I'm an academic lawyer with a keen interest in all aspects of private law but a specialisation in the principles applicable to cross-border litigation: private international law or the conflict of laws. In particular, I am interested in cross-border media law issues involving freedom of expression and privacy. These are subjects which I have commented upon on national television, at TEDx, and in academic journals.

I combine my academic work with legal practice. I work on litigious matters as a consultant at Bennett + Co. I’m also general editor of the Media & Arts Law Review and a reporter for the New South Wales Law Reports.

My academic research has been cited by superior courts and by parliamentary committeess. I’m a regular contributor to popular media platforms, including the ABC.

In the ‘Fall’ of 2018 I researched conflict of laws and privacy law at Harvard Law School, where I also taught a couple of classes to JD and LLM students. In 2019 I was a Visiting Scholar at the Hague Conference on Private International Law; I was an invited expert for the diplomatic session which saw the finalisation of the HCCH Judgments Convention.

I am originally from Bunbury, Western Australia, and attended UWA Law School as a Fogarty Foundation Regional Scholar. Apart from my legal studies, I hold an Honours degree in philosophy and an MBA with Distinction. My PhD is supervised by David Rolph and William Gummow.

Books published in 2019:

Michael Douglas, Vivienne Bath, Mary Keyes and Andrew Dickinson (eds), Commercial Issues in Private International Law: A Common Law Perspective (Hart Publishing)

Martin Davies, Andrew Bell, Paul le Gay Brereton and Michael Douglas, Nygh’s Conflict of Laws in Australia – 10^th edition (LexisNexis)

Conflict of laws, media law, procedure, federal jurisdiction; previously remedies, torts, equity, property

Project areas in 2020: defamation; media law; economic torts; civil procedure; conflict of laws.

I'm a litigation lawyer, admitted in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the High Court of Australia. I'm a Consultant at Bennett + Co in the firm’s commercial litigation and dispute resolution practice. I've worked on a wide variety of litigious matters and have appeared as counsel in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

I'm a former director of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) National Coordination Committee for Australia. In 2013, I interned at the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific in South Korea, where he researched investor-State dispute settlement. I maintain an interest in the harmonisation of laws in respect of business, particularly in respect of private international law.

Postgraduate Research Support Scheme, University of Sydney: $3,500 (2019)

BarNetwork Pty Ltd project grant: $10,000 (2018)

UWA Teaching-Research Nexus grant: $2,500 (2018)

Walter Reid Scholarship – PhD travel scholarship, University of Sydney: $7,000 (2018)

Postgraduate Research Support Scheme, University of Sydney: $3,000 (2018)

CMCL & IPRIA ECR Workshop travel grant, Melbourne Law School (2017)