Law School

Dr Iain Field

Senior Lecturer
TC Beirne School of Law
+61 7 344 31329
View researcher profile

Researcher biography

Iain is a Senior Lecturer in the TC Beirne School of Law and an Honorary Associate Professor at Bond University. His primary research and teaching interests lie in the area of tort law, with an emphasis on defences and damages. Iain's most recent work focusses on claimant accountability in tort law, the relationship between remedial rules and rules of liability, and the intersection of public and private law. Specific issues addressed include: whether provocation ought to afford a basis for the reduction of compensatory damages in trespass; the nature and function of contributory negligence and its relationship with the rules of mitigation; the relationship between the principles of statutory interpretation and theories of vicarious liability; and whether the standard of the reasonable person ought to be applied 'equivalently' to claimants (for the purposes of establishing contributory negligence) and defendants (for the purposes of establishing negligence). Iain has also written extensively on statutory good faith protections in tort law and their connection with underlying theories of vicarious liability, and bereavement damages.

Iain's work has been accepted for publication in leading law journals, including the Modern Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Melbourne University Law Review, University of New South Wales Law Journal and Sydney Law Review. He has also co-authored articles with senior members of the judiciary and the academy and presented at both domestic and international legal conferences.

Iain was the recipient of a 2022 Australian Legal Research Award, in the category Article/Chapter (General), for his article 'The Problem with Provocation in Trespass' (Modern Law Review). He also recieved the 2017 Faculty of Law Emerging Research Excellence Award (Bond) for his work on Good Faith Defences.

Iain was also awarded the 2018 Law Students' Association Teaching Award (Bond) and the 2015 Stanley Shaw Bond Prize for Teaching Excellence (Bond).

Iain is an editor the University of Queensland Law Journal. He was the General Editor of the Bond Law Review from 2015–2019.

Publications

Journal Articles (15)
Conference Papers (4)
Seminar Papers (2)

Journal Articles

Field, Iain (2023). Contributory negligence in the twenty-first century, by James Goudkamp and Donal Nolan. Journal of Professional Negligence, 38 (1), 58-62.
Field, Iain (2020). The problem with provocation in trespass. Modern Law Review, 84 (2) 1468-2230.12582, 297-333. doi: 10.1111/1468-2230.12582
Dietrich, Joachim and Field, Iain (2019). Statute and Theories of Vicarious Liability. Melbourne University Law Review, 43 (2), 515-557.
Field, Iain D. (2018). Contributory negligence and the rule of avoidable losses. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 38 (3), 475-499. doi: 10.1093/OJLS/GQY007
Dietrich, Joachim and Field, Iain (2017). The 'reasonable tort victim': Contributory negligence, standard of care and the 'equivalence theory'. Melbourne University Law Review, 41 (2), 602-646.
Field, Iain (2017). A good faith challenge to the taxonomy of tort law defences. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 40 (2), 537-565.
Field, Iain (2016). Good faith defences in tort law. Sydney Law Review, 38 (2), 147-178.
Field, Iain (2016). Good faith protections and public sector liability. Torts Law Journal, 23 (3), 210-229.
Field, I. (2015). Welcome to the New Bond Law Review. Bond Law Review, 27 (1), 1-4.
Field, Iain (2014). In mourning of bereavement damages. Torts Law Journal, 22, 95-125.
Field, Iain and Keyzer, Patrick (2011). Preface: The evolving roles of Attorneys-General and Solicitors-General. Bond Law Review, 23 (2), iii-vi.
Field, Iain (2011). Crime fighters and border guards: The Scottish law officers in comparative perspective. Bond Law Review, 23 (2), 26-47.
Steytler, Chris and Field, Iain (2011). The 'institutional integrity' principle: Where are we now, and where are we headed?. University of Western Australia Law Review, 35 (2), 227-264.
Field, Iain (2011). Judicial mediation, the judicial process and Ch III of the Constitution. Australasian Dispute Resolution Journal, 22 (2), 72-83.
Field, Iain (2010). A comment on costs in Constitutional cases. Bond Law Review, 22 (3), 104-110.

Conference Papers

Dietrich, Joachim and Field, Iain (2019). Statute and theories of vicarious liability. Colloquium on Intersections in Private Law, University of Sydney Law School, Sydney, Australia, 16-17 August 2019.
Field, Iain (2019). Partial defences in trespass. Colloquium on Intersections in Private Law, University of Sydney Law School, Sydney, Australia, 16-17 August 2019.
Field, Iain (2016). Good faith defences and public sector liability. Protecting Business and Economic Interests: Contemporary Issues in Tort Law, Supreme Court, Singapore, 18-19 August 2016.
Field, Iain (2010). A comment on costs in constitutional cases. Access to Constitutional Justice Conference, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, 4 June 2010.

Seminar Papers

Field, Iain (2022). Rookes v Barnard (1964): 'Going off the Lines'. Landmark Cases in the Law of Punitive Damages. Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, University of Oxford.
Fell, Andrew and Field, Iain (2021). The compensatory principle: restitutio in integrum or restitutio rationalis?. TC Beirne School of Law, UQ.

Areas of research

Law of Obligations
Private Law Theory
Torts