Who? Frank Goddard, 39-year-old partner and head of civil litigation at Exeter firm Woollcombe Beer Watts.


Why is he in the news? He represents a group of Exeter University students who are taking legal action following the university's decision to discontinue their courses. In December last year, it announced the closure of the chemistry and music departments as part of measures to tackle a £4.5 million annual budget deficit. Exeter University is offering students affected three options: to complete their courses at Exeter with fewer staff due to redundancies; to move to another university if places are available; or to move onto another course at Exeter. If students have to repeat a year, they will receive up to £3,500. Mr Goddard says the deals are not good enough and the students deserve better.



Background: LLB at Cardiff University followed by the Law Society finals at York. He did his articles at Woollcombe Beer Watts, qualifying in 1993. He has remained at the same firm throughout his career and was made a partner in 1996.



Route to the case: 'I do a lot of work for Rougemont Chambers in Exeter; the head of chambers is a contemporary of mine. They were involved in advising the lecturers through their union, which needed someone to represent the students separately, and they recommended me.'



Thoughts on the case: 'In my view this is a simple breach of trust case. I feel for the poor freshers who started in September and were then told in December that their courses were being discontinued. The university has taken good money from the students; it can't have it both ways. It has offered between £2,000 and £3,500 to those affected - that is a lot of money to some students. They have been told they have to make up their minds by the middle of March - some will be tempted to take the money without thinking of the consequences. We will be in touch with the university's lawyers and will look at each case individually to form a realistic assessment of the offer.'



Dealing with the media: 'This case has been reported by the BBC and the Daily Telegraph as well as the local paper. It's not my first time in the media - I made a bit of splash a couple of years ago when I represented a lifer whose conviction was quashed after he served more than 20 years. The students' [actual] case is not the type of case where there is a great deal to say. The media interest is in the fact that it is an institution that seems to be behaving badly. Also there has been a focus on the number of chemistry departments that have been closed recently.'