Welcome from the Deans
Dear Alumni,
We hope that you have had an enjoyable 2016 to date.
Ex Post
Facto
We celebrate the accomplishments of women in this Ex Post Facto edition:
our female students, staff, Advisory Board Members and alumni.
Some of these accomplishments include: Associate Professor Jane Power
from the Fremantle Campus graduated with a PhD in December 2015.
Jane is the Law School’s first PhD graduate.
Fremantle Campus student and CEO of the City of Kwinana, Joanne Abbiss,
was the recipient of a 2015 Telstra Business Women’s Award for her
commitment to growing women’s roles in government. Joanne was the
Western Australian winner of the Awards’ ‘Government and Academia’ category.
The Law School did extremely well at the 2015 Lawyers Weekly Women in
Law Awards. Law School Advisory Board members Elspeth Hensler and
Tina McAulay were finalists in the ‘Thought Leader of the Year’ and ‘Special
Counsel of the Year’ categories (respectively). Senior Lecturer on the
Fremantle Campus Dr Marilyn Krawitz, was also a finalist in the ‘Academic
of the Year’ category.
We are also pleased that three highly successful alumnae contributed
articles to this edition of Ex Post Facto: Annabel Keogh, Tina McAulay and
Rachel Bennett.
This year, the School of Law, Fremantle, will launch the ‘Lavan Legal
Gallery of Inspirational Women in Law’ (Gallery). This Gallery will contain
photographs of prominent female jurists, lawyers and academic lawyers. It is
intended that the Gallery will celebrate the careers of these women and will
also inspire female law students in their future careers. The Law School will
launch the Gallery with three photographs and it will add one photograph to the
Gallery annually. The Gallery was mentioned at the Australian Women Lawyer’s
Conference in April 2016. We will send all alumni an email with more information
about the launch of the Gallery later this year. We look forward to seeing you
there.
We hope that you enjoy the latest edition of Ex Post Facto. We also hope
that 2016 is your best year yet.
Professor Doug Hodgson
Dean, School of Law
Fremantle
Professor Michael Quinlan
Dean, School of Law
Sydney
Vol. 3 No. 1 2016
Upcoming Law
School Event
The School of Law, Fremantle,
will host its third annual
Law Alumni CBD Sundowner
28 April 2016 | 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Allens, Level 37, QV1 Building
250 St Georges Terrace, Perth
This is a great way to reconnect with
former students and academic staff and
an outstanding networking opportunity.
We look forward to seeing you there.
If you have any enquiries about the event,
please contact Tina Stothard at
[email protected].
in this
edition
2 Your input into the Law Schools’
LLMs is important
2 Research with Law School staff
2 Articles by alumni
4 School of Law news in brief
4 Stay in touch
5 Staff’s recent publications
5 Brief information about alumni
School of Law
Fremantle Campus
19 Mouat Street (PO Box 1225)
Fremantle WA 6959
Tel +61 8 9433 0720
Sydney Campus
140 Broadway (PO Box 944)
Broadway NSW 2007
Tel +61 2 8204 4385
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Marilyn Krawitz, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle Campus
Articles by alumni
Your input into the
Law Schools’ LLMs
is Important
The Schools of Law are
considering the introduction and
development of a Master of Laws
(LLM) by coursework. Such an
LLM may be general or focussed in
a specialised area. The long-term
goal is to offer a variety of specialist
LLM by coursework degrees.
The purpose of this article is
twofold: to seek your input on
what areas of speciality we should
initially consider and to ask whether
you would be likely to consider
completing such an LLM (without
committing to it; we need to gauge
interest in the concept in order to
gain approval at university level).
Some initial thoughts on LLM
specialties include: Education Law,
Mining Law, Human Rights Law,
Building Construction Law, Law
& Religion, Legal Philosophy and
Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The format of the LLM by
coursework will probably include
four individual units taken by
an expert in the field, run as an
intensive unit over a five-day period,
and the remaining four units would
constitute a research paper on the
students’ chosen topic (around
30,000 words or two 12,000 word
papers, suitable for publication)
related to the LLM specialty and
supervised by an expert in the field.
