Aaron Lane

Dr Aaron Lane is an Australian Lawyer and an expert in the relationship between regulation and innovation. He has internationally recognised expertise on the law, economics and regulation of blockchain and cryptocurrency. 

Aaron’s award-winning academic research explores the relationship between regulation and innovation, and the impact of new and emerging technologies for law and governance. He has been published in leading academic journals including the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, the European Intellectual Property Review, the Monash University Law Review, the Journal of Business Research, and Regulation & Governance. He is the co-author of Cryptodemocracy: How Blockchain Can Radically Expand Democratic Choice (Lexington 2019) which was lauded by Professor Michael Munger (Duke University) as a “turning point in the literature connecting political science and technology”.  He received the 2023 RMIT University Award for Research Impact (Early Career Researcher). 

Aaron has lectured and coordinated courses including Business Economics & Anaylsis, Company Law, Competition & Consumer Law, and Law & Technology. He was previously program manager of the Business Law Group and the Graduate Certificate in Emerging Technology and the Law. He is the co-author of the textbook Law in Commerce (7th edition, Lexis Nexis). 

Aaron’s academic career sits on a foundation of industry experience. Aaron was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria and is a Barrister at the Victorian Bar. Since coming to the Bar, Aaron has appeared in civil proceedings including freezing orders, shareholder disputes, bankruptcy and insolvency matters, financial services cases, and misleading conduct claims. He has also acted in criminal proceedings involving fraud, theft, and regulatory offences. Prior to coming to the Bar, Aaron was Special Counsel at Duxton Hill specialising in fraud, misconduct and financial crime. Aaron commenced his legal career as a lawyer at national firm Maddocks acting in administrative law proceedings (judicial and merits review), criminal prosecutions, and advising on regulation, governance and state taxation.  

Aaron leverages his academic and legal experience for public policy impact. He has appeared to give expert evidence before State and Federal parliamentary inquiries (including on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence) and has contributed to an Amicus Brief filed in the Supreme Court of the United States (on competition law and financial payments).

Aaron provides leadership to the legal profession. He is the national chair of the Digital Commerce Commmittee of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the Continuing Professional Development Committee at the Victorian Bar, and a member of the Blockchain Expert Group at Business at OECD.