Overview
Background
Professor Rick Bigwood’s principal teaching and research interests lie in the areas of contract and property law. He was formerly a Senior Solicitor and Acting Principal Solicitor with the Federal Attorney-General's Department in Canberra (Office of Commercial Law). Before joining TC Beirne School of Law, Professor Bigwood taught at Bond University for five years, and he was on the Auckland Law Faculty for 16 years before that, where he was also the Director of the Research Centre for Business Law. He has published widely in leading international journals on subjects within contract, equity and property law, and he has been a keynote speaker at international conferences on contract law. His publications include the following books: Legal Method in New Zealand (Butterworths, 2001); Exploitative Contracts (Oxford University Press, 2003) (awarded the JF Northey Memorial Book Award for 2003); The Statute: Making and Meaning (LexisNexis, 2004); Public Interest Litigation: The New Zealand Experience in International Perspective (LexisNexis, 2006); The Permanent New Zealand Court of Appeal: Essays on the First 50 Years (Hart Publishing, 2009); Contract as Assumption: Essays on a Theme (by Brian Coote) (Hart Publishing, 2010); The Law of Remedies: New Directions in the Common Law (Irwin Law, 2010) (with Jeff Berryman); and Cheshire & Fifoot, Law of Contract (10th Australian edition, 2012) (with Nick Seddon). Professor Bigwood was formerly the General Editor of the New Zealand Universities Law Review, and was Editor of the New Zealand Law Review 2002-2008. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of the New Zealand Universities Law Review and the Journal of Contract Law. Professor Bigwood has received a number of awards, prizes and honours for his teaching at various tertiary educational institutions, in a variety of countries, including a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2006 (New Zealand).
Availability
- Professor Rick Bigwood is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Research interests
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Contract law
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Property law
Works
Search Professor Rick Bigwood’s works on UQ eSpace
2023
Journal Article
Legal fictions and the attainment of the just result: Continuing (mis)representation and the Insurance Contracts Act
Bigwood, Rick (2023). Legal fictions and the attainment of the just result: Continuing (mis)representation and the Insurance Contracts Act. Journal of Contract Law, 39 (1) 1, 27-50.
2022
Book
Cheshire and Fifoot law of contract
Seddon, Nicholas and Bigwood, Rick (2022). Cheshire and Fifoot law of contract. 12th ed. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: LexisNexis.
2021
Journal Article
Strict Liability Unconscionability in the Supreme Court of Canada: Observations on Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller
Bigwood, Rick (2021). Strict Liability Unconscionability in the Supreme Court of Canada: Observations on Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller. Canadian Business Law Journal, 65 (2), 153-194.
2021
Journal Article
Uncertainty in private law: rhetorical device or substantive legal argument?
Bigwood, Rick and Dietrich, Joachim (2021). Uncertainty in private law: rhetorical device or substantive legal argument?. Melbourne University Law Review, 45 (1), 60-98.
2021
Book Chapter
Contract Vitiation
Bigwood, Rick (2021). Contract Vitiation. Australian Contract Law in the 21st Century. (pp. 153-173) edited by John Eldridge and Timothy Pilkington. Alexandria, NSW Australia: Federation Press.
2020
Book Chapter
The norm against misleading conduct and implications for the regulation of ‘misleading silence’
Bigwood, Rick (2020). The norm against misleading conduct and implications for the regulation of ‘misleading silence’. Misleading silence. (pp. 107-132) edited by Elise Bant and Jeannie Paterson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509929283.ch-005
2019
Journal Article
Knocking down the straw man: reflections on BOM v BOK and the Court of Appeal's "Middle-Ground" narrow doctrine of unconscionability for Singapore
Bigwood, Rick (2019). Knocking down the straw man: reflections on BOM v BOK and the Court of Appeal's "Middle-Ground" narrow doctrine of unconscionability for Singapore. Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 29-66.
