Francina Cantatore

My primary research interests lie in the areas of intellectual property law, consumer law, media and communications law, property law and legal education and I have published extensively in these areas.  Through my pro bono and social justice involvement in law clinics and corresponding research in these areas, I am committed to exploring practice-based solutions to promote employability skills and experiential learning for law students, as well as investigating the positive benefits of volunteering and community service in higher education.  Professionally, I am admitted to legal practice on the Rolls of the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. Prior to joining the Bond Faculty of Law, I was the in-house legal adviser for an Australian finance company and held the position of Director in the firm. I have previously practised as a barrister and continue to practice as a consultant solicitor, currently holding the position of Special Counsel with Cronin Litigation Lawyers. 

In 2013, I established and continue to manage the Bond Law Clinic Program as Director of Clinics. The Program is a Faculty run clinical pro bono program which consists of six pro bono law clinics (Commercial Law, Community Law, Criminal Law, Immigration Law, Start-up Law and Human Rights Clinic). The Commercial and Immigration Law Clinics, held at the Law Faculty premises, provide free legal advice to small businesses and non-profit organisations, as well as disadvantaged and vulnerable immigrants and visa holders, respectively.

I am currently researching in the following areas: 

• Intellectual Property (IP) management in the third sector (Collaborating with Dr Elizabeth Crawford-Spencer, JCU)
• How small businesses manage IP on the internet
• The role of law clinics in creating experiential learning opportunities for students and preparing them for legal practice (Collaborating with academics from the Universidad de la Frontera, Chile; and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
• The benefits of pro bono law clinics in providing access to justice for the community
• Graduate employability and law clinics
• Copyright and publishing in the digital sphere
• Consumer law and consumer credit law

I was awarded the 2016 Faculty of Law Emerging Research Excellence Award, and am currently engaged in IP reseach, collaborative national and international clinical education research, and copyright research, as well as consumer law research. I am also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Clinical Education, and serve on the executive committee of the Centre for Professional Legal Education.

I am interested in supervising HDR students in the following areas:

• Legal Education
• Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights
• Media Law
• Property Law
• Consumer Law and Consumer Credit Law
• Clinical education and pro bono clinics