CLARS Lunchtime Seminar: Karen Abidi and Lisa Di Marco
What does it take to redesign a contract law framework that has remained largely unchanged since its colonial origins? This faculty seminar examines the current reform of the Malaysian Contracts Act 1950, a statute grounded in English common law principles and largely untouched despite significant developments in modern contract law. The CLARS-Malaysia Hub led project brings together judiciary, government, the legal profession and academic stakeholders, with Karen Abidi and Lisa Di Marco contributing through specialist working groups.
Drawing on comparative perspectives, the presentation highlights key areas of reform addressed within the project: commercial contract variation and the doctrine of consideration in the context of the common law development of economic duress (Karen Abidi); and, for Lisa Di Marco, the limits of the consent-based model of contract, the resulting fairness gap in contracting, and the case for targeted legal interventions, including good faith in performance and unfair contract terms.
The presentation reflects on the experience of participating in live international law reform to modernise the law to reflect the evolution of commercial practice, technological advancements and changing social norms.
Event Details
Reforming a Colonial-Era Contract Code: Insights from the Malaysian Reform Project
When: Friday 8 May 2026
Time: 12:30pm - 2pm AEST
Campus: Monash University Law Chambers
555 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
This Monash Law faculty seminar is presented in partnership with the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS).
Speakers
Lisa Di Marco
Lisa Di Marco is an education-focused Senior Lecturer at the Monash Law Faculty and an experienced practising commercial lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience in private practice and government. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Master of Laws, specialising in intellectual property.
Lisa teaches across Contract law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution and foundational law units and is passionate about connecting her teaching of contract law to current issues in commercial legal practice and the evolving role of lawyers in light of new technologies. Lisa led a major curriculum redesign of the contract law units at Monash to implement active and blended learning models, and has been recognised with multiple awards, including the 2024 Australian Legal Education Award for Excellence in Teaching, the 2022 Monash Vice-Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, and Faculty of Law Teaching Awards in 2020 and 2022.
Lisa is currently involved in a major contract law project being undertaken by the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies' (Malaysia hub) via her involvement in the Working Group on Performance of Contracts for the Review and Reform of Contract law in Malaysia under the authority of the Malaysian prime Minister's Department of Legal Affairs Division. In this role she has researched conducted comparative research on fairness in contracting and has drafted legislation to introduce good faith and unfair contract terms.
Karen Abidi
Karen Abidi is an education-focused academic and senior lecturer at Monash University's Faculty of Law. Karen has expertise in contract law, and is passionate about student-centred legal education. Karen has been recognised for her contribution to tertiary legal education and has received a national Australian Legal Education Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024), and a Monash University Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2022).
Karen is engaged with innovative educational program and assessment design. She developed a blended active learning program in the contract units, and has led the implementation of an innovative collaborative assessment tool in the law faculty. Karen's teaching approach involves the clear communication of complex legal information and the development of core legal skills in a way that is supportive, engaging, and motivates and inspires students to learn by its relevance to the real world and professional legal practice.
Karen's teaching is informed by her professional legal background as a solicitor in the area of scientific research and development and the commercialisation of technology, including on secondment at CSIRO and the University of Melbourne’s Research Innovation and Development Group. Karen has practical legal experience negotiating, drafting, and managing contracts and providing legal advice on contractual, commercial, and intellectual property issues.
Karen's research interest is in the areas of contract law and education pedagogy. Karen is currently undertaking research in relation to the doctrine of consideration, involving an international comparative analysis in the context of proposed reform.
Karen is currently involved in a major contract law project being undertaken by Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies' Malaysia hub. Karen's project involvement is as a member of the Working Group for the Review and Reform of Contract Law in Malaysia under the authority of the Legal Affairs Division of the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department. In this role Karen undertakes detailed analyses, provides insights and recommendations based on her expertise in contract law, contributes to discussions and deliberations, and supports the preparation of reports and proposals to guide potential legislative reform.