Issue 9 – June 2013

We have reached the half-way point in the academic year and so far 2013 has been an extraordinary year. News last month that Melbourne has been named in the top five law schools in the world was wonderful acknowledgement that the high quality of the Law School's staff and students is valued by scholars and employers around the world. I am delighted that the hard work and passion of our people have been recognised in this way. We are a diverse community of talented scholars, bright students, visiting international experts and engaged alumni, donors and friends. Together we are building a fine law school and it is gratifying to see rankings reflect this.

It's not each individual detail, but the combination of them that makes Mark Woods (LLB 1980) an unusual sort of lawyer.

Read more about why Law alumni are supporting Law's priorities as part of The Campaign for the University of Melbourne and how they are changing the lives of future generations.

Bryan Stevenson, Professor of Clinical Law at NYU and prominent American human rights lawyer, has some startling numbers to talk about.

A new initiative is putting into practice Melbourne Law School's belief that real-life experience in public interest law will better equip students for professional life whilst making a difference to the community.

With a history stretching back more than 150 years, Melbourne Law School has discovered family connections that cross decades and centuries.

Growing healthy lawyers takes a whole of school – and profession – approach.

"Every trial lawyer must read this book," said Judge Andrew Haesler SC of Dr Jacqueline Horan's recent work, Juries in the 21st Century (Federation Press 2012). In the era of the googling juror and rapid technological change, Dr Horan argues that it is time to think about the contemporary role of the jury in our criminal justice system.

In 1989, a young lawyer by the name of Ian Fullagar completed the only sports law subject then offered in the Melbourne Law Masters – Sport, Commerce and the Law. It was just the second year the subject had been offered.

Dr Michelle Lesh (PhD Law 2012) talks about her interest in international justice which saw her contributing to Phase II of the Turkel Commission looking at how Israel investigates alleged war crimes.

Barrister Peter Billings enters his chambers, a small cluttered room with ceiling-high bookshelves and aged leather sofas. He's an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, a family man and a seasoned traveller. He moves aside some papers and extends the invitation to take a seat.

Dr Ruth Campbell, who taught at the Law School from 1965 to 1990, was farewelled by family and friends, including colleagues from Melbourne Law School at a remembrance service at University House on 30 January.

When students from Melbourne Law School's class of 2013 graduated on 16 March, they had the privilege of sharing their ceremony with Australia's first female Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, when she was presented with a Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne.