Katy Barnett is an Australian academic and author. She joined

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers J.D., LL.M, Ph.D, and LL.D degrees. In 2021-22, THE ...

in 2006 as a sessional lecturer and was permanently appointed a Professor of Law in 2010. Her expertise is in

private law Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the ''jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ( ...

, with particular expertise on the law of remedies,

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

legal history Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilisations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and histo ...

, as well as

animal law Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the nature legal, social or biological of nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment and animals raised ...

. She has been described as 'one of the most eminent authors and commentators' in the field of remedies and private law. Her work has been referred to by jurists such as Australia's (then) Chief Justice

Robert French Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017. Fren ...

. In addition to her writing on private law, she has been cited for her academic work analysing disparities between male and female academics in citation metrics, especially regarding the metric of

apex court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

citations.

Early life and education

Katy completed an LLB with Honours and a BA with majors in English, History, and Medieval Studies at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1999. Before her academic career, she worked as a research assistant at the Court of Appeal at the Victorian Supreme Court and was an associate to Justice Mandie. In private practice she worked at both

Freehills Freehills was a commercial law firm operating in the Asia-Pacific region.Dun and BradstreeCompany360(database online), entry: Freehills Services Pty Ltd. Accessed 13 August 2011 It was known as one of the " Big Six" Australian law firms. In 20 ...

and Russell Kennedy.

Academic career

In 2006 Katy joined Melbourne Law School as a lecturer and was appointed permanently in 2010. In 2013 she served as a visiting scholar at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

. Her scholarship has been cited by apex courts such as the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

. In 2022 she co-authored a book on Animal Law with another University of Melbourne professor

Jeremy Gans Jeremy Gans is an Australian author and academic. He is currently Professor of Law at Melbourne Law School. His expertise is in the criminal justice system, and has particular expertise on the law of evidence, the jury system, human rights, as we ...

. In 2022 she was appointed editor of the Indian Law Review.

Non-academic writing

In addition to her academic writing, she has contributed articles to Quilette, and Times Higher Education.

Bibliography

Academic works

*
Accounting for Profit for Breach of Contract: Theory and Practice
' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012) *
Guilty Pigs: The Weird and Wonderful History of Animal Law
' (Black Ink Books, 2022) *
Remedies Cases and Materials in Australian Private Law
' (Cambridge University Press, 2023) *
Remedies in Australian Private Law
' (Cambridge University Press, 2018) *

' (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) (Contributor)

Fiction

* ''The Earth Below'' (Ligature, 2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Katy Legal scholars of the University of Oxford Australian legal scholars Year of birth missing (living people) Living people