Emeritus Professor Michael Gillooly, Professor Doug Hodgson, The Honourable Justice Neville Owen, Professor Jane Power, Professor Joan Squelch and Professor Celia Hammond celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Notre Dame School of Law, Fremantle. Photo: Supplied.
The University of Notre Dame Australia celebrated the 20th anniversary of its School of Law, Fremantle, with a Gala event on Wednesday 8 November 2017.
Notre Dame’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Celia Hammond and Dean of the Law School Professor Doug Hodgson, welcomed more than 150 guests to the Fremantle Campus celebration, including Senator Mathias Cormann (Federal Minister for Finance), Matt Keogh MP (Member for the Federal Seat of Burt) and The Honourable Michael Mischin MLC, as well as students, graduates and staff.
Former Senior Judge of the Court of Appeal of the West Australian Supreme Court and founding member of the Notre Dame Law School Advisory Board, The Honourable Justice Neville Owen, delivered the keynote address.
“Notre Dame’s School of Law was established in one of the periodic downturns in the Australian economy and when there was great strain on the ability of the profession to take increasing numbers of graduates,” Justice Owen said.
“I thought then, and I still think, that the creation of a new Law School was of value to the community.
”We looked at it as a place where lawyers could be trained in a slightly different way with benefit both in preparation for entry into the practicing profession and as a general education with wider importance for the good of society.
“The pressures have not changed much over the past 20 years. The practicing profession still struggles to find places for all but the success of the School illustrates that Australian society needs people who can think critically and who can apply in their callings, whatever they may be, the logical and analytical problem solving techniques that the study of law is ideally suited to instill,” Justice Owen added.
“A lot of thought went into the design of the course and it has stood the test of time. It is a lot more prescriptive than that employed by other universities, with a greater number of compulsory subjects including Legal History, Legal Philosophy and Legal Ethics.”
More than 1100 students have graduated from Notre Dame’s Law School in Fremantle since it first opened its doors in 1997.