RMIT launches new undergrad law degrees

RMIT launches new undergrad law degrees

For the first time in 43 years, RMIT is offering an undergraduate law degree – technology is at its core.

RMIT is offering a new law degree and two law double degrees at the undergraduate level to complement the many existing postgraduate law degrees.

The refreshed offerings come as the legal profession undergoes major technology-driven transformations, and it’s precisely these challenges the degree is designed to meet.

Professor Kathy Douglas joined RMIT in 1993, teaching criminal law in the Criminal Justice Administration program, now the Bachelor of Criminal Justice and Master of Justice and Criminology.

She's now the Dean of the Graduate School of Business and Law.

Kathy says big firms are outsourcing some of their work and bundling legal services, while boutique ‘virtual’ firms are growing in prominence, focusing on specific areas of law such as intellectual property.

“Technology is at the core of our new undergraduate law degrees, as it is with our Juris Doctor,” says Kathy.

“Advances such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and biometrics are changing – or need to change – how law is practiced.

“Then there’s the new generation of entrepreneurs and start-ups who are looking for lawyers to keep pace with their industries faster than ever before.”

It’s why the subject of technology in law is not constrained to a single elective – it has been weaved into a large chunk of the degrees’ pedagogy.

Kathy says design-thinking and innovative justice are also central to RMIT’s law offerings, supported by a strong partnership with the Centre for Innovative Justice.

The team also looked to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) for inspiration, using its strengths to make the law degrees just as cutting-edge.

“It’s our very inter-disciplinary approach to law at RMIT that is a major asset,” Kathy says.

news_kathdouglas_1220px Professor Kathy Douglas is the Dean of the Graduate School of Business and Law.

Another emerging area of law is business and human rights, with RMIT recently establishing the Centre for Business and Human Rights to home the University’s research in this space.

Dispute resolution forms part of the Centre’s remit and it’s an area Kathy is well-researched in, with alternative dispute resolution a key interest of hers.

She says collaborative approaches like negotiation and mediation are different, and valid, ways help solve clients’ legal problems

“My teaching has been about making lawyers understand there’s more to law than the courtroom,” she says.

“I love to help people move from a traditional, adversarial mindset towards a non-adversarial approach. These practices are very much part of my teaching.”

Alternative dispute resolution can also play a positive role in the workplace, an area Kathy has also lent her expertise to as a practicing meditator.

At the heart of Kathy’s passion lies her advocacy for law reform: she believes there’s always room for improvement – in the courtroom and the classroom.

“I love creating a school that is inter-disciplinary and innovative in both its teaching, research and industry engagement,” she says.

For Kathy, leadership is about trying to work collaboratively to achieve fantastic outcomes, like understanding together how to achieve cutting edge outputs.

“I can’t just sit and admire the status quo – I have to change things up,” she says.

She’s passionate about making the University the best it can be, a value she’s carried through her various roles and responsibilities.

“I have enjoyed trying to make RMIT a place where students have fond memories,” says Kathy. “I want them to look back and feel so proud of being part of RMIT and what they achieved while they were with us.

“Throughout my whole 27 years, that has been so important to me.”

Direct applications are open for The Bachelor of Laws, the Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business (Information Systems) and the Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business (Economics and Finance).

Fun fact

RMIT previously offered an undergraduate law degree for admission to legal practice from 1962 to 1978, known as the Articled Clerks’ course.

Former Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls, now the Director of RMIT’s Centre for Innovative Justice, was in one of the last intakes.

 

Story: Aeden Ratcliffe

17 August 2020

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17 August 2020

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