Our Team

Ms Karen Abidi

LLB (Hons) (U. Melb.), LLM (U. Melb.)

Karen Abidi is an education-focused Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, with expertise in contract law. Karen teaches and administers the contract law units, and has led their curriculum design. Karen has been recognised for her contribution to education and has received a national Australian Legal Education Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024), a Monash University Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2022), and a Faculty of Law Teaching Award for educational design (2020).  Karen has a legal background practicing in the area of scientific research and development and the commercialisation of technology, as a solicitor working at FAL Lawyers, CSIRO and the University of Melbourne’s Research Innovation and Development Group.  She has industry experience negotiating, drafting, and managing contracts and providing legal advice on contractual, commercial, and intellectual property issues.

Dr Natalia Antolak-Saper

BA LLB (Hons) (Monash)

Dr Natalia Antolak-Saper is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Monash University. Her research focuses on criminal law and criminal justice, with a particular interest in corporate crime. She is currently undertaking a project that maps harm in relation to different models of corporate criminal liability, with a specific focus on how victims are recognised and engaged within these frameworks.

A key strand of her research examines the sentencing of corporations, particularly the development and application of appropriate sanctions. This work interrogates the effectiveness and symbolic value of penalties imposed on corporate offenders, considering both deterrent and restorative objectives. She is interested in how sentencing frameworks can better account for corporate culpability and victim impact, and how they align with broader goals of justice and regulatory compliance.

More broadly, Dr Antolak-Saper’s scholarship adopts socio-legal and empirical approaches to explore the practical effects of criminal law and policy. Her work combines doctrinal analysis with qualitative and quantitative research to critically assess how legal responses operate in practice and their implications for reform.

See Dr Antolak-Saper’s academic profile and publications

Dr Susan Barkehall Thomas

LLB(Hons) (Monash), LLM (Monash), PhD (Monash)

Dr Susan Barkehall Thomas has a wide ranging interest in equity, with a particular focus on the intersection between equity and property law. Her PhD thesis addressed private law responses to fiduciary fraud, including third party liability for participating in breaches of duty by fiduciaries, the overlap with restitution and tracing of misappropriated moneys. She has published on a wide variety of topics including remedies for stolen money, constructive trusts, voidable contracts, proprietary estoppel, family provision and electronic conveyancing. Susan is one of the authors of Equity and Trusts in Australia (Cambridge University Press).

See Dr Thomas’ academic profile and publications

Professor Stephen Barkoczy

BA LLB M Tax Law PhD (Monash)

Professor Stephen Barkoczy has lectured, researched and practised widely in the areas of taxation, superannuation and investment law. He was previously a consultant with Blake Dawson (now Ashurst) and has served as Chairman of the Law Institute of Victoria's Tax and Revenue Committee. He has held appointments on numerous high level committees involving taxation, venture capital and innovation and currently sits on the Innovation and Investment Committee of Innovation and Science Australia. Stephen is the author/co-author of numerous major treatises such as: Foundations of Taxation Law, Australian Taxation Law and Innovation and Venture Capital Law and Policy. In 2008, he received the Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year.

See Professor Barkoczy’s academic profile and publications

Dr Todd Berry

LLB (Hons)/B.IB (Griffith), PhD (Griffith)

Todd is a part of the Faculty of Law at Monash University. He studied business and law at Griffith University and holds a Bachelor of International Business and a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours. He also holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the Griffith Law School. His research interests include sovereignty and international law. Todd’s monograph, Sovereignty and the Limits of International Law, was published by Routledge in 2023 and explored the notion that States could regulate resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ).

See Dr Berry's academic profile and publications

Adjunct Associate Professor Tim Bowley

LLB (Hons) (U. Adelaide, LLM (Cambridge), PhD (U. Syd.)

Dr Tim Bowley is a corporate law researcher and experienced corporate lawyer. His research explores contemporary regulatory debates in corporate and securities law, with a focus on the role of shareholders in corporate governance. Tim’s PhD on shareholder activism was shortlisted for the Australian Legal Research Best PhD Award in 2020. Prior to commencing his academic career, Tim was a partner in a national Australian law firm and practised in London at one of the leading ‘Magic Circle’ firms. Tim is currently participating in several international research projects examining institutional investor stewardship, ESG activism by institutional investors, and legal rights for activist shareholders to access information regarding their target companies.

See new specialist subjects taught by Dr Bowley here

Dr Paul Burgess

B.Sc.(Hons.) (Aber.), J.D. (Qld.), LL.M. Legal Theory (N.Y.U.), PhD (Edin.)

