2023 Harold Ford Memorial Lecture - 24.05.23
Event details
'Corporate Governance – Big Ideas and Debates?'
Presented by The Hon. Justice Michelle Gordon AC
The 2023 Harold Ford Memorial Lecture
Recent events and debates in and outside Australia about corporate governance may be seen as suggesting that company directors, and the laws which govern their work, are facing new and different challenges. Many of those debates have been framed by reference to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and arguably challenge traditional conceptions of corporate governance. What can Australia learn from these debates legally, practically, and commercially?
The Harold Ford Memorial Lecture
This lecture is named in honour of distinguished Melbourne Law School alumnus Professor Harold Ford, who passed away in September 2012. Professor Ford spent almost his entire career at Melbourne Law School following his appointment to the Law School in 1949. He served as Dean of the Law School in 1964 and again from 1967 to 1973. He is remembered as a gifted teacher by several generations of law students. Professor Ford also made many important contributions to law reform and co-authored a leading text titled Principles of the Law of Trusts as well as other influential books. The Harold Ford Memorial Lecture celebrates the many contributions of Professor Ford to Melbourne Law School, the legal profession, and the development of corporate law and trusts law.
This lecture was a collaboration between Clayton Utz and Melbourne Law School.
The Hon. Justice Michelle Gordon AC
The Hon. Michelle Gordon was appointed to the High Court of Australia in June 2015. At the time of her appointment, she was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, to which she was appointed in April 2007. Her Honour graduated in law from the University of Western Australia and was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1987 and then joined the Victorian Bar in 1992.
Justice Gordon was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003 and practiced in state and federal courts principally in commercial, equity, taxation, and general civil matters. She was also appointed as a Professorial Fellow of the Melbourne Law School in July 2015.