Issue 3 – May 2010

It is my pleasure to bring you this edition of Melbourne Law School News.

This publication aims to provide you with a snapshot of Melbourne Law School. I hope it will also give you insight into ways in which members of the Law School family are already currently involved, serving to inspire you to consider how you might like to be part of the many stimulating activities occurring both within and without the Law School building at any time.

Late last year Melbourne Law School announced three new combined degree programs with Oxford University, New York university and Chinese university of Hong Kong. These programs give Melbourne Juris Doctor (JD) students unprecedented access to some of the most prestigious law qualifications in the world.

Ms Erika Feller (LLB(Hons)1972), Assistant High Commissioner of the United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR), oversees the protection of 34 million refugees, internally displaced and stateless people through the development of UN policies, legal procedures and framework.

Employment conditions, political funding, divorce, substance use, refugees, telecommunications – not just the latest news headlines, but also some of the topics currently being explored by Melbourne Law School researchers.

In July Professor Jane Ginsburg returns to Melbourne to teach a Melbourne Law Masters class of International and Comparative Copyright Law with Professor Sam Ricketson.

Professor Ginsburg is the Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at Columbia Law School in New York City. She is also the Director of the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts, established to contribute to a broader understanding of the legal aspects of creative works of authorship, including their dissemination and use.

Living and working in a tiny Pacific island nation with limited resources has given Katy Le Roy (LLB(Hons)1997) a new perspective on the value of education.

As many of us relaxed a little and enjoyed the summer holidays, Melbourne Law School students were busy working as interns in fascinating and emerging areas of the law.

Reflecting interest in the issues that resonate with their generation, this year's students took on internships in environmental law, animal rights law, communications law, media law, native title law, human rights law and sports law.

Our current students are engaged in a wide variety of activities supported by the university. Here are some inspiring examples.

This year's JD class has the cumulative experience of having studied at 38 universities in 50 undergraduate specialisations, and having worked across 40 professional fields.