legal Practice Course at Oxford Institute of Legal Practice since 2001. She has taught a wide range of subjects including revenue law, commercial law, practical legal research, practical legal writing, interviewing, financial services and professional conduct. Liz is now a Principal Lecturer and Director of the part-time LPC, and has a specific interest in e-learning. She has undertaken research with Oxford Brookes University into the effect of multiple choice quizzes on learning in the LPC, and has been involved in a Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) research project into portfolio software. More recently, Liz has been involved in a JISC/Higher Education Academy research project into the use of e-portfolios on the LPC (in conjunction with Patricia McKellar of UKCLE, Karen Barton of Glasgow Graduate School of Law and Jeanette Nicholas of University of Westminster).

Jill Cripps

After gaining a first class honours degree in English at the University of Bristol and studying for an MPhil at Wadham College Oxford, Jill Cripps then taught English for a while before pursuing a career in law. After studying at the College of Law, Jill qualified in 1993 and practised as a solicitor for four years, specialising in commercial property work. Jill has also advised on tax and wills.

Jill returned to the College of Law as a lecturer on the Legal Practice Course, where she taught property, advanced property, interviewing and drafting skills and was joint head of the Advanced Property course at the London branch, before moving to Oxford Brookes University where she taught land law and landlord and tenant law on the BSc in Real Estate Management. Since joining the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice in 2001, Jill has been taught Property and Private Acquisitions and run the interviewing, practical legal research and drafting courses on the Legal Practice Course. She is now a Principal Lecturer and the Institute's Skills Co-ordinator, with specific responsibility for the drafting course. In 2009 she will be running the Private Acquisitions course. Jill also sits on the Institute's Quality Assurance, Learning Resources and Scrutiny Committees.