• Bond University, Faculty of Law

    4229 Gold Coast

    Australia

Accepting PhD Students

19992024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research interests

I am the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University, and a former commercial lawyer. I have been an academic since 1996. I am passionate about legal education and the role of law schools in modern society. My areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law. 

My research is characterised by four overlapping themes:

  1. The development of legal reasoning and critical thinking skills by law students: In my doctoral thesis I applied Foucauldian theory to explore and explain the inconsistency and marginalisation of critique within Australian legal education. Since then I have continued to conduct research in an effort to resolve these inconsistencies and construct a practical and relevant pedagogy for the teaching and assessment of legal reasoning and critical legal thinking.
  2. The critical analysis and evaluation of law teaching programs, projects and problems: I have published papers and engaged in projects about law program objectives, law student mentoring programs, 100% final exams and other assessment for law students, law student wellbeing, animal law education, and climate law education.
  3. The application of Foucauldian theoretical frameworks and methodologies to law and legal issues: I have published papers focussing upon Foucauldian analyses of legal education, cybercrime regulation, corporate crime, and academic resistance to teaching reform.
  4. Foundational law textbooks: I am the author if two leading textbooks: Business Law and The New Lawyer, a first year law textbook co-authored with Rachael Field and Jackson Walkden-Brown. Both are publushed by Wiley.

Statement for HDR students

There are two areas in which I am interested in supervising a HDR project:

  1. The development of legal reasoning and critical thinking skills by law students
  2. The critical analysis and evaluation of law teaching programs, projects and problems

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Education/Academic qualification

Law, PhD, Power-Knowledge and Critique in Australian Legal Education 1987-2003, Queensland University of Technology

Award Date: 16 Sept 2004

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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