2019
Journal Article
The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part II
Bigwood, Rick (2019). The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part II. Journal of Contract Law, 35, 187-215.
2019
Book Chapter
Exploitation
Bigwood, Rick (2019). Exploitation. Reimagining Contract Law Pedagogy: A New Agenda for Teaching. (pp. 61-78) edited by Warren Swain and David Campbell. Oxford, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315178189
2019
Book Chapter
New Zealand perspectives on contract remedies
Bigwood, Rick (2019). New Zealand perspectives on contract remedies. Research handbook on remedies in private law. (pp. 390-408) edited by Roger Halson and David Campbell. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781786431271.00031
2019
Journal Article
Undue influence as constructive fraud
Bigwood, Rick (2019). Undue influence as constructive fraud. Journal of Equity, 13, 144-182.
2019
Book
Variations on the theme of contract
Fridman, Gerald and Bigwood, Rick (2019). Variations on the theme of contract. Toronto, ON Canada: LexisNexis Canada.
2018
Journal Article
Teaching Contract Vitiation in Australia: New Challenges in Subject Design
Bigwood, Rick and Mullins, Rob (2018). Teaching Contract Vitiation in Australia: New Challenges in Subject Design. Bond Law Review, 30 (2), 185-216. doi: 10.53300/001c.6797
2018
Journal Article
The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part I
Bigwood, Rick (2018). The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part I. Journal of Contract Law, 35 (1), 56-89.
2018
Book Chapter
Continuing representation and strict responsibility for accuracy after Cramaso: fact or (legal) fiction?
Bigwood, Rick A. (2018). Continuing representation and strict responsibility for accuracy after Cramaso: fact or (legal) fiction?. Transnational Commercial and Consumer Law: Current Trends in International Business Law. (pp. 187-221) edited by Toshiyuki Kono, Mary Hiscock and Arie Reich. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-1080-5_8
2017
Journal Article
‘Rescuing the Canadian Unconscionability Doctrine? Reflections on the Court’s “Applicable Principles” in Downer v. Pitcher’
Bigwood, Rick (2017). ‘Rescuing the Canadian Unconscionability Doctrine? Reflections on the Court’s “Applicable Principles” in Downer v. Pitcher’. Canadian Business Law Journal, 60 (1), 124-155.
2017
Book
Cheshire & Fifoot law of contract
Seddon, N. C. and Bigwood, R. A. (2017). Cheshire & Fifoot law of contract. Sydney: LexisNexis.
2014
Book Chapter
The partial codification of contract: lessons from New Zealand
Bigwood, Rick (2014). The partial codification of contract: lessons from New Zealand. Codifying contract law: consumer law and international law perspectives. (pp. 165-203) edited by Mary Keyes and Therese Wilson. Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
2013
Journal Article
Still curbing unconscionability: Kakavas in the High Court of Australia
Bigwood, Rick (2013). Still curbing unconscionability: Kakavas in the High Court of Australia. Melbourne University Law Review, 37, 463-508.
2012
Journal Article
Fairness Awry? Reflections on the BCLI Report on Proposals for Unfair Contracts Relief
Bigwood, Rick (2012). Fairness Awry? Reflections on the BCLI Report on Proposals for Unfair Contracts Relief. Canadian Business Law Journal, 52, 197-225.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Rick Bigwood is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
The Source, Nature and Limits of a Duty to Act Reasonably in Australian Contract Law
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Informality in State and Territory Combined Jurisdiction Tribunals
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Anthony Cassimatis, Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Termination of Contract for Breach: Dispelling Certain Myths about Express Termination Powers in Commercial Contracts
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andrew Fell
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Reconciling Customary and Formal Land Tenure: A Proposed Framework for the Process of Reform
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Jennifer Corrin
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2019
Master Philosophy
The Relevance of Regulations of the EU Carbon Market in Construing Contracts for the Sale of EU Carbon Credits
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
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