Dr Gordon Hughes AM
Principal Lawyer
Areas of Expertise/Sector
ICT, Electronics & SoftwareCommercialisation & LicensingTrade Secrets & Data ProtectionTechnology, Media & TelecommunicationsUniversities & Research InstitutionsDr Hughes is a principal lawyer in the firm’s Litigation and Commercialisation practice. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, he was a partner at Ashurst (formerly Blake Dawson). He is an acknowledged expert in the area of intellectual property commercialisation, information technology law, eCommerce, and data protection.
Dr Hughes is a former president of the Law Institute of Victoria and the Law Council of Australia, and a former chair of the Law Council’s International Law Section. He is a former president of LAWASIA (the international lawyers’ association for Asia and the Pacific) and is the current Secretary-General of that organisation. He is also the current chair of the South Pacific Lawyers’ Association. He is a qualified arbitrator and a former part-time member of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Dr Hughes has authored, co-authored and/or edited nine legal texts, including ‘Data Protection in Australia’, ‘Computer Contracts: Principles and Precedents’, and ‘Trade Secrets and Privacy.’ He has received numerous awards in recognition of his achievements, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Law Awards in 2004 and various honorary life memberships of Australian and international professional associations. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law in 2011.
In 2017, Dr Hughes was awarded an Order of Australia “for significant service to the law, to professional organisations and to international affairs and legal practice in the Asia-Pacific region”.
In 2023, Gordon was awarded honorary life membership of the Law Council of Australia in recognition of his “unmatched and remarkable contribution to the legal profession in Australia and internationally”.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Law (Hons), University of Melbourne, 1971
Master of Laws, University of Melbourne, 1973
PhD, Monash University, 1990
Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Law (FAAL)
Awards
Honorary Life Member, Law Council of Australia, 2023
Order of Australia (AM) 2017
Honorary Life Member, LAWASIA, 2007
Lifetime Achievement Award, Australian Law Awards, 2004
Honorary Life Membership, Law Institute of Victoria, 2001
Honorary Life Membership, Victorian Society for Computers and the Law, 1999
Rogers Legal Writing Award (for best article published in Law Institute Journal), awarded by Law Institute of Victoria, 1996
Menzies Scholarship (for research into computers and the law), awarded by the Australia-Britain Society, 1986
Who’s Who Legal: Australia: Recognised as a leading Data Expert, 2019- 2024
Doyle’s Guide: Listed as ‘Preeminent’ in Leading Victoria Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyers 2019
Doyle’s Guide: Recommended as a Leading Victorian Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyer 2020
Doyle’s Guide: Listed as a Leading Victorian Non-Contentious Intellectual Property Lawyer 2020
Memberships
PROFESSIONAL OFFICE - President: Law Institute of Victoria, 1992 – 1993 - President: Law - Council of Australia, 1999 – 2000 - President: LAWASIA, 2001– 2003- Chair: International Law Section, Law Council of Australia, 2008 – 2014 - Chair: Business Law Section, LAWASIA, 2015 to 2019 - Chair: South Pacific Lawyers’ Association, 2017 to date - Adjunct Professor, RMIT University, School of Business and Law, 2005 – 2014 - Professional-in-residence, Monash University Law School, 2015 Secretary-General: LAWASIA 2023 to date
AUSTRALIA - Chairman: Board of Examiners for Barristers and Solicitors (Victoria), 1992 - President: Victorian Society for Computers and the Law, 1991 – 1994 - Part-time member: Victorian Law Reform Commission, 1992 - Member: Victoria Law Reform Commission Advisory Committee on Workplace Privacy and Surveillance, 2002 - Member: Electronic Commerce Advisory Council, appointed by Victorian Minister for Multimedia, 1995 – 1997 - Member: Data Protection Advisory Council, Victorian Government, 1996 - Member: Commonwealth Government Core Advisory Group on Privacy, appointed by Commonwealth Attorney-General, 1999 – 2001
INTERNATIONAL - Member: LAWASIA Observer Mission to Nepal (to investigate constitutional crisis and breakdown in rule of law), 2005 - Member: LAWASIA Observer Mission to Fiji (to investigate military takeover and threat to rule of law), 2007 - Head of inquiry into corruption in the Fiji Magistracy, offer from Attorney-General of Fiji (appointed declined), 2007 - Member: Eminent Persons’ Panel of Inquiry into Implication of the 1998 Malaysian Constitutional Crisis, convened by Malaysian Bar Council, 2007 – 2008 - Member: US Task Force on Foreign Lawyers and the International Practice of Law, convened by the US Conference of Chief Justices, 2012 to date