Private Law and the Courts in an Age of Disruption Conference 2026 at Monash University, Melbourne [Oct 29-30]
Faculty of Law, Monash University.About the Conference
The Warren Centre for Civil Justice and the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS) at Monash University are hosting Private law and the courts in an age of disruption: Bending, breaking or restating?, a 1.5-day academic conference at the Monash University Law Chambers in Melbourne on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026.
The conference brings scholars and practitioners together to examine how private law is changing under pressure from artificial intelligence, digital platforms, climate harm and new forms of property, and asks whether private law is bending, breaking or being restated through the courts. Its particular focus is the role of courts, whether appellate or first instance, in shaping private law during a period of rapid change.
Conference Theme and Topics
Private law has long presented itself as a domain of incremental development, doctrinal coherence and principled reasoning. Contemporary pressures, including digital platforms and AI, climate change, mass harm events, financial innovation, and shifting conceptions of property, personhood and responsibility, raise questions about the stability and adaptability of private law's core concepts and doctrines. Topics addressed across the programme include:
- Challenges to private law's theoretical foundations
- The role of courts, whether appellate or first instance, in doctrinal development
- Disruptions in contract law, including digital contracting and smart contracts
- Tort law's role in addressing harms caused by climate change and emerging technologies
- Property law and digital or intangible assets
- The application of equitable and fiduciary doctrine to complex and novel settings
- Remedies and the recalibration or restatement of private law's responses to wrongs
- Comparative or transnational perspectives on doctrinal change
Keynote, Convenors and Organisers
The keynote session will be delivered by The Honourable Justice Mark Leeming, Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and chaired by Professor The Honourable Marilyn Warren AC KC.
The conference is organised by the Warren Centre for Civil Justice together with the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS) at Monash University. The co-convenors are Dr Lucas Clover Alcolea and Dr Brandon D. Stewart of Monash University Faculty of Law.
Who Should Attend
Monash indicates the conference is directed at the following audiences:
- Legal academics and researchers
- Judges and legal practitioners
- Doctoral and postgraduate law students
- Policy professionals with an interest in private law
Attendance is by open registration through the official Eventbrite listing. Neither the Warren Centre announcement nor the ticket page imposes any condition of jurisdiction, institution or bar membership, and tickets are issued free to anyone who registers.
Schedule and Format
The conference runs across a day and a half in person at the Monash University Law Chambers. On Thursday 29 October 2026 sessions run from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm AEDT, with registration from 9:00 am. On Friday 30 October 2026 sessions run from 8:30 am to 1:50 pm AEDT, with registration from 8:00 am.
The full programme is yet to be confirmed by the organisers and will be published on the Warren Centre announcement page.
Registration and Fee
Registration is open and free of charge. Tickets are issued through the official Eventbrite listing linked from the Warren Centre's own announcement page, and the ticket page records a price of AUD 0.00.
Registration closes on Friday 23 October 2026 at 6:00 pm AEDT, six days before the conference opens. Monash notes that places are limited by the capacity of the venue and encourages early registration.
Publication in the Monash University Law Review
A selection of papers presented at the conference will be peer reviewed and published in a special issue of the Monash University Law Review. Authors selected for the special issue were told that revised papers would be due in early 2027, with further details on that process to follow from the convenors.
Note on the Call for Papers
The conference's call for papers has closed. Abstracts of up to 300 words were due by 11:59 pm AEST on 15 May 2026, with selected authors notified by 1 June 2026 and draft papers due by 15 October 2026 for circulation to presenters and attendees. What remains open is attendance: the registration route described above is the live route for anyone who now wishes to take part.