Dr Paul Burgess is interested in all things related to the concept of the Rule of Law. Paul spends a large amount of his time trying to figure out—exactly—what the Rule of Law is, and in trying to think about the way that the concept can most clearly and effectively be expressed, discussed, and used. In attempting to do this, he works within and is interested in legal theory, legal history, political theory, public law, economics, and constitutional theory. Notwithstanding this broadly theoretical and historical approach to research, he also has an interest in artificial intelligence and the ways in which the law and legal institutions will need to adapt in order to cater for, and understand, AI in all of its guises.

See Dr Burgess' academic profile and publications

Mr Nicholas Calleja

BEc. (Monash), LLB.(Monash), Master of Laws (Commercial Law) (Monash), Australian Legal Practitioner

Nicholas Calleja is a Senior Lecturer and Australian Legal Practitioner admitted to practise as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia.

Nicholas is an accomplished commercial lawyer, specialising in contract law and real property law. Nicholas has practised  in the public-sector as well as in private practice, including with government central agencies and top-tier national law firms.

Academically, Nicholas’ focus is on teaching commercial Priestly 11 units and electives, with a particular focus on Property Law, Company Law and Commercial Transactions.

See Mr Calleja's academic profile and publications

Dr Lucas Clover Alcolea

LLB Hons (Aber.), LLM (Edin.), DCL (McGill)

Lucas Clover Alcolea is a lecturer at the Monash University, Faculty of Law where he teaches remedies and trusts. He was previously a lecturer at the University of Otago, Faculty of Law, and a postdoctoral associate in the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University.  Lucas completed his undergraduate law degree at Aberdeen, followed by an LLM at Edinburgh, and a DCL at McGill. As a result of having studied and worked in multiple jurisdictions his work also has an inherently comparative slant drawing upon legal sources from throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. He has published articles in the McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution, the Australian Bar Review, the Australian Law Journal, the Common Law World Review, Trust Law International, the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, the ACTEC Law Journal, Arbitration International, the Chinese Journal of International Law, the Journal of Equity, the New Zealand Universities Law Review, and the Alberta Law Review among others. His doctoral thesis was published in Spring 2022 by Edward Elgar Publishing as ‘The Arbitration of Trust Disputes’. His main areas of interest are equity and trusts, property, dispute resolution, legal history (with a particular focus on the common law), international investment law, and legal theory. His work has been cited by the New Zealand Court of Appeal.

See Dr Clover Alcolea's academic profile and publications

Emeritus Professor Mark Davison

LLB (Hons) (UQ) Dip of Legal Practice (QUT) Dip of Languages (Indonesian), LLM, PhD (Monash)

Mark Davison's works on intellectual property and restrictive trade practices have been cited in hundreds of decisions of international tribunals, Australian and New Zealand courts and the Trade Mark Offices of both Australia and New Zealand. He was a member of the Australian government's Expert Advisory Group on Plain Packaging of Tobacco and the Australian legal team that successfully defended Australia's plain packaging laws. He was also a member of the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property, and he was a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Law Council of Australia for many years. He has been a Chief Investigator on 6 ARC grants and engaged in many national and international training programs for judges, civil servants and non-government organisations.

See Professor Davison’s academic profile and publications

Ms Lisa Di Marco

LLB (Hons), B.Sc, LLM (U.Melb.), Australian Legal Practitioner

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 teaches across Contract Law and foundational law units.  Lisa is passionate about connecting her teaching to current issues in commercial legal practice and the evolving role of lawyers in light of new technologies.  Lisa has received numerous awards for curriculum design including an Australian Legal Education Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024). Lisa's professional background includes senior roles with Ashurst, Minter Ellison, the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office and VicRoads.  Lisa's research interests are contract and consumer law and legal technology.

See Ms Di Marco's academic profile and publications

Professor Paula Gerber

LLB (QUT), M.Sc (Distinction) (King's College, London), LLM (Monash), PhD (Melb)

Professor Paula Gerber has been a lawyer for over 25 years. She spent five years working as a construction lawyer in London, and five years in Los Angeles before returning to Australia, where she became a partner in a leading Melbourne law firm. Paula moved from private practise to academia, where she is now an internationally recognised expert in construction law, particularly in the areas of dispute avoidance processes (DAPs) and dispute resolution processes, such as ADR.  Paula is the lead author of Best Practice in Construction Disputes: Avoidance, Management and Resolution (LexisNexis, 2013), which was a finalist in the prestigious Centenary Book Award. Paula is currently working on a new book – Contemporary Perspectives on Construction Law –to be published by LexisNexis, in 2022.

See Professor Gerber’s academic profile and publications

Dr Weiping He

LLB, LLM, and PhD

Dr Weiping He's research interests primarily lie in the areas of comparative financial services regulation (securities markets and banking) and comparative studies in corporate law. She is interested in how regulatory regimes differ in terms of nature and dynamics as a result of varied historical, political and economic circumstances and in particular how western regulatory regimes are capable of informing Chinese law-making. Weiping's research also attempts to evaluate the proper role of government vis à vis the market, for example in assessing the efficiency of various regulatory regimes and the competence and effectiveness of regulators.

