Looking back:
The reflections of Emeritus Professor Philip Clarke
Deakin University Council has conferred the title of Emeritus Professor on Philip Clarke. Emeritus Professor Clarke was the Foundation Professor of Law and the inaugural Head of the School of Law. In December 2010 he retired from his position as Deakin University's Deputy Vice Chancellor. We recently spent some time with Emeritus Professor Philip Clarke, who reflected on his time with the School of Law. With the School set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2012, it was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the foundation of the School.
Professor Clarke was first appointed to Deakin in 1989 as an Associate Professor of Commercial Law and Head of the Department of Commercial Law. As part of the interview process he made it clear he would seek to establish an LLB program.
The resulting Law programs are flagship courses for the Faculty and the University attracting high performing students. The Deakin programs have a distinctive profile among law programs in Australia, with the clearly defined professional focus and commercial orientation ensuring that the Deakin Law degree and its graduates are well regarded in the legal profession. The Deakin Law degree is seen as providing more than just a valuable university education, it is also seen as preparing students to enter the legal profession.
The commercial orientation of the Deakin LLB had its genesis in a conversation that Professor Clarke had at the ANU Law School in the mid 1970s. In this conversation, several senior professors expressed regret that at that time Australia's Law Schools all offered essentially the same LLB degree - that there was no specialisation amongst then reflecting their strengths, or the advantages they might have because of their location. It was argued that the ANU, for example, should specialise in public law and perhaps international law because of its location in Canberra. This would enable each law school to develop particular expertise in an area of law and, whilst not ignoring or neglecting other areas, devote to their specialisation the resources they needed to really make a mark in that field. Years later when devising Deakin's curriculum, Professor Clarke decided to develop a course with a specialisation in commercial law.
When establishing the School of Law, Professor Clarke had a clear vision that the Deakin LLB degree would be offered by distance education as well as face-to-face, thus being the first LLB in Victoria offered in both modes. This would enhance the opportunities available for people in regional and rural areas and mature-aged city students to study law. Many years later, Professor Clarke also established the two-year law feeder program at Warrnambool to improve the opportunities for regional and rural students. The program at Warrnambool is set to expand to a three-year law program in 2012. Providing these alternate methods of delivery has enabled many talented people to study law who would not otherwise have been able to do so.
Deakin's LLB program commenced in February 1992. The first year intake consisted of 30 on-campus students and 8 staff. The second (in 1993) consisted of 30 on-campus and 30 off-campus students. The LLB program now consists of 1800 on-campus students across 3 campuses and 380 off-campus students, who are taught by 49 staff. How far we have come from these humble beginnings.
As well as being a driving force behind the creation of the School of Law, Professor Clarke is well remembered by his former students as an outstanding teacher. He won a Vice Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Teaching and a Deakin University Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2004; was a Finalist, Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2004 and received a Carrick citation in 2006 for "for outstanding leadership in course design, development and delivery that has expanded the accessibility of legal education and enhanced graduate outcomes".
On top of these teaching accolades, some of the of the proudest moments for Professor Clarke were on behalf of the School and include a Deakin School of Law team winning the Governor General's moot; a Deakin team (coached by Jeff Waincymer) winning the Vis-Vienna Moot in 1999; the establishment of the Koorie Law program; the creation of the off-campus program; and the expansion of the program to Melbourne and more recently, Warrnambool.
While Professor Clarke left his role in the School of Law in 1999 to take up a position as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law and later Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) in 2008 and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) in 2009, his sense of connection to the School of Law remained. Upon his retirement, Professor Clarke was appointed the first Patron of the Law Alumni Chapter and recently Emeritus Professor. This means the School of Law at Deakin will still get the chance to benefit from the wisdom and vision of Emeritus Professor Philip Clarke in the years to come.
