My Expertise
Litigation - Law Courts and the Australian Legal System - Federal Courts (including Federal Court of Australia and Federal Magistrates Court of Australia) - Competition and Consumer Protection Law - Business Law - Contract Law - Legal Costs - Access to Justice - Rule of Law - Case Transfers - Judicial Decision-making - Case Management - Court Administration.
Fields of Research (FoR)
Litigation, adjudication and dispute resolution, Legal institutions (incl. courts and justice systems), Civil procedure, Contract lawSEO tags
Biography
I am a legal academic at UNSW Canberra (at ADFA), an Emeritus Fellow of the UNSW Scientia Education Academy and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK (Advance HE). I lecture in Business Law, Contract Law (Commercial Acumen) and Legal Risk Management at the undergraduate and/or postgraduate levels within the School of Business. I have also taught at other academic institutions in the areas of Business Law, Contracts,...view more
I am a legal academic at UNSW Canberra (at ADFA), an Emeritus Fellow of the UNSW Scientia Education Academy and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK (Advance HE). I lecture in Business Law, Contract Law (Commercial Acumen) and Legal Risk Management at the undergraduate and/or postgraduate levels within the School of Business. I have also taught at other academic institutions in the areas of Business Law, Contracts, Litigation/Dispute Resolution and Competition and Consumer Law.
Immediately prior to joining the School of Business on a full-time basis, I was a Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia and of the then Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, appointments I held for almost a decade. I was also appointed as Secretary of the former Professional Conduct Board of the ACT Law Society for a number of years. I have served as an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section of the Law Council of Australia and currently serve as an appointed member of the Law Council's Federal Court of Australia Liaison Committee, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Liaison Committee and the Australian Consumer Law Committee. I am admitted as a Barrister-at-Law of the Supreme Court of NSW, and as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Australia and of the Supreme Courts of the ACT and Victoria. In addition to my teaching role, I practise law and hold an appointment as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law (University of Canberra).
My Research Activities
My main research area is the business of federal courts and how to resolve civil disputes brought before them as cost-effectively, expeditiously and efficiently as possible. To this end, my book, Litigation in the Federal Court (LexisNexis, 2015), studies the 'overarching purpose' of civil litigation in the Federal Court of Australia. My PhD thesis concerned the impact on procedural justice of case transfers by the Federal Court to the Federal Magistrates Court. I specialise in Federal Court and Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia civil practice and procedure. Since 2012, I have co-authored the LexisNexis Butterworths, Practice and Procedure: High Court and Federal Court loose-leaf and online publication, as well as four editions of the book version of the publication.
My Teaching
ZBUS2101 Business Law
ZBUS8310 Commercial Skills in the Public Sector (Contract Law)
ZBUS3101 Legal Aspects of Risk Management