Monash University Faculty of Law
Although Monash University was founded to focus primarily on science and technology, it would inevitably establish a law school.
The Victorian Council of Legal Education, the chief justice of Victoria and the Victorian Government pushed for the overnight establishment of a law school at Monash University, but this was resisted by the University's Vice-Chancellor, Sir Louis Matheson, who wanted a high quality, well-planned, original faculty of law.
In the end, it was over a relatively short period of time – 5 months from October 1963 to March 1964 – that a first-year law school curriculum was established and two teaching staff were appointed.
A law library was established with impressive speed, after substantial book donations from two former justices of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Following debate between Monash University, the Crown Solicitor and the Parliamentary Draftsmen, the Act was eventually amended.
His appointment was announced on a Monday, and he was reportedly outlining detailed proposals for first-year subjects by the following Friday.
Monash University introduced small-group teaching, interactive lectures and a curriculum which emphasised legal skills in addition to a knowledge of the law itself.
"[6] This stood in contrast to the conventional style of teaching in other Australian law schools, in which part-time staff members would deliver lectures to a hall of students with little or no student-teacher interaction.
In later years, Derham also managed to establish strong international links with law schools in North America and Europe, which continue today.
The first lecture, on "The Legal System", was held by Derham on 9 March 1964, with all staff sitting anxiously in the front row.
In addition to its teaching reforms, Monash also became the first law school in Australia to establish its own community legal centres, which were and continue to be run by students under the supervision of staff and other lawyers.
Instead, it chose selectively to use Monash University's global presence to create new opportunities for international study and research.
It hosts faculty-run Community Legal Centres, staffed by undergraduate law students who may undertake clinical work as part of their degrees.
Monash was among the first law schools in Australia to incorporate Community Legal Services into its teaching programs.
The Monash-Oakleigh Legal Service, which includes the Family Law Assistance Program, is located just outside the western border of the University's Clayton Campus.
[34] Since the establishment of Community Legal Services in the early 1970s,[28] similar programs have been introduced at other Australian law schools.