Where the LLM is on a specialty
topic, the four coursework units
would be in that speciality area.
Where possible, we would like to
have expert practitioners involved in
the teaching of the units as sessional
lecturers. Full-time enrolment would
run over a one-year period (with
part-time enrolment an option).
As always, thank you for your
assistance and continued interest
in your Schools of Law. We look
forward to receiving your input by
emailing [email protected]
(Fremantle) or keith.thompson@
nd.edu.au (Sydney).
2
Working in the profession while taking care of children
Tina Macaulay
(LLB/BA/Cert.Arbitration/GradDip. Construction & Building Law, 2006, Fremantle)
As a working parent, we all question whether what
we are doing is the right thing for our children, for our
careers and advancement. We feel constantly judged
by others, parents and non-parents alike.
What I have learnt is that whatever works for you and
your family is the right thing to do. There are different
times in children’s lives where they need you more as
a parent. Focusing on those times is important. It also
doesn’t mean working less to do that, it means coming to a balance.
I’ve always worked full time, even when my children were newborns. In my view,
it was easier then because, although they need you a lot as babies, other people
can share that; the older they get, the more often they need you and for other
reasons, like helping them learn and watching them play.
I’ve just entered the era of full time school. For me, this is harder than daycare,
where you can leave your children 10 - 12 hours a day. Having the support to
facilitate the before and after school care is difficult. I have changed my working
hours to accommodate this change and am starting to find out what works.
There are many guides and publications about working flexibly – it’s not a novel
idea. The Victorian Women Lawyers’ Flexible Work Protocols Best Practice
Guide is great. When you receive support from your employer with support from
extended family, spouse and child-care, the juggle can be a lot easier.
It’s a struggle, juggling a professional career like law with raising a family. It is
important to remember that your children are young for a small period of time.
But at the same time, I’ve not wanted to halt my career, I always want to
advance and strive for those top positions.
So far, I have had to take side steps, but ultimately, the struggle of balancing
children with a legal career can be eased by the support you have. You should
also seek out a mentor, supporter and promoter within the profession, so
that you are not doing it alone. Women Lawyers WA can help with that, or
you should seek your own mentor. They can be invaluable. I am grateful that
Associate Professor Jane Power has been my mentor.
I thank Notre Dame for helping me develop skills such as time management to
be able to succeed in my current situation and to stay in law in the long term.
Good luck with your struggle. Having other women to talk to and to support you
helps make a difference. Just remember, everyone who has a legal career and
children is in the same struggle. We should all be here to support each other.
Research with Law School staff
Do you enjoy researching and writing about legal issues in scholarly
publications? Would you be interested in working on a scholarly publication
with academic staff from the Law School? The Law School’s academic staff
research in a diverse array of areas. Some of these areas include: Education
Law, Human Rights Law, Sports and the Law, Legal Theory, Health Law,
Corporations Law and Social Media and the Courts. Writing a scholarly
publication with an academic staff member can result in an excellent
scholarly piece that contains your practical legal experience, and the
academic’s research and theoretical skills. If you are interested in this exciting
opportunity, please email Dr Marilyn Krawitz, [email protected], who
will use her best endeavours to match you with an academic in your field.
International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia
Being a judge’s associate
Annabel Keogh
(LLB(Hon)/BA(Hon), 2007, Fremantle)
In 2007 as a fresh-faced Notre
Dame graduate, I joined the
Supreme Court of Western
Australia as a Judge’s Associate.
Associateships are possibly the
least understood opportunity
available to law graduates. Each
experience is influenced by the
relationship between the judge and their associate and the
cases under their joint care. My experience was particularly
unusual because I worked on one case for most of my
associateship – the infamous Bell Group litigation.