See Dr He’s academic profile and publications

Associate Professor Caroline Henckels

LLB (Wellington), LLM (Melbourne), PhD (Cambridge)

Dr Caroline Henckels is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of International Economic Law, UNCTAD's Transnational Corporations journal, and the Alternative Law Journal, and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of World Investment and Trade. Caroline also serves as peer reviewer for numerous academic journals. She has taught law at the University of Cambridge and the University of Melbourne. Caroline is admitted to practice law in Australia (federal and Victoria) and New Zealand and runs the Faculty’s TradeLab clinical program.

See Dr Henckels academic profile and publications

Professor Bryan Horrigan 

BA/LLB (Hons) (Qld), DPhil (Oxford)

Professor Bryan Horrigan was Dean of the Faculty of Law at Monash University from 2013 to 2024. He holds a doctorate in law from Oxford University under a Rhodes Scholarship. Bryan has academic expertise and professional experience in public and corporate law and governance from Australian, transnational, and cross-disciplinary perspectives. In his academic and professional roles, Bryan has spoken internationally and also advised commercial lawyers and their corporate and governmental clients in the fields of internationalisation of law, judicial decision-making, public sector governance, governmental liability, scrutiny of legislation, regulation and enforcement, personal and corporate guarantees, corporate social responsibility, business and human rights, unconscionable business conduct, and good faith in commercial transactions.

See Professor Horrigan’s academic profile and publications

Associate Professor Joanna Kyriakakis

BA LLB (Hons), SJD (Monash)

Dr Joanna Kyriakakis is an Associate Professor at Monash University Law School. She works predominantly on accountability for serious human rights abuses that occur in the context of transnational corporate business activities. This involves research in the areas of business and human rights, international, transnational and comparative criminal law, tort law and transitional justice. She is the author of Corporations, Accountability and International Criminal Law: Industry and Atrocity (Edward Elgar, 2021) and has been involved in a number of international collaborative projects that focus on accountability for international crimes. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology’s thematic group on Organisational Harms and Crimes, the Human Rights Team of the Olympic Compliance Task Force, and the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment.

See Dr Kyriakakis’s academic profile and publications

Associate Professor Emmanuel Laryea

LLB (Hons), BL (Ghana, LLM (Glasgow), GCHE (Monash), PhD (Bond)

Dr Emmanuel Laryea is an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty, and a member of the Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory studies. Emmanuel’s expertise is in International Economic Law (particularly, International Investment Law, International Banking and Finance Law, and International Commercial Law); Law and Development (including governance and institutions) in Africa; and Ecommerce Law. He has taught law in Ghana, the UK, the USA, and Australia. Emmanuel was a consultant for AUSAID’s funded project in Asia, was on UNCITRAL’s Panel of Experts on Electronic Transferable Records, and a Supervising Professor on UNCTAD’s IIAs Mapping project.

See Associate Professor Laryea's academic profile and publications

Dr Victoria Lambropoulos

BA LLB (Monash), LLM (U. Melb), PhD (Deakin), FHEA

Victoria has over 20 years’ experience as an academic and a Barrister. Victoria is an expert in workplace and employment law.  She is a co-author of the premier annotated Fair Work Legislation published by Thomson Reuters annually. Victoria is an accomplished academic with a national and international profile and has had articles published in A*, A journals. Her publications have been cited by the judiciary and in parliament. Victoria’s PhD examined the power of summary dismissal under the employment contract. She adopted a proportionality approach to solving these disputes. Victoria has recently been involved in a number of projects relating to digitisation of legal information for those experiencing mental illness.

See Dr Lambropoulos' academic profile and publications

Associate Professor Karinne Ludlow

BSc (Monash), LLB (Hons) (Monash), PhD (Monash)

Associate Professor Karinne Ludlow is an expert of international standing in regulation of innovative technologies, with interdisciplinary expertise in law and science. Karinne's research integrates science, commercialisation challenges and law, particularly around biotechnology and nanotechnology in applications including health, food and industry. Her research is supported by major external grant funding. Current projects include regulation of genome editing in food and agriculture, ARC Discovery grant funded research on inheritable genetic modification of human embryos, and a NHMRC funded project on genomics and mitochondrial disease under the Morrison Government’s Genomics Health Futures Mission, awarded ‘to Australia’s best and brightest researchers’.

