Emeritus Professor Ted Wright
Emeritus Professor
College of Human and Social Futures
Career Summary
Biography
Professor Wright is a senior academic with Newcastle Law School. He was appointed Law Reform Commissioner of Victoria in 1991 and 1992, and was appointed as a member of the Commonwealth Access to Justice Advisory Committee in 1993 and 1994. He has undertaken research on behalf of the Law Council of Australia, the Attorney-General's departments of the Commonwealth, NSW, Queensland and Victoria, the Legal Aid Commission of NSW, the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission (now the Crime and Misconduct Commission), Queensland Legal Services Commissioner, Motor Accidents Authority of NSW, County Court of Victoria, and NRMA Insurance (now IAG).
Research ExpertiseContract Law, Legal Profession, Courts and Procedure
Teaching Expertise
Subjects Taught: Contract Law, Professional Conduct, Legal System & Method, Advanced Contracts, Property Law 1 (General Principles), Principles of judicial Administration (Special Topics in Legal Studies), Legal Process, Torts, "Private" Lawsuits & Civil Justice, Civil Procedure, Law Legislation & Policy, Research Seminar (Comparative Law). Universities Taught at: University of Newcastle. University of New England. University of Melbourne. University of Victoria (Canada)
Administrative Expertise
University of Newcastle: I became the Dean of Law (Head, School of Law) in January 2002, and in that capacity serve as a member of the Faculty of Business & Law Executive. During 2001 I served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law and The Acting Dean (Nov - Dec 2001). I have also served on the University's discipline Committee. I served as Acting Pro Vice- Chancellor of the Faculty of Business & Law between 1 Dec 2005 and 15 Mar 2006, and have since acted in that role on several shorter occasions during absences of the present incumbent. The PVC is the Executive Dean of the Faculty, and a member of the Universitys Senior Executive Group. University of New England: While visiting academic in the Department of Law, I was a member of the Planning & Development Committee. University of Melbourne: While a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne, I was Lecturer-in-charge of Legal Process (introduction to law and legal method) from 1986-1988. I also served on the Executive & Budgets Committee, the Research Committee, the Special Consideration Committee, the Progress Committee and an ad hoc Deans Education Committee.
Collaborations
Legal Profession, Courts and Procedure, Contract Law
Qualifications
- Master of Arts, University of Cambridge - UK
- Bachelor of Law, Dalhousie University - Canada
- Bachelor of Science, University of Toronto
Keywords
- ADVANCED CONTRACTS
- CIVIL LITIGATION
- CIVIL PROCEDURES
- CONTRACT LAW
- LAW
- LAW LEGISLATION & POLICY
- LEGAL AID
- LEGAL NEGOTIATION
- LEGAL PROCESS
- LEGAL SYSTEM & METHOD
- MOTOR ACCIDENTS SCHEME
- PRINCIPLES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
- PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
- PROPERTY LAW
- RESEARCH SEMINAR (COMPARATIVE LAW)
- TORTS
Professional Experience
Academic appointment
| Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
|---|---|---|
| 1/1/2005 - 1/5/2006 | Research Consultant | Law Council of Australia Australia |
| 1/1/2003 - | Oz Reader | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
| 1/11/2001 - 1/12/2012 | Dean of Law and Head of School | University of Newcastle School of Law Australia |
| 1/1/2001 - | Research Consultant | Motor Accidents Authority of NSW Australia |
| 1/9/1994 - 1/9/1995 | Advisor | Australian Law Reform Commission Australia |
| 1/9/1994 - 1/2/1996 | Visiting Associate Professor | University of New England Law School |
| 1/11/1993 - 1/5/1994 | Member | Access to Justice Advisory Committee (Keating gov't appointment) Australia |
| 1/4/1991 - 1/11/1992 | Commissioner | Law Reform Commission of Victoria Australia |
| 1/7/1984 - 1/10/1990 | Lecturer | The University of Melbourne School of Law Australia |
| 1/7/1983 - 1/6/1984 | Visiting Assistant Professor | University of Victoria Faculty of Law Canada |
Membership
| Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
|---|---|---|
| Nominated Member (by Fellows only) - International Association of Procedural Law | International Association of Procedural Law Australia |
Professional appointment
| Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
|---|---|---|
| 1/1/2009 - 1/12/2009 | Consultant | Asian Development Bank Philippines |
| 1/3/1996 - 1/12/2000 | Director | Law Foundaton of New South Wales Justice Research Centre Australia |
| 1/2/1993 - 1/6/1994 | Special Consultant | Department of Justice and Attorney- General, QLD Policy Division Australia |
| 1/8/1989 - 1/4/1991 | Manager | Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Solicitors & Notaries, Melbourne Legal Education Australia |
| 1/8/1988 - 1/10/1989 | Secretary and Project Manager | Attorney Generals Department, Victoria Chief Justice's & Attorney-General's Steering Committee & Criminal Delay Reduction Program Australia |