Aside from endowing me with knowledge of 1990s
Corporations Law, my experience provided essential
learnings for the rest of my professional career, including:
Absorb what is around you
An associate has the privilege of working with some of the
finest minds in the legal profession. It’s an opportunity to
absorb as much information and knowledge as possible,
and I was lucky to be surrounded by amazing mentors who
were very generous with their time. As a result, I have never
taken for granted the importance of asking questions,
and people willing to spend their time answering them.
Learn to deliver unwelcome information
My associateship was my first brush with the broader legal
profession that, at the end of a drawn-out hearing, was
ready for a decision on the Bell litigation. This meant the
occasional unsatisfying conversation with lawyers about
when the judgment would be handed down. I had to come
to grips that being the bearer of bad news shouldn’t – and
can’t – be felt personally, a skill that has been essential in
my legal and post-legal career.
Work as a team, but stand on your own two feet
Judges rely on their associates’ capacity to research
and interpret the law. This means that you need to be
able to back yourself. Having your research interrogated
by a Supreme Court judge was a highly confronting but
extremely valuable lesson in growing confidence in my
opinion, even if it was incorrect.
Conclusion
Finally, it would have been impossible to be an associate
without my law degree from Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s
supportive environment provided me with the confidence
to be able to make the most of this opportunity, and I am
grateful for it.
Rachel Bennett (BA/LLB, 2014, Sydney)
I completed a nine-month
internship with the United Nations
at the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(“ICTY”), in The Hague.
The ICTY was established in
1993 to prosecute genocide,
violations of the laws or customs of war and crimes against
humanity committed during the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s.
For years I have read about the mass atrocities committed
against the Muslims of Bosnia and couldn’t help but be
impacted by the injustice. When I started studying at
Notre Dame, I found my International Relations electives,
particularly ‘The Politics and History of Genocide’ taught
by Professor John Rees, to be especially significant in my
journey towards the ICTY.
In 2013, while on a holiday in Europe, I travelled to The
Hague to watch five days of trial from the Public Gallery.
I viewed parts of the trials of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko
Mladić and in my capacity as Social Justice Director of the
Notre Dame Sydney Law Society, I wrote a blog about my
observations. The experience of witnessing the Tribunal
was significant for me and in my final year of Law School
I decided to apply for a position in the Internship Program.
After being accepted to intern in the Office of the
Prosecutor, I journeyed back to The Hague less than one
month after graduating from Notre Dame. I was assigned to
work on the trial of Ratko Mladić, which I had observed two
years earlier. General Mladić was the Commander of the
Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska, and is currently
on trial for genocide, violations of the laws or customs
of war and crimes against humanity committed against
Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia.
My work in the Office of the Prosecutor involved assisting trial
attorneys to prepare for the cross-examination of defence
witnesses, identifying and analysing evidence, conducting
research and working on the first draft of the final trial brief.
My experience at the ICTY enabled me to see both the
best and worst aspects of humankind. As I looked at
the content of my daily work, it was shocking to see the
atrocities committed when humanity turns on itself.
But when I consider my colleagues – the attorneys, trial
support staff, investigators, translators and my fellow
interns – I am reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr: “Every step toward the goal of justice requires
sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and
passionate concern of dedicated individuals”.
I am humbled by their passion and commitment to bring
justice to victims and to hold the architects of atrocity to
account, and I hope to continue to emulate their dedication
in my human rights career as I go forward from here.
3
School of Law news in brief
New staff
Staff attending conferences/speaking engagements
The Law School (Sydney Campus)
welcomed new adjunct academics
in 2015: Frances Richards (Adjunct
Lecturer), Augusto Zimmermann
(Adjunct Professor) and Maithri
Panagoda (Adjunct Professor).
Professor Phil Evans (Fremantle
Campus) presented a paper on
the “Review of the Construction
Contracts Act 2005-2015” at the
University of Melbourne and Society
of Construction Law (SOCLA)
seminar in Perth on 17 October 2015.