See Associate Professor Ludlow’s academic profile and publications

Professor Chris Marsden

LLB, LLM, PhD (U. Essex)

Chris Marsden @prof_marsden is Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Technology and the Law at Monash University and an expert on Internet and digital technology law, having researched and taught in the field since 1995. Chris researches regulation by code - whether legal, software or social code. He is author of five monographs including "Net neutrality" (2017), "Regulating Code" (2013 with Prof. Ian Brown), "Internet Co-regulation" (2011). He is author of many refereed articles, book chapters, professional articles, keynote addresses, and other scholarly contributions. He joins Monash from Sussex Law School, where he was Professor of Law (2013-22) and the founder and Director of the Centre for Information Governance Research (@SussCIGR) and Co-Investigator in the UK Trusted Autonomous Systems Governance and Regulation consortium (UKRI-EPSRC @tas_governance) and Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (UKRI-ESRC @Centre4ITP).

See Professor Marden's academic profile and publications

Associate Professor Gerry Nagtzaam

BA LLB (Monash), Master of Environmental Science (Monash), PhD (U. Melb)

Associate Professor Gerry Nagtzaam is a leading environmental scholar. His research, which has been recognised in Australia and internationally, focuses on the intersections between environmental law, politics, history and economics. He has written a number of influential books on topics including international environmental treaties and their normative treatment, nuclear waste disposal in democratic states, and the development of radical environmental and animal liberation movements. He has also written extensively on the issues of climate law and policy, whaling and global biodiversity loss and is currently working on a book on the International Whaling Commission and the first book on the regulation of plastic pollution.

See Associate Professor Nagtzaam’s academic profile and publications

Ms Reiko Okazaki

LLB (Waseda U.), LLM (UCLA)

Reiko Okazaki is a Lecturer at Monash Law. She was admitted to legal practice in the state of New York in 2011 and as an Australian lawyer in 2015. She was called to the Victorian Bar in 2015. Reiko has been teaching at Monash Law since 2016, in the areas of Contracts, Property, Equity, Evidence, Administrative Law, and Australian Legal Reasoning and Methods, as well as serving as a Learning Skills Advisor under the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program. She received the Faculty of Law Teaching Citation for the Juris Doctor compulsory unit (LAW5008 Principles of Equity) with the highest student satisfaction score in Trimester 3, 2020. Reiko’s research focus and practical experience spans multiple areas of public and private law such as critical race theory, migration policy and citizenship regimes, entertainment and sports law. Her publications include the Practical Guidance Dispute Resolution on "Confidentiality and Privilege" and "The Magistrates' Court of Victoria" (Lexis Nexis, 2021).

See Ms Ozazaki's academic profile and publications

Adjunct Professor Moira Paterson

BEc (Monash), LLB (Hons) (U. Melb.), LLM(KCL), PhD (Monash)

Adjunct Professor Moira Paterson researches in freedom of information, privacy, health records and public records law. Moira has been a Chief Investigator on eight major research projects, including five funded by the Australian Research Council, and has completed research consultancies and contracts for several government and private organisations. Her publications include Freedom of Information and Privacy in Australia: Information Access 2.0 (LexisNexis, 2015), two co-edited privacy-related books and numerous book chapters and journal articles. She was the FOI Editor of the Australian Administrative Law Service until 2018 and was member of the former Privacy Advisory Committee to the Australian Information.

See Adjunct Professor Paterson’s academic profile and publications

Professor Marilyn Pittard

Professor Marilyn Pittard was appointed Interim Dean of the of the Faculty of Law at Monash University in February 2024. Marilyn researches and teaches in the areas of labour and employment law. Her published books address business innovation and the law (with perspectives from labour, competition, IP and corporations), Australian labour law, and the judiciary in the Asia-Pacific. Marilyn is a founding and current member of the Australian Labour Law Journal’s Editorial Committee. She has worked on several ARC research funded projects and has undertaken a range of leadership roles at Monash Law School. She is President of the Australian Labour Law Association and is a member of the Victorian Cancer Council Research Ethics Committee.

See Professor Pittard’s academic profile and publications

Dr Tanjina Sharmin

LLB (1^st class Hons) (U. Dhaka), LLM (1^st class, U. Dhaka), LLM (Cambridge) (specialising in Commercial Laws), PhD (Monash)

Dr Tanjina Sharmin’s research broadly concerns international economic law and commercial laws. Her work explores the interconnection of international investment law and domestic corporation law. In line with her interest, she has undertaken research on the jurisdiction and admissibility of cases in investor-state arbitration, rule of law in international investment law, and regulation of foreign investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tanjina is currently developing new projects on human rights, sustainable development, and international investment law. Prior to joining the Monash law faculty, she practised law at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and lectured at a Bangladeshi law school for several years. She has also undertaken research work for the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

See Dr Sharmin’s academic profile and publications

Dr Elizabeth Sheargold

Dr Elizabeth Sheargold is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law. Her research is primarily in the field of international economic law, with a particular interest in the intersection between international trade and investment agreements and environmental policy, including climate policy and natural resource management. In addition, she is currently working on a project funded by the Department of Defence titled Australia and Weaponised Trade: Threats and Responses.