| 1/4/1981 - 1/6/1983 | Associate | McTaggart, Stone, Winters & Herridge Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto Canada |
Invitations
Participant
| Year | Title / Rationale |
|---|---|
| 2001 |
Workshop: Litigation - Past and Present Organisation: Academy of Social Sciences Description: Invited participant Academy of Social Sciences Workshop" Litigation - Past & Present. See (2001) 20 Dialogue 14. |
| 1997 |
Understanding Civil Justice Reform in Anglo-American Legal Systems Organisation: National Center for State Courts (USA) / Rockefeller Foundation Description: Invited to prepare and deliver the Australian Report for Conference "Understanding Civil Justice Reform in Anglo-American Legal Systems" organised by the US National Center for State Courts and held at the Rockefeller Center, Bellagio, Italy |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Book (5 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Sun X, Ellinghaus MP, Wright EW, Contract Law of the People's Republic of China with the Judicial Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court (Bilingual Version), Tsinghua University Press, Beijing, China, 233 (2012) [A1] | Nova | |
| 2005 | Ellinghaus (Ext) MP, Wright EW, Karras M, Models of Contract Law : an empirical evaluation of their utility, Themis Press, Annandale, New South Wales, 153 (2005) [A1] | Nova | |
| 2003 | Wright EW, Eyland A, Karras M, Nheu N, Case Management Reform: An Evaluation of the District Court of NSW and County Court of Victoria 1996 Reforms, Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales, Sydney (2003) [A2] | ||
| 2002 | Sage CM, Wright EW, Morris C, Case management reform: a study of the federal court's individual docket system, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Sydney, 210 (2002) [A2] | ||
| 2001 | Wright EW, Eyland A, Nheu N, Legal Aid for Committals: An evaluation of the impact of the centralised committals Scheme, Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales, Sydney, 93 (2001) [A2] | ||
| Show 2 more books | |||
Chapter (1 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Wright EW, Melville AL, 'Hey, but who's counting? The metrics and politics of trends in civil litigation', Litigation: Past and Present, UNSW Press, Sydney 96-121 (2004) [B1] | Nova |
Journal article (2 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Wright EW, 'National trends in personal injury litigation: Before and after 'Ipp'', Torts Law Journal, 14 233-267 (2006) [C1] | Nova | |
| 2005 | Ellinghaus MP, Wright EW, 'The Common Law of Contracts: Are Broad Principles Better Than Detailed Rules? An Empirical Investigation', Texas Wesleyan Law Review, 11 399-420 (2005) [C2] |
Conference (2 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 |
Wright EW, Ellinghaus MP, Close NM, Heathcote AJ, 'The effect of rule determinacy on deciding contract disputes: Experimental data and network simulation', CELS2011: Sixth Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Chicago, IL (2011) [E1]
|
Nova | ||||||
| 2009 |
Close NM, Heathcote AJ, Ellinghaus F, Wright EW, 'Coherence based reasoning and models of contract law', CogSci 2009 Proceedings, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2009) [E1]
|
Nova | ||||||
Report (2 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ellinghaus MP, Wright EW, 'Reforming pacific contract law', Asian Development Bank, 37 (2009) [R1] | Nova | |
| 2002 | Wright E, 'National Key Performance Indicators for Courts: A discussion paper', Attorney-General''s Department of NSW, Sydney (2002) [R1] |
Thesis / Dissertation (1 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |
Sanchez-Lasaballett E, Commonalities Between the Australian Law of Contract and the General Law of Contract of the Brazilian Civil Code : A Rule-Based Study Towards a Global Law of Contract, The University of Newcastle (2017)
|
Grants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 13 |
|---|---|
| Total funding | $1,276,094 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20121 grants / $70,000
Australian Contract Law – A draft frame of reference$70,000
Funding body: Australian Government Attorney General's Department
| Funding body | Australian Government Attorney General's Department |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Grants to Australian Organisations Program |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2012 |
| Funding Finish | 2012 |
| GNo | G1200813 |
| Type Of Funding | Other Public Sector - Commonwealth |
| Category | 2OPC |
| UON | Y |
20071 grants / $124,000
Models of contract law: are broad principles better than detailed rules?$124,000
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright, Associate Professor Manfred Ellinghaus |
| Scheme | Discovery Projects |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2007 |
| Funding Finish | 2008 |
| GNo | G0186360 |
| Type Of Funding | Aust Competitive - Commonwealth |
| Category | 1CS |
| UON | Y |
20061 grants / $20,000
Regulating contracts: are broad principles better than detailed rules?$20,000
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright, Associate Professor Manfred Ellinghaus |
| Scheme | Near Miss Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2006 |
