Melbourne Law School

Melbourne Law School
Established	1857
Type	Public
Dean	Carolyn Evans
Students	3500
Location	Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	University of Melbourne
Website	www.law.unimelb.edu.au

Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne^[1], and is one of Australia's oldest law schools. It retains a reputation for high quality teaching and research, with approximately 3500 undergraduate and postgraduate students, and a number of Australia's leading legal minds. It is widely regarded as being one of Australia's top law schools, with stringent entry requirements. In 2011, MLS was ranked the best law school in Australia, and ninth best in the world, in the QS World University Rankings.

History

The teaching of law at the University of Melbourne began in 1857, when Richard Clarke Sewell was appointed Reader in Law. This was in response to demand from young men wanting to practice law in the colonies, but wanting to stay in Australia to learn. This led to the first degree in law being made available in 1860, and the founding, in 1873, of the Faculty of Law.

The school continued to grow throughout the 19th and 20th century, and underwent its first major transformation with the appointment of Sir Zelman Cowen as Dean in 1951. Sir Zelman shaped the law school after the United States model, reforming teaching, research and academic recruitment. Under his stewardship, full-time academics came to dominate teaching, instead of part-time practitioners. Many prominent international academics were invited to study at the School, and many Australians were given the opportunity to study abroad.

Recent developments in the Law School have seen a shift in emphasis towards postgraduate teaching, which culminated in the 'Melbourne Model', introduced in 2008. Under the Model, the study of law is available to postgraduates only, as part of the 'Juris Doctor' program.

Research

The Faculty of Law is home to some key research institutes and centres, including:

• The Asian Law Centre
• The Asia-Pacific Centre for Military Law
• The Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies
• The Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation
• The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law
• The Centre for Resources Energy and Environmental Law
• The Centre for Media and Communications Law
• The Institute for International Law and the Humanities
• The Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia

Deans of Melbourne Law School

• 1873–1888 William Hearn
• 1889–1892 Edward Jenks
• 1893–1927 William Harrison Moore
• 1928–1936 Kenneth Bailey
• 1937–1937 George Paton
• 1938–1942 Kenneth Bailey
• 1943–1951 George Paton
• 1951–1963 Zelman Cowen
• 1964–1964 Harold Ford
• 1964–1966 Zelman Cowen
• 1967–1973 Harold Ford
• 1973–1977 Sandford Clark
• 1978–1983 Colin Howard
• 1984–1986 Mark Weinberg
• 1986–1988 Harold Luntz
• 1989–2002 Michael Crommelin
• 2002–2003 Ian Ramsey
• 2003–2007 Michael Crommelin
• 1994–2004 James Hathaway
• 2010–2011 Michael Crommelin
• 2011–present Carolyn Evans

Prominent Current Faculty

The University of Melbourne attracts many prominent legal academics, including the following notable members of staff:

• Caron Beaton-Wells, competition expert and scholar
• Michael Bryan, equity and restitution scholar
• Andrew Christie, intellectual property expert
• Matthew Harding, equity and trusts scholar
• Harold Luntz, professorial fellow and expert in tort law
• Jenny Morgan, feminist legal academic
• Ian Ramsay, expert in corporate law and corporate governance
• Cheryl Saunders, constitutional lawyer
• Manfred Ellinghaus, contract law scholar

Notable alumni

Some famous graduates of the Law School are:

Law

• Sir Zelman Cowen, former Governor General
• Sir Daryl Dawson, former High Court Judge
• Sir Owen Dixon, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir Frank Gavan Duffy, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir Wilfred Fullagar, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Kenneth Hayne current Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Henry Bournes Higgins former justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir Isaac Isaacs, former Governor General and Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir John Latham, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir Douglas Menzies former Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Sir Ninian Stephen, former High Court Judge and Governor General
• Sir Edward Woodward, Director-General of ASIO and Federal Court Judge
• Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization

Politics

• Alfred Deakin, former Prime Minister of Australia
• Gareth Evans, former Foreign Affairs Minister
• Julia Gillard, current Prime Minister of Australia
• Harold Holt, former Prime Minister of Australia
• Peter McGauran, former Federal Agriculture Minister
• Sir Robert Menzies, former Prime Minister of Australia

Other

• Paul Bassat, Founder and CEO of seek.com.au
• James P. Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, 2010-
• Sir John Monash, World War I General
• Adnan Buyung Nasution, Senior Advocate and Former Member of Indonesia Advisory Council of The President
• Dame Meg Taylor, former PNG Ambassador to the United States

Publications

The following publications are produced by students at the Law School:

• Melbourne University Law Review
• Melbourne Journal of International Law
• Australian Guide to Legal Citation

References

1. ^ Michael Crommelin. "Dean's Message". http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/go/about-us/message-from-the-dean/index.cfm. Retrieved 31 July 2010. 

• Campbell, Ruth. 1977. 'A History of the Melbourne Law School, 1857 to 1973', Faculty of Law, Parkville. ISBN 0-909454-43-4.

Coordinates: 37°48′8″S 144°57′36″E / 37.80222°S 144.96°E / -37.80222; 144.96