See Dr Sheargold's academic profile and publications

Dr Drossos Stamboulakis

B.Com, LLB (Hons) (Monash); LLM (EMLE); PhD (U. Melb.); SFHEA

Dr Drossos Stamboulakis’ research interests span international private law, focusing on comparative commercial dispute resolution (including arbitration and litigation), private international law, and environmental regulation and governance. His thesis, which analysed the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards from a comparative perspective, is forthcoming in a book, Comparative Recognition and Enforcement (Oxford University Press, 2021). Drossos is also a co-author of Australian and International Commercial Arbitration (LexisNexis, 2021). He has published widely on using private law tools to achieve sustainability and biodiversity goals, and on comparative law methods.

See Dr Stamboulakis’ academic profile and publications

Dr Brandon D. Stewart

Brandon is a doctrinal, comparative, interdisciplinary and empirical legal researcher, specialising in the law of torts and access to justice issues. He also has an interest in the intersections between corporate law, securities regulation and climate change issues. Brandon has received funding from the Fulbright Foundation and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and his research is published in leading general and specialist law journals, such as the UNSW Law Journal and Tort Law Review. He has held visiting and academic appointments from internationally recognised law schools, including the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law and Sydney Law School. Prior to entering academia, Brandon practiced as a commercial litigator and worked as a research fellow for a community legal clinic in Canada.

See Dr Stewart's academic profile and publications

Professor Steven Vaughan

In January 2025 we welcomed Professor Steven Vaughan as the Dean of the Faculty of Law. Professor Vaughan is an internationally renowned legal educator, scholar and author with 20 years’ experience spanning industry and higher education, with extensive leadership experience at UCL Laws, having previously served as Vice Dean (Strategy), Deputy Dean/Head of Department, the UK’s top-ranked Law School.

With an established international reputation as a prolific researcher, Professor Vaughan has dedicated his academic career to environmental law, regulatory theory and practice, lawyers’ ethics, legal education (including clinical legal education), diversity and ESG (environmental, social and governance). As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2006, Professor Vaughan has received multiple awards and honours for his
achievements in teaching and research.

Over the course of his career, Professor Vaughan has made significant contributions to the legal field both in the UK and abroad. His work has been cited and used by legal services regulators in the UK and Canada, and he is recognised as an authoritative voice in policy-making with several non-executive appointments in healthcare, press and legal services regulation.

See Professor Vaughan’s academic profile and publications

Dr Duncan Wallace

Duncan is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law. His background is in law, philosophy and economics, and his research focuses on social groups – their ontological nature, recognition in law, and role in economy and society. This involves research in corporations law, trusts law, tort law, criminal law, comparative law, corporate theory, legal history, social ontology, jurisprudence, sociology, evolutionary psychology, and political philosophy.

Duncan has published in the UNSW Law Journal, and also has a forthcoming book to be published with Cambridge University Press in 2026. The book is based on his doctoral thesis, titled ‘The Organic Theory of the Corporation: Social Groups and Their Recognition in Law’. Prior to joining Monash, Duncan worked in the co-operatives and mutuals sector, both as a consultant and in full-time roles. He retains a strong interest in co-operatives law and policy, and is a member of the International Co-operatives Alliance’s Young & Emerging Scholars Network on Cooperative Studies.

A selection of Duncan’s publications can be found here

Associate Professor Eric Windholz

B. Ec. (Monash) LLB (1^st Class Hons) (Monash) Grad. Dip. Company Secretarial Practice (Company Secretaries Australia) Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Monash) M.B.A. (U. Melb.) PhD. (Monash)

Dr Eric Windholz’s scholarship focuses on regulatory theory, exploring how public policy and the law intersect to inform regulatory regime design and implementation.  Eric's research has been applied to the examination of regulatory regimes in a range of important economic and social domains, including occupational health and safety, disability services, the environment, consumer protection, the media and most recently sports’ transnational regulatory and legal orders.  Eric has published widely in leading law and non-law journals (reflecting the multi-disciplinary perspective he brings to his research), presented at national and international conferences, and consulted to government.

See Dr Windholz’s academic profile and publications

Adjunct Associate Professor Normann Witzleb

Assr. Iur (Berlin), Dr Iur (EUV Frankf-O), LLB (1^st Class Merit Hons, Murdoch), GDLP (ANU)

Normann Witzleb is an Associate Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he chairs the Obligations Lab Asia, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash Faculty of Law. His research focus is on privacy and data protection law, the law of torts and remedies, as well as comparative law. His recent book publications include Big Data, Political Campaigning and the Law: Democracy and Privacy in the Age of Micro-Targeting (Routledge, 2020), with M Paterson & J Richardson (eds), and Remedies: Commentary and Materials, 7th ed (Thomson Reuters, 2020), with E Bant, S Degeling & K Barker. Normann is admitted to practice in the Australian Capital Territory, a barrister of the High Court of Australia and a fully qualified German lawyer. In 2019 and 2020, he consulted with the Australian Attorney-General’s Department and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on law reform projects in privacy and information law.

