Griffith Law School

Griffith Law School

Griffith University logo
Parent institution	Griffith University
Dean	Professor Penelope Mathew
Location	Brisbane and Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Website	Official website

The Griffith Law School is a school of Griffith University. The School is spread across three campuses throughout Queensland, Brisbane (Nathan & South Bank Campuses) and the Gold Coast Campus. The Griffith Law School is noted for maintaining a culture of social justice.

The Australian government ranks Griffith Law School among the top law schools for quality in research. The Australian Research Council's 'Excellence in Research for Australia' initiative (ERA) ranked Griffith Law School among the top eight law schools in Australia. With a 4/5 score, it ties with law schools at University of Queensland, Monash, University of Sydney, UNSW and Adelaide, and is just below the University of Melbourne and ANU, both of which scored 5/5. The ERA Ranking places Griffith and UQ Law at the top of Queensland law schools, ahead of QUT (3/5), Bond (2/5) and USQ (2/5).^[1] The Australian Research Council also gave a rare A* (highest level) Australian Research Council ranking to the School's flagship research journal, the Griffith Law Review, placing it among the top six of Australian law schools.^[2]

Research centres and projects

Research centres at Griffith Law School include the:

• Socio-Legal Research Centre
• Innocence Project
• Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture

Courses and programs

The Griffith Law School provides an interdisciplinary legal education. Undergraduate degrees are generally taught as combined degrees with other disciplines within the university; however, the option to do a stand-alone (LLB only) law degree is also available.^[3]

Undergraduate (including graduate-entry LLB) degree programs are taught from the Nathan and Gold Coast campuses. Postgraduate research programs (PhD and MPhil) are oriented toward the investigation of law in theoretical and socio-legal context; these programs also are taught at the Nathan or Gold Coast campuses.^[4]

The law school has a diverse range of clinical opportunities ensuring that students graduate with practical legal skills. These include the Griffith University Innocence Project and Semester-In-Practice.

Staff

Professor Penelope Mathew is currently the Dean of the Law School. Over 40 other lecturers and professors work full-time for the law school. A number of adjunct lectures from the legal practice community also periodically teach at the law school.

Student Associations

The Griffith University Law Society (GULS) is a student society which works to support law students in all aspects of their academic, personal and professional development through creativity, inclusiveness and integrity.

GULS is the largest independent student organisation at Griffith University. It is based at the original Griffith Nathan campus and operates across all of Brisbane. Every year GULS runs a number of major social events, legal skills competitions, educational workshops, equity events, careers support initiatives as well as producing a variety of publications and running an established mentorship program. GULS also represents students to the university, the legal profession and other graduate employers.

The Griffith University Law Students' Association (GULSA) is a student representative group which supports and represents Law students on Griffith University's Gold Coast campus.

GULSA provides a variety of services to students including legal skills competitions (which aim to develop students' practical legal skills), and social and networking events. GULSA also networks with the legal community on the Gold Coast and beyond. The GULSA also provides Law students with information which looks beyond the traditional path of becoming a solicitor.

Notable alumni

• Andrew Fraser, former Queensland Treasurer^[5]
• Brett Mason, Liberal Party senator^[6]
• Larissa Waters, Green Party senator
• James McGrath, Liberal Party senator

A significant number of law academics, many of whom are internationally recognized and well-regarded legal scholars who have widely published and have been highly cited in their respective fields, have received their doctorates in law from the Griffith Law School. Among these legal academics who received their PhD in law from the Griffith Law School include:

• Helen Stacey, Professor of Law, Stanford University
• Jacqueline D Lipton, Professor of Law, University of Houston
• Lee Godden, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne
• Brian Fitzgerald, Dean and Professor of Law, Australian Catholic University
• Rob McQueen, Professor of Law, Monash University
• A.J. Brown, John F Kearney Professor of Public Law, Griffith University
• Mary Keyes, Professor of Law, Griffith University
• Belinda Carpenter, Professor of Law and Justice, Queensland University of Technology
• Graeme Orr, Professor of Law, University of Queensland
• Jennifer Corrin, Professor of Law, University of Queensland
• Ian Freckelton, Barrister; Conjoint Professor of Law, Monash University; Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine; Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
• Robert Burrell, Winthrop Professor of Law, The University of Western Australia
• Michael Robertson, Professor of Law, University of Southern Queensland
• Terry Hutchinson, Associate Professor in Law, Queensland University of Technology
• Marett Leiboff, Associate Professor in Law, Wollongong University
• Kieran Tranter, Senior Lecturer in Law, Griffith University
• Kylie Burns, Senior Lecturer in Law, Griffith University
• Penny Crofts, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Technology Sydney

References

External links

• Griffith Law School
• Griffith Law School's Innocence Project
• Socio-Legal Research Centre, Griffith Law School
• Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture, an Intellectual Property Research Centre situated at Griffith Law School
• The Griffith Law Review
• The Australian Feminist Law Journal