The Law School (Fremantle Campus)
welcomed new sessional staff in
2015 and 2016.
Honours
Professor Doug Hodgson (Fremantle
Campus) was appointed as a Grants
Assessor for the Marsden Council,
Royal Society of New Zealand.
Professor Doug Hodgson (Fremantle
Campus) was invited to become a
Member and Fellow of the Australian
Academy of Law in 2015. He
accepted the invitation.
Associate Professor Jane Power
(Fremantle Campus) and alumna
Tina McAulay (Fremantle Campus)
were nominated for the Senior
Lawyer of the Year Award by Women
Lawyers of Western Australia Inc.
The Australian Research Council
invited Professor Doug Hodgson
(Fremantle Campus) and Dr Joan
Squelch (Fremantle Campus) to be
peer reviewers for the Excellence in
Research for Australia (ERA) 2015
audit exercise.
The Resolution Institute gave
Professor Phil Evans (Fremantle
Campus) the ‘Contribution to the
Professional Development of Others
in ADR’ Award.
Professor Phil Evans (Fremantle
Campus) presented a paper at the
Australian Centre for International
Arbitration (ACICA) Annual
Conference in Perth on 19 November
2015. His topic was “Arbitration under
the Workers Compensation and
Injury Management Act 1984”.
In October 2015, Professor Phil
Evans submitted his review of the
Construction Contracts Act 2004
(WA) to the Attorney General the
Hon Michael Mishin MLC. During
that month Professor Evans also
appeared before the Senate
Economics Committee Enquiry
into Insolvency in the Australian
Construction Industry, following his
written submission on the issue to
the Inquiry.
Dr Marilyn Krawitz (Fremantle
Campus) presented her research
on body image and the law at a
Victorian Women Lawyers breakfast
in Melbourne, Victoria on 16
October 2015. She also spoke at the
University of Melbourne Law School
on 8 March 2016 about the same
research, in honour of International
Women’s Day.
Dr Marilyn Krawitz (Fremantle
Campus) was appointed to the
editorial board of The LexisNexis
Internet Law Bulletin.
Associate Professor Jane Power
(Fremantle Campus) will present
a paper at the International Legal
Ethics Conference VII at the Stein
Center for Law and Ethics at the
Fordham Law School in New York,
United States in July 2016.
Adjunct Professor John Prebble
(Sydney Campus) delivered the first
address in the Wellington Club Winter
Lecture Series for 2015 on 11 August
2015. His topic was, ‘Tax Avoidance
and International Profit - Shifting’.
Professor Joan Squelch
(Fremantle Campus) attended
the World Congress on Catholic
Education ‘Educating Today and
Tomorrow. A Renewing Passion’ at
Vatican City and Castel Gandolfo in
November 2015.
Dr Keith Thompson (Sydney
Campus) spoke about the Study
of the Economic Impact of Religion
on Society (“SEIROS”) at the G20
Interfaith Summit in Istanbul, Turkey
in November 2015. Bishop Robert
Forsyth is the immediate past
Anglican Bishop of South Sydney,
chairs the Board of SEIROS and
Dr Thompson is the Secretary.
Stay in touch!
Make sure you provide Notre Dame with your most recent contact details by sending an email to [email protected].
This way you will be emailed In Principio, the magazine that contains the latest Notre Dame news and events.
You can also register to access the University’s libraries as an alumni member.
Do you have information about your current job, a recent engagement or marriage, or other achievements that you
would like to share in the next Ex Post Facto newsletter? Please email your information to Dr Marilyn Krawitz,
[email protected]. Also, please tell fellow alumni to do the same!
4
Law School events
In October 2015, the former
Justice of the Supreme Court
of Western Australia, the
Honourable Professor Neville
Owen, gave the inaugural The
Honourable David Malcolm
Annual Memorial Lecture, titled
“Surviving Sisyphus: Justice,
Judges and Jaundice”. This
event is dedicated to the late
David Malcolm and honours
the major contributions that he
made to the legal profession, the
community and civil society.