See Associate Professor Witzleb’s academic profile and publications. Some of his recent research is also available from SSRN and ResearchGate.

Ms Alicia Wright

Alicia Wright is an education-focused Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law. She teaches Equity, Trusts and Property law. Alicia has a legal background practicing in the areas of telecommunications, charity law, child safety law and mergers and acquisitions.  She has industry experience in drafting and negotiating complex tripartite agreements and providing legal advice on contractual, property, commercial and regulatory issues.

See Ms Wright’s academic profile and publications.

Dr Adefolake Adeyeye

LLB (Hons) (University of Buckingham), LLM (Cambridge), PhD (National University of Singapore)

Dr Adefolake Adeyeye is an Assistant Professor in Commercial Law at Durham University Law School, UK. Prior to this, she was a lecturer at the Monash University Law School, Melbourne. She researches and publishes in the area of corporate law and governance, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Her monograph, Corporate Social Responsibility of Multinational Corporations in Developing Countries: Perspectives on Anti-Corruption was published by Cambridge University Press in 2012. She is attorney at law, New York State, associate member of the Corporate Governance Institute, UK, member of the Institute for Commercial Law and Corporate Law, Durham Law school and member of the Society of Legal Scholars.

Emeritus Professor Stephen Bottomley FAAL

Stephen Bottomley is an Emeritus Professor of Commercial Law and former Dean ANU Law School. He is an expert in corporate law, and his research focuses on corporate governance, regulation and government-owned enterprises. His 2008 book, The Constitutional Corporation: Rethinking Corporate Governance was awarded the Hart Socio-Legal Book Prize for outstanding piece of socio-legal scholarship and his article “The Notional Legislator: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Role as a Law-Maker” (2011) 39 Federal Law Review 1received the 2011 Zines Prize for Excellence in Legal Research. He was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Legal Research Medal in the 2020 Australian Legal Research Awards.

Dr Vivien Chen

Vivien Chen is a senior lecturer who teaches corporations law at Monash Business School. Her PhD examined the implications of political economy for the effectiveness of Malaysian shareholder protection, and she continues to investigate corporate accountability mechanisms with colleagues at Monash and internationally. She is currently engaged in research on harmful financial products and legal frameworks that protect vulnerable consumers in financial stress. As part of an inter-disciplinary project, she explores the impact of the New Silk Road with the China, Law and Development team.

Dr Penelope Crossley

B Ec(SocSci)(Hons)/LLB(Hons) (Sydney), Grad. Dip. Legal Practice (Col. of Law), PhD (Sydney)

Associate Professor Penelope Crossley is an Associate Professor of Commercial Energy and Resources Law and a SOAR Fellow at the University of Sydney Law School. She researches the complex legal issues associated with the energy transition, with a particular interest in renewable energy law and the regulation of emerging energy technologies, as well as electricity market governance. Penelope is the Editor in Chief of the Australian Resources and Energy Law Journal, Chairs the independent quasi-regulatory Product Listing Review Panel, and serves on a number of industry and government boards and working groups.

Dr Olivia Dixon

Olivia Dixon is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney Law School, which she joined in 2013 as Lecturer in the Regulation of Investment and Financial Markets. She teaches and researches in corporate law, with a particular interest in regulation and corporate crime. She has an LLM and JSD from New York University (NYU), where her doctoral dissertation was an empirical study examining the role of mutual funds as corporate governance monitors. Prior to entering academia, Olivia practised as a corporate finance attorney in Sydney and New York, and also worked as an analyst for a corporate finance company and with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Dr. Zehra G. Kavame Eroglu

Zehra Eroglu  is a Lecturer (Corporate Law and Finance Law) and Director of the Master of Professional Accounting and Law at Deakin Law School. Before moving to Australia, she was located in New York where she completed her LLM (Columbia Law School) and SJD (Fordham Law School) in addition to working as a Postdoctoral Research Scholar (Columbia Law School). She taught Comparative Corporate Law and Comparative Financial Reporting (Fordham Law School) and Corporate Law (Swiss International Law School).

John Fast

John Fast is a lawyer and economist. He is currently Executive Chairman of Seawick Pty Ltd, an international specialist advisory firm. Before taking on that role, he was the Founder and Joint Managing Director of the advisory company, Dragoman Pty Ltd and, prior to that, a senior executive with BHP, where he acted in the executive role as Chief Legal Counsel and member of the Policy Committee. John was one of the architects and chief strategists in the formation of the dual listing with Billiton Ltd. He is an alumnus of Monash Law School and began his career as Senior Commercial Partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, governance, taxation, trusts and financial planning advice.

