Professor Avrom Sherr, a pioneer of clinical legal education in the UK, was the first holder of the Woolf Chair in Legal Education.
The Woolf Chair was created by a group headed by the former Chairman of the Institute's Board, Lord Woolf. In formal terms, the post was intended to undertake, and to promote and organise, activities of research and development in the field of legal education and training, for the benefit of the academic and professional legal communities throughout the United Kingdom. The research remit encompasses all dimensions of legal education and training, ranging from the theoretical and philosophical positions, through sociological and economic influences, to vocational needs in relation both to knowledge and skills.