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Prof Nick James

Executive Dean - Law

Level 4, Building 4, Faculty of Law, Bond University

Faculty of Law

Centre for Professional Legal Education

Accepting PhD Students

Professional biography

Professor Nick James is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University. He is a former commercial lawyer and has been practising as an academic since 1996. He is passionate about legal education and the role of law schools in modern society. His areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law. He has won numerous awards for his teaching including a National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, and he is the author of several leading textbooks. He has written numerous journal articles, book chapters and conference papers in the areas of legal education, critical legal theory, disruption of the legal services sector and the impacts of climate change.

Professor James is Co-Director of the Bond University Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLE), Co-Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD), President of the Australasian Animal Law Teachers Association (AALTRA), Immediate Past Chair of the Australasian Law Academics Association (ALAA), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Research interests

I am the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University, and a former commercial lawyer. I have been an academic since 1996. I am passionate about legal education and the role of law schools in modern society. My areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law. 

My research is characterised by four overlapping themes:

  1. The development of legal reasoning and critical thinking skills by law students: In my doctoral thesis I applied Foucauldian theory to explore and explain the inconsistency and marginalisation of critique within Australian legal education. Since then I have continued to conduct research in an effort to resolve these inconsistencies and construct a practical and relevant pedagogy for the teaching and assessment of legal reasoning and critical legal thinking.
  2. The critical analysis and evaluation of law teaching programs, projects and problems: I have published papers and engaged in projects about law program objectives, law student mentoring programs, 100% final exams and other assessment for law students, law student wellbeing, animal law education, and climate law education.
  3. The application of Foucauldian theoretical frameworks and methodologies to law and legal issues: I have published papers focussing upon Foucauldian analyses of legal education, cybercrime regulation, corporate crime, and academic resistance to teaching reform.
  4. Foundational law textbooks: I am the author if two leading textbooks: Business Law and The New Lawyer, a first year law textbook co-authored with Rachael Field and Jackson Walkden-Brown. Both are publushed by Wiley.

Teaching expertise

Nick’s areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law.

Teaching awards

  • 2007 Carrick Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

Professional admissions

  • Admitted as Solicitor (Queensland)
  • Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law
  • Member of the Council of Australian Law Deans
  • Member of the Australasian Law Academics Association
  • Member of the Australasian Animal Law Teachers and Researchers Association
  • Member of the Centre for Professional Legal Education

Professional appointments

  • Co-Chair - Council of Australian Law Deans
  • Immediate Past Chair - Australasian Law Academics Association
  • President - Australasian Animal Law Teachers and Researchers Association
  • Co-Director - Centre for Professional Legal Education
  • Executive Editor – Legal Education Review

Qualifications

  • Law, PhD, Queensland University of Technology, Award Date: 16 Sep 2004

Fields of Research

  • Law in context

Statement for HDR students

There are two areas in which I am interested in supervising a HDR project:

  1. The development of legal reasoning and critical thinking skills by law students
  2. The critical analysis and evaluation of law teaching programs, projects and problems

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