Ray Finkelstein AO QC

Ray Finkelstein obtained a law degree from Monash University Faculty of Law in 1970 and was admitted to practice in 1971. In 1975, he was called to the Bar, where he specialised in equity, commercial and corporate law. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986; acting Solicitor General for the State of Victoria during 1992; Federal Court judge in 1997; President of the Australian Competition Tribunal in 2008. He retired as a Federal Court judge and as President of the Competition Tribunal in 2011, returning to private practice at the Victorian Bar. In 2011, he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at Monash University Faculty of Law, and was selected by the Commonwealth Government to chair the Independent Inquiry into Aspects of the Media.

Honorary Professor Brent Fisse

Honorary Professor Brent Fisse runs his own competition and consumer law practice (Brent Fisse Lawyers, Sydney). He was a partner of Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney from 1995-2003. He is a consultant to the Asian Development Bank on competition law and policy in Pacific Island economies including Fiji and PNG. Brent is an honorary professor of law at the University of Sydney. His publications include Australian Cartel Regulation (CUP, 2011) ((with Caron Beaton-Wells) and Corporations, Crime and Accountability (CUP, 1993) (with John Braithwaite), and “Australian Cartel Law: Recent Developments” (2023) Australian Business Law Review (forthcoming).

Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci

Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci is the Jacobson Fellow at NYU Law School. He specialises in corporate law. Sergio’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Australian Journal of Corporate Law, the Cornell Law Review, the Mississippi Law Journal, the Nevada Law Journal, and the Seattle Law Review. It has also been featured in blogs and magazines, including the Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and Capital Markets, TheCorporateCounsel.net, Forbes, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, and the Oxford Business Law Blog. Sergio co-authored the book Citizen Capitalism: How a Universal Fund Can Provide Influence and Income to All. In addition, Sergio is the organizer of the Collaborative Research Network 46 of the Law and Society Association.

Professor Michael Mintrom

Professor Michael Mintrom is a Professor of Public Policy in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. He also serves as the Director of Better Governance and Policy, a cross-university research initiative. He began his career as an economic analyst in the New Zealand Treasury. In his various academic roles, spanning three countries, Michael has contributed to the literature on policy design and policy advocacy. He has written extensively on regulation. His current research on regulation considers effective means to create public value through effective adoption of RegTech by regulatory agencies. He has also been collaborating with Monash designers and roboticists to consider appropriate regulation to guide the growing presence of robots in public spaces. As well as being an Affiliate of CLARS, Michael is an Affiliate of the Monash Date Futures Institute and a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

Adjunct Professor Rowan Russell

BA LLB (Hons) (Monash)

Rowan Russell was a partner for more than 25 years of Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons), where he was a leading specialist in banking and finance law and capital markets. He has practised as a lawyer in Melbourne, Sydney, and London. When he retired at the end of 2011, Rowan became an Adjunct Professor of Law and a Sessional teacher for the Faculty. Rowan continued in those roles until the end of 2021. Rowan has taught several courses for the Faculty over many years in both Melbourne and Prato. The courses have been in the areas of corporate finance, debt capital markets and securities law. Rowan has published papers and contributed chapters in published books on many topics including debt capital markets, banking regulation, the liability of directors and of credit rating agencies and also in relation to the internationalisation of legal education.  Rowan has been a member of the Securities Committee of the International Bar Association and the Academic Committee of the Banking & Financial Services Law Association.

Dr Lisa Spagnolo

B.Com LLB (Supreme Court Prize) (Deakin), PhD (Law)(Mollie Holman Medal) (Monash)

Dr Lisa Spagnolo previously practised at Minter Ellison. She now researches comparative and international contract and property law, has published with Kluwer, Cambridge University Press and Elgar, lectures in Property Law, Contracts and Advanced Commercial Contracts at Monash University, and has been cited by judges and government papers.

Lisa was Rapporteur for CISG Advisory Council, expert advisor to the New York State Bar Association, is a Fellow of UN Coordination Committee of Australia, has consulted for law firms, and is currently a chief investigator on an ARC Linkage Grant.

See Dr Spagnolo's academic profile and publications

Professor Peta Spender

Peta Spender is an Emeritus Professor at ANU and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She has published widely in the areas of corporations/financial markets law and made submissions to various law reform bodies including the James Hardie Special Commission of Inquiry. Her scholarship has for many years also explored the role of women in corporations, and she has recently argued that the current salience of gender as a political issue may favour the introduction of gender quotas for corporate boards. Her corporate law research has been cited by the Australian High Court and in amicus briefs filed in the US Supreme Court.

Assistant Professor Jenifer Varzaly

Dr Jenifer Varzaly is an Assistant Professor in Commercial and Corporate Law at Durham University Law School, and a Research Associate at the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this, she was an Academic Member of the Cambridge University Law Faculty, and a College Teaching Associate, Director of Studies, and Bye-Fellow in Law, at Downing College, Cambridge University. She completed her PhD at Cambridge University (where she was a Cambridge International & Evan Lewis Thomas Sidney Sussex post holder) and her M.Phil/M.St at Oxford University.

