Dr. Michael Douglas

Consultant

  • Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution
  • Defamation
  • Media
  • Cross-border litigation; anything with an international element

Dr Michael Douglas is a Consultant at Bennett, specialising in commercial litigation and media law.

Since admission to practice in 2013, Michael has gained experience across a wide range of litigious matters. He is regularly called on to draft submissions on complex issues and has appeared as counsel in superior courts, including the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Michael has a deep understanding of difficult areas of law by virtue of his previous career as a legal academic. While lecturing at the University of Sydney, and later, the University of Western Australia, Michael co-authored and co-edited 5 books, including the latest edition of Nygh’s Conflict of Laws in Australia with the Chief Justice of New South Wales and others, and the leading text, Balkin and Davis: Law of Torts; as well as over 100 articles, chapters and notes. Michael’s academic work has been cited in superior courts in Australia and internationally, including by the High Court of Australia. His legal commentary, especially as regards defamation law, is regularly featured in popular media, including by the ABC, The Sydney Morning Herald and The New York Times.

In addition to his law degree, Michael holds an Honours degree in philosophy, a Master of Laws with Distinction, an MBA with Distinction, and a PhD in law. Michael’s doctoral thesis with the University of Sydney was on ‘Forum Shopping in Australian Defamation Litigation’. He has been recognised in the media as one of Australia’s leading commentators on defamation law.

Michael is a member of the governing council of Trinity Residential College at the University of Western Australia, where he studied on a full academic scholarship.