Issue 2 – September 2009

My colleagues and I at Melbourne Law School are fully committed to producing graduates who are ready and able to make a meaningful contribution as they enter the sophisticated, complex and often transnational environment of contemporary legal practice.

To achieve this, we have established, in addition to our curricular innovations, the first specialised Careers Office for law students in Australia. This Office offers programs and experiences designed to extend students beyond classroom learning and to support their transition from student to work life.

The Hon Justice Julie Dodds-Streeton (LLB (Hons) 1980) has said that if you had to nominate Australia's most important and influential writer and teacher in commercial law, the answer would undoubtedly be Professor Emeritus Harold Ford AM (LLD 1948, LLM 1949, LLD 1987).

On 16 June 2009, the Australian Parliament passed long-awaited laws making agreements between competitors 'not to compete' a criminal offence. Previously, such agreements have been treated as civil contraventions only. The threat of a jail sentence, up to ten years maximum, is promised by the government to make individual executives think twice about engaging in fixing prices, dividing markets, restricting output and rigging bids.

Many of his decisions about refugees, Aborigines, women, gays and others have left him personally dissatisfied with the law, but with a full understanding that unpleasant decisions are sometimes required by the letter of the law.

They are driven and ambitious and they've chosen to travel from around the world to undertake their Masters with Melbourne Law School. They're from different cultures and have different goals, but they all agree on one thing: their Melbourne Law Masters degree is already making a difference to their careers.

There are still problems with the international criminal law system, but the legal community is learning and app lying the appropriate lessons, according to Transitional Trade Founder and Executive Director Jacqueline "Muna" Musiitwa (JD 2005).

The 'new' Melbourne Law School JD, introduced in 2008, replaces the longstanding and widely respected LLB1 as the Law School's primary degree leading to qualification for practice. It also builds on the Melbourne Law School's ('MLS') prior experience in JD teaching developed since 2000 when it first introduced a JD program. MLS 's commitment to the graduate teaching of law, leading to admission to practice in Victoria and, by mutual recognition, around Australia, was supported by over 60 faculty at a day-long conference in late 2005; effectively the faculty declared the need to rethink legal education creatively in Australia.

For the five students who took part in this year's Jessup moot, acclaim and glory following their win in Canberra and their participation in the World Final in Washington DC was just a bonus. The moot team comprised Felicity Ryburn, Seamus Coleman, Sonja Zivak, David Heaton and Sienna Merope.

Although only a few months into the Melbourne Law School Mentor Program, mentors and students are already reporting impressive results with many mentors keen to be involved again and students thrilled with the personal guidance they are receiving.

The Program was developed by the Law School's Careers Office to support orientation for first-year JD students – Melbourne is one of only two law schools in Australia with a Careers Office based in the faculty.

The May graduation ceremony for Melbourne Law School saw three generations of alumni gathered in celebration.