Jenifer has been a visiting academic at Columbia University and at Stanford University, and consulted in the areas of corporate law and finance in the US, Australia, and the UK. She has been invited to present at a range of international forums, including the Oxford University Commercial Law Centre, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. Jenifer is admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Australia, and has served as a director and chair of the governance committee on a public company board.

Jenifer’s research projects are predominantly in the fields of corporate law and governance and law and finance. Her work has notably been cited by judges, research institutes, regulatory bodies, federal standing committees, and in the Parliamentary Report on the Implications of Common Ownership and Capital Concentration in Australia, regarding which Jenifer appeared as an academic expert in Federal Parliament.

Professor Susan Watson

Professor Susan Watson is Dean of the University of Auckland Business School and also holds a chair in the Faculty of Law.  She researches how the corporate form developed, why it is so successful, and the economic and societal impact of corporations . Susan was joint editor of the New Zealand Business Law Quarterly (2007-2014) and won the Legal Research Foundation Award for the best article or book chapter published in 2015.  She was elected president of the Society of Corporate Law Academics (SCoLa), formerly CLTA, at the beginning of 2020 and is a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).

Professor Michelle Welsh

Michelle Welsh is the Senior Deputy Dean, Faculty Operations, Monash Business School. She undertakes research in the public enforcement of corporate law, the role of the public regulator and the impact of enforcement on corporate compliance. She is a former President of the Australasian Corporate Law Teachers Association and was a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Project with colleagues from the Melbourne Law School titled Phoenix Activity: Regulating Fraudulent Use of the Corporate Form'. Currently, Michelle is a member of a Monash University Network of Excellence (NoE) project: “Enhancing Corporate Accountability” (with researchers from Monash Law School, the National University of Singapore and Manchester University). She is also working on a project that investigates optimal methods of regulating Debt Management Firms.

Yu Zhang

Yu specialises in derivatives, financial market infrastructure and regulatory changes and banking and finance transactions. Yu's experience in derivatives and financial market transactions have included acting for domestic banks, leading investment banks and super funds on a range of structured finance transactions involving derivatives and in relation to regulatory changes and requirements.  He has also advised a number of ASX 100 companies as end-users. Yu's work in financial market infrastructure and regulatory changes has included advising market participants, exchanges, clearing and payment systems, regulators and governments in Australia and Asia. He is known for his expertise in LIBOR transition. He has lectured in Corporations Law.

Visit the PhD Student Achievements page for a list of PhD Candidates.

Chloe Eden

Chloe is a penultimate year Bachelor of Law (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Economics) student at Monash University. She has a strong interest in various areas of commercial law, including competition law and corporate governance, and the role that governments play in regulating these areas. She is currently working as a Law Clerk at an insurance litigation firm. Outside of her work and studies, Chloe enjoys reading, playing tennis and travelling.

Isabelle Jenkins

Isabelle Jenkins is in her penultimate year of studying a Bachelor of Laws (Honours)/Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) at Monash University. She has a particular interest in intellectual property law, competition and consumer law and corporate governance. Alongside her studies, Isabelle is employed as a paralegal in intellectual property at a leading Australian law firm. She was a 2025 Editor of the Monash University Law Review and was selected for the Monash Faculty of Law’s High Academic Achievers’ Program. During her spare time, Isabelle enjoys reading, bushwalking and running.

Ai-Vy Nguyen

Ai-Vy is in her final year studying a double degree of Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce. She has developed interests in intellectual property and technology law, taxation law, competition and consumer law, and corporate ESG. These have been explored through clerkships with leading commercial firms and her experience working in the Commercial Division of the County Court of Victoria. Outside of law, Ai-Vy balances her enjoyment of contributing to cultural committees with everyday pleasures like hojicha lattes and testing new makeup products. She aspires to build her professional capabilities in the commercial law realm while continuing to advocate for diversity and equity within the profession.

Ben Noonan

Ben is currently a fifth year Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce student (majoring in Economics) at Monash University. He has a strong interest in commercial law, particularly competition and consumer law and employment law. In his role as a paralegal in a Dispute Resolution and Litigation team, Ben has gained more practical knowledge of commercial law and its application in the real world. Outside of law, Ben enjoys playing football competitively as well as involvement in the football club more broadly.

Simran Sunt

Simran is a final year law student at Monash studying a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce. Apart from university, she works as a law clerk at a commercial and tax law firm. She hopes this internship will enhance her skillset, and deepen her understanding of commercial law. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, pilates and the occasional hike.

Visit the Past Interns page for a list of previous CLARS Interns.