In this episode, Matthew Bell speaks with Julian Bailey in London and Kim Rosenberg in Dubai. Julian and Kim both did their legal training and spent their early years in practice in Australia, and have gone on to be partners in leading international firms and to make very substantial contributions to the international construction law community through their writings, teaching and involvement with leading professional bodies.

Julian and Kim reflect on how their early days in Australia prepared them for international practice and how they have built and consolidated their careers. They also share tips for how lawyers keen to do a stint overseas (whether a year or two, or more) can leverage their Australian experience.

You can find out more about Julian and Kim via their firm websites:

• https://www.jonesday.com/en/lawyers/b/julian-bailey

• https://www.freshfields.com/en/find-a-lawyer/r/rosenberg-kim

In this episode, host Miranda Stewart is joined in conversation by Peter Harris, Professor of Tax Law at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Centre for Tax Law. With a career spanning many years working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and as a consultant for the Financing for Development Unit of the United Nations, assisting countries to develop and implement taxation policies has been central to Peter’s work.

At Melbourne Law School, Peter teaches Comparative Corporate Tax into the Melbourne Law Masters.

Inside Commercial Law is a podcast of the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law at Melbourne Law School. For more information about the Centre, visit our website: ⁠https://law.unimelb.edu.au/centres/mccl

In late 2023, the High Court of Australia struck down the Victorian scheme requiring users of zero and low-emission vehicles (ZLEV) to pay a distance-based charge. It did so on the basis that the scheme imposed a ‘duty of excise’ and therefore impinged on the Commonwealth’s exclusive power under s 90 of the federal Constitution to levy such duties.

This has sent the Australian states and territories back to the drawing board in trying to raise money from ZLEV owners to pay their share of road maintenance funding, bearing in mind that the traditional source of such funding is the Commonwealth’s fuel excise. 

In this episode, Associate Professor Matthew Bell speaks with Professor Miranda Stewart of Melbourne Law School, and Peter Holcombe Henley and Mason Rogers of Clayton Utz about the Court’s decision and its implications. They unpack and explain the decision, noting that it was reached by a bare majority, and explore its implications for Australia’s road revenue and fiscal federalism.   

Links:  

• Zero and Low Emission Vehicle Distance-based Charge Act 2021 (Vic) 

• Vanderstock v Victoria [2023] HCA 30 (18 October 2023) 

• LK Weis, ‘Vanderstock v Victoria: Fiscal Federalism Meets Environmental Constitutionalism?’ (2024) 36(2) Journal of Environmental Law 253 

In this episode of Inside Commercial Law, Professor Miranda Stewart is joined by Professor David Rosenbloom, director of the International Tax Program at New York University School of Law. Professor Rosenbloom is a member of Caplin & Drysdale, a law firm he rejoined in 1981 after serving as international tax counsel and director of the Office of International Tax Affairs in the US Department of the Treasury from 1978 to 1981. At Melbourne Law School, David teaches International Tax in the US into the Masters program.

Inside Commercial Law is a podcast of the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law at Melbourne Law School. For more information about the Centre, visit our website: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/centres/mccl

When can a party sue to recover its costs under a terminated contract? In this episode, Professor Katy Barnett and Trevor Thomas discuss this issue of reliance damages for breach of contract. First, they explore the quirky history of reliance damages in Australian law. They then examine the High Court of Australia’s recent decision in the Cessnock City Council case. Is it the remedy to the bewilderment caused by Commonwealth v Amann Aviation?

You can find out more about the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law via this link.

In this episode, Dr Matthew Bell is joined by Michael Earwaker and Trevor Thomas in the week they are teaching the Melbourne Law Masters subject 'Advanced Construction Law'. As they explain, the subject is the 'capstone' in our construction law Masters program, giving students the opportunity to explore cutting edge issues and then write about them in a dissertation-length research paper on a topic they work up with Michael and Trevor. The class of interdisciplinary professionals - lawyers, project managers and beyond, from Australia and overseas - brings diverse and deep experience to these discussions, which touch on topics from recent High Court decisions through to staples of construction law like the prevention principle, risk allocation and reducing unnecessary complexity in contracting and disputes.

For information about the subject, click here and you can find out more about the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law via this link.

In this podcast, we are joined by Tina Funge and David Ulbrick as they teach the Masters subject 'Managing Legal Risk in Construction' at Melbourne Law School. Tina and Dave tell us how they have developed their practice and scholarship as construction lawyers, give some tips about how to juggle Masters study with everything else going on in their lives, and provide insights into the often-neglected but absolutely vital 'middle end' of construction project delivery and its legal risks.

The AS4000 form of contract for construct-only delivery is one of the most widely used in the Australian construction industry. As it is now 27 years old, though, it doesn't even have a GST clause in it; let alone, provisions dealing with dispute avoidance, security of payment, collaborative contracting, or a raft of other developments which are now part of the contracting landscape. In this podcast, Co-Director of Studies for Construction Law Matthew Bell sits down with Owen Hayford (MLS Senior Fellow and principal of Sydney-based firm Infralegal). Owen was on the drafting committee for a new version of AS4000 which was released for comment in early 2024. Owen tells us about the process which has led to that draft, including the decision not to make any substantial

AS400 review.

Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law

Owen's note on the draft form.

In this podcast, Wayne Jocic speaks with Dr Donald Charrett and Sharon Vogel, who teach the Melbourne Law Masters subject ‘International Construction Law’. Donald and Sharon discuss the role of community in international construction law, and speculate about the future of the field.

In this podcast, Matthew Bell speaks with the lecturers of the Melbourne Law Masters subject 'Law of Construction Delay and Disruption', Robert Gemmell and Rebecca Dickson. This is one of the most popular subjects in our program, reflecting not only the importance of the topic to construction procurement in Australia and around the world but also the way in which Robert and Rebecca are able to shine light during their teaching week on what can seem a complex and impenetrable 'dark art'. They give us insights into how they have managed to provide this illumination through sharing their own extensive practising and teaching experience in our classroom.