| Funding Finish | 2006 |
| GNo | G0186054 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
20043 grants / $453,333
Study of User Group Perceptions of Motor Accident Assessment Services (MAS) and the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service (CARS)$445,708
Funding body: Motor Accidents Authority of NSW
| Funding body | Motor Accidents Authority of NSW |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright, Ms Deirdre Howard |
| Scheme | Research Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2004 |
| Funding Finish | 2004 |
| GNo | G0185023 |
| Type Of Funding | Other Public Sector - State |
| Category | 2OPS |
| UON | Y |
Visit of Prof Lester Brickman 23/02/04 to 31/05/04$5,225
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Visitor Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2004 |
| Funding Finish | 2004 |
| GNo | G0183798 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
The Common Law of Contracts as a World Force in Two Ages of Revolution, 7-8 June 2004, England$2,400
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Travel Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2004 |
| Funding Finish | 2004 |
| GNo | G0184156 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
20032 grants / $7,946
Citizenship, risk and responsibility: press constructions of tort litigation claims and outcomes in New South Wales$5,000
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Dr Angela Melville, Emeritus Professor Ted Wright, Associate Professor Stephen Tomsen |
| Scheme | Project Grant |
| Role | Investigator |
| Funding Start | 2003 |
| Funding Finish | 2003 |
| GNo | G0182520 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
21st Annual Law and Society Conference$2,946
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Conference Establishment Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2003 |
| Funding Finish | 2003 |
| GNo | G0183564 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
20021 grants / $188,000
Historical Experts and Indigenous Litigants: The role of historical expert evidence in Federal Court cases$188,000
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Professor Ann Curthorys |
| Scheme | Discovery Projects |
| Role | Investigator |
| Funding Start | 2002 |
| Funding Finish | 2003 |
| GNo | |
| Type Of Funding | Not Known |
| Category | UNKN |
| UON | N |
20014 grants / $412,815
Evaluation of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act, 1999.$329,819
Funding body: Motor Accidents Authority of NSW
| Funding body | Motor Accidents Authority of NSW |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Consultancy |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2001 |
| Funding Finish | 2002 |
| GNo | G0180965 |
| Type Of Funding | Contract - Aust Non Government |
| Category | 3AFC |
| UON | Y |
Australian and German Civil Litigation - A Comparative and Empirical Analysis.$67,699
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Strategic Partnerships with Industry - Research & Training Scheme (SPIRT) |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2001 |
| Funding Finish | 2003 |
| GNo | G0181180 |
| Type Of Funding | Aust Competitive - Commonwealth |
| Category | 1CS |
| UON | Y |
Models of Contract Law - an empirical evalutation of their utility.$14,191
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Strategic Partnerships with Industry - Research & Training Scheme (SPIRT) |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2001 |
| Funding Finish | 2001 |
| GNo | G0181536 |
| Type Of Funding | Aust Competitive - Commonwealth |
| Category | 1CS |
| UON | Y |
Academy of Social Sciences Workshop: litigation past and present University of Adelaide 22-23 September 2001$1,106
Funding body: University of Newcastle
| Funding body | University of Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Emeritus Professor Ted Wright |
| Scheme | Travel Grant |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2001 |
| Funding Finish | 2001 |
| GNo | G0181552 |
| Type Of Funding | Internal |
| Category | INTE |
| UON | Y |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Completed3
Current0
Past Supervision
| Year | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | PhD | Commonalities between the 'Australian Law of Contract' and the General Law of Contract of the 'Brazilian Civil Code': A Rule-Based Study Towards a Global Law of Contract | PhD (Law), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
| 2016 | PhD | Coherence-Based Reasoning in Australian Contract Law Adjudication with Broad Principles and Detailed Rules | PhD (Psychology - Science), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
| 2005 | Masters | The Settlement of Family Law Disputes Before the Courts in Papua New Guinea: Is There a Need for Reform? | M Laws LL.M [R], College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor |
Emeritus Professor Ted Wright
Position
Emeritus Professor
College of Human and Social Futures
Contact Details
| ted.wright@newcastle.edu.au |
Office
| Room | MC158 |
|---|---|
| Building | McMullin |
| Location | Callaghan University Drive Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia |