Russell is a solicitor and Associate Professor of Law at Northumbria University. Prior to joining the university, he practised as a solicitor with Ward Hadaway in Newcastle upon Tyne and has also acted as a consultant with BHP Law.

Russell is a member and immediate past Chair of the Conveyancing and Land Law Committee. He is Consultant Editor of the Conveyancing Handbook and General Editor of Precedents for the Conveyancer, Practical Lease Precedents and Practical Conveyancing Precedents. In 2021 he was elected as a Council member for Commercial Property with The Law Society.

He has authored numerous leading practitioner texts including Licensing Law Handbook, Conveyancing Searches and Enquiries, Residential Conveyancing Practice and Business Tenancies, and is Practice and Precedents Editor of The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer. Russell is also a Centre Fellow of the Cambridge Centre for Property Law at the University of Cambridge.