Student and graduate
employment
If you or your employer want
to employ law students or law
graduates, let us know. We
will make sure our students or
alumni know about it and your
vacancy will be filled. Please
contact the Assistant Dean
Prasan Ulluwishewa (Sydney
Campus) or Dr Marilyn Krawitz
(Fremantle Campus).
Are you looking for a job? Our
relationship with you didn’t come
to an end when you graduated.
We are not an employment
agency, but we might be able
to give you some pointers and
contacts. Contact the Assistant
Dean Prasan Ulluwishewa
(Sydney Campus) and Dr Marilyn
Krawitz (Fremantle Campus).
Recent staff publications
Rex Tauati Ahdar, ‘The Abolition of
the Group Boycott Prohibition from
New Zealand Competition Law’
(2015) 23 Competition & Consumer
Law Journal 78.
Zamaris Saxon and Lara Pratt,
‘From Cause to Responsibility:
R2P as a Modern Just War’ [2015]
University of Notre Dame Australia
Law Review.
Christopher Brohier and
Augusto Zimmermann,
‘Avoiding Unnecessary Divorce
and Restoring Justice in Marital
Separations - Review of the Family
Law Act 1975 (FLA)’ (2015) 6 West
Australian Jurist 173.
Sally Varnham, Patty Kamvounias
and Joan Squelch (eds), Higher
Education and the Law (The
Federation Press, 2015).
Phil Evans and Gabriel Moëns,
Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in
the Resources Sector: An Australian
Perspective (Springer, 2015).
Tomas Fitzgerald, ‘Doping in Sport –
Should it be a Crime?’ (2015) Sports
Law E-Journal.
Marilyn Krawitz and Justine
Howard, ‘Should Australian Courts
Give More Witnesses the Right to
Skype?’ (2015) 25 Journal of Judicial
Administration 44.
Robert Pelletier, Boris Handal,
Jessica Khalil and Tyron Francis,
‘Cyberbullying – When Does a
School’s Liability in Tort End?’ (2015)
6 West Australian Jurist 93.
Joan Squelch, ‘School Discipline
and the Law’ in Global Interest in
Student Behaviour edited by Charles
J, Russo, Izak Oosthuizen and Charl
C. Wolhuter (Rowman & Littlefield,
Maryland USA, 2015).
Keith Thompson, “‘Who was
Sherem?’” (2015) 14 Interpreter, A
Journal of Mormon Scripture 1.
Greg Walsh, ‘The Merits of the
Inherent Requirement Test for
Regulating the Employment
Decisions of Religious Schools Under
Anti-Discrimination Legislation’ (2015)
6 West Australian Jurist 34.
Augusto Zimmermann,
‘“Originalism” in Magna Carta’ (2015)
6 West Australian Jurist 197.
General
The School of Law (Sydney
Campus) offers the opportunity
for all law students to participate
in its mentoring program. Alumni
in the legal profession make
great mentors. If you (or other
lawyers in your family) would like
to volunteer as a mentor, please
contact Sydney’s Assistant
Dean, Prasan Ulluwishewa
([email protected]).
Brief information about alumni
Natalie Jacobs (nee Collins) (LLB/BA, 2007, Fremantle) married Daniel Jacobs
in 2015. They had their first child, Max Jacobs, in December 2015.
5
The Objects of The University of Notre Dame Australia are:
a) t he provision of university education within
a context of Catholic faith and values; and
b) t he provision of an excellent standard of –
i) teaching, scholarship and research;
ii) training for the professions; and
iii)pastoral care for its students.
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© 2016 The University of Notre Dame Australia, all rights reserved.
School of Law
Fremantle Campus
Sydney Campus
19 Mouat Street (PO Box 1225), Fremantle WA 6959
140 Broadway (PO Box 944), Broadway NSW 2007
Tel +61 8 9433 0720
Tel +61 2 8204 4385