Our faculty team

Mr Lee Aitken, Barrister, Solicitor, Sydney

BA, LLB (ANU), BCL (Oxon)

Mr Lee Aitken has practised extensively as both a barrister and solicitor. While at the Sydney Bar, he specialised in property, banking, insolvency and general commercial disputes. Mr Aitken has taught for more than 30 years at various law schools, including Alberta, Sydney, UTS, Hong Kong and UQ. He has written more than 100 refereed articles on banking law, real property, commercial law, insolvency, federal jurisdiction and other topics.

Mr Mark Carkeet, Partner, MinterEllison, Brisbane  

BA, LLB (UQ)

Mr Mark Carkeet is Minter Ellison's senior utilities partner. He has worked in commercial law since 1983 and focused principally on the energy and resources sectors since 1992. Mr Carkeet has advised on major utilities projects throughout Australia and South East Asia, and for a time was based in Singapore and Jakarta. His clients have included Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Stanwell Corporation, Ergon Energy and the governments of Queensland and Fiji.

Ms Julie Granger, Barrister, 7 Wentworth Selborne, SCU alumna, Sydney 

BA, LLB (SCU), LLM (UNSW), Grad Dip in International Commercial Arbitration (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators)

Ms Julie Granger is a graduate of the School of Law and Justice, Southern Cross University and was admitted to the Bar in 2015. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as a commercial litigator at Clayton Utz, where she worked on a variety of large and smaller matters across a number of jurisdictions and industries. Ms Granger is a member of the University Council of Southern Cross University and served, for a number of years, on the SLJ Law Advisory Committee.

Mr Patrick Mullins, Partner and Solicitor, Mullins Lawyers, Brisbane   

BA (UQ), LLM (QUT), MTh (BCT), MA (in Society, Law and Religion), MCL, JCL (Leuven)

Mr Patrick Mullins is a Partner at Mullins Lawyers. He has 37 years in practice and is Australia's only canon lawyer who simultaneously practises as a common lawyer. Mr Mullins acts for Roman Catholic authorities in matters involving both common law and canon law. His doctoral research in the Faculty of Canon Law at KU Leuven involves the application of both rule of law theory and ecclesiological principles to the issue of the proper exercise of the power of governance in the Roman Catholic Church.

Ms Joelene Nel, Associate Director McLaughlins Lawyers, Director of the Mediation Place, Gold Coast

LLB (UNISA)

Ms Joelene Nel is the Director of The Mediation Place and Associate Director of McLaughlins Lawyers. As a nationally accredited mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Ms Nel has worked extensively with many cases involving domestic and family violence. Ms Nel is a volunteer at Robina Community Legal Centre, the Women’s Legal Service Queensland and RizeUp. Ms Nel is a committee member on the Gold Coast District Law Association and is also a casual academic at the School of Law and Justice.

Ms Clare Owen, Lawyer, Woodsford Litigation Funding, Brisbane and UK

BA Hons (Biology) (Warwick University), GradDipLawLegalPrac (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Ms Clare Owen is a dual-qualified lawyer admitted to practise as a solicitor in both the UK and Australia. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a commercial litigator, handling high value, large scale, complex, commercial disputes in a broad range of areas – initially in the UK (as partner and head of team at Pinsent Masons) and subsequently in Australia, having moved to Australia in 2011 (as consultant/senior lawyer).

Mr Adam van Kempen, Legal Director & Principal of van Kempen & Associates, SCU alumnus, Byron Bay

LLB (Hons) (SCU)

Mr Adam van Kempen graduated from Southern Cross University's School of Law and Justice and is the principal of BvK Solicitors & Attorneys, a practice established in Byron Bay more than 30 years ago. Strongly committed to the local community, he is a member of the boards of Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre Inc. and Byron Writers Festival.

Mr David Heilpern, former magistrate, SCU alumnus, co-founder of the School of Law and Justice

BA, LLB (Syd), LLM (SCU)

Mr David Heilpern was appointed as a magistrate in 1998 and stepped down in May 2020. During that time, he made several important decisions on criminal, environmental and evidence law. Mr Heilpern co-founded the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University, rising to become acting Dean in 1996. He holds an LLM from SCU and is a prolific writer, having published academic texts, prize-winning short stories and poetry.

Mr Marc Nourse, Independent Legal Consultant, Sydney 

BSc (Newcastle), LLB (Hons) (Bond), MBA (INSEAD)

Mr Marc Nourse is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. He has worked in Sydney, London and throughout Asia (Singapore, China) in private practice at leading firms, as well as in-house counsel and in senior business roles in a range of industries.

Mr Jay Finkelstein

BA (Prin), JD (Harv)

Mr Jay Finkelstein practices corporate and securities law at DLA Piper, Washington DC, with special emphasis on international and domestic acquisitions and joint ventures for a wide variety of industries. He holds many international adjunctships and has taught aspects of business negotiations in America, the Middle East, Africa and the Antipodes.

Professor Renata Salecl 

BA, PhD (Ljubljana)

Professor Renata Salecl is a Slovene philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist. She is the author of several books, including Choice, On Anxiety and The Spoils of Freedom. She is a senior researcher at the Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana and holds a professorship in law and psychoanalysis at Birkbeck, University of London.

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