LAWS7725 Current Issues in Legal Practice
This course will examine contemporary issues arising in the legal profession. Topics will vary from year to year, drawing on the innovative research of the UQ Law School academic staff, as well as the expertise of visiting scholars and leading practitioners. Please refer to the Law School website for current topics. This course will examine contemporary professional issues in the law of evidence, civil liability, civil litigation, ethics, and administrative tribunals.
Topic: Internet law, AI and Information Technology issues
Course presenter: Prof John Swinson
John Swinson's principal interests are intellectual property law, Internet law, privacy law, cybersecurity law and the application of law to new technologies.
John commenced as a part-time professor at the T.C. Beirne School of Law in November 2017. John graduated from the T.C. Beirne School of Law in 1998 with a University Medal. He also has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in computer science from The University of Queensland and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School where he studied as a Fulbright Fellow and a Frank Knox Scholar. From 1999 until 2017, John was an adjunct professor at QUT.
John was a partner at the law firm King & Wood Mallesons from 1999 to 2021. He was also Chairman of the auDA Policy Review Panel, which made recommendations to the auDA Board to revise Australia's domain name policies in 2019.
Since 2000, John has been an arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva, and has decided over 650 disputes regarding the ownership of domain names.
Topic: ESG, Business and the Law
Course presenter: Ms Fiona Candy
Course Aims
- To enable students to discover and develop a thorough knowledge of the key concepts, drivers and context of ESG in the law and business.
- To facilitate and promote students’ capacity to analyse authentic case studies and to appreciate and anticipate future developments – critical to the highly polarised and fast-moving nature of ESG.
- To encourage and inspire students to query existing paradigms, demonstrate creative solutions, and to apply their acquired understanding to contemporary problems.
Learning Objectives
After successfully completing this course, you should be able to:
- State and accurately explain the underlying drivers, macro forces and key concepts of Environmental, Social and Governance and demonstrate that you appreciate the reasons for the growing importance and polarisation of ESG.
- Demonstrate that you can describe and critically analyse the alphabet soup of ESG taxonomy (disclosure standards, sustainability frameworks, sector benchmarks, rating agencies) and that you can identify and explain the ever-increasing maze of soft and hard law concerning ESG in recent years, including the regional nuances and direction of travel.
- Identify and explore the ESG risks and opportunities for businesses, including critical analysis of real-life case studies.
- Formulate, share and assist in implementing a strategy in response to ESG risks and opportunities.
- Apply your acquired knowledge of the key concepts of ESG effectively, in a variety of contexts and settings (different corporate structures, industries and jurisdictions).