UTAS alumni propose new name for Law School

James Beaumont

“It’s a well-established brand around Australia”, said Beaumont. “When people hear Piggott Wood & Baker, they think mortgage finance and the UTAS Law Faculty has long-established strengths in property law.”
UTAS alumni propose new name for Law School

-For immediate release-

A group of UTAS alumni today called for the UTAS Law Faculty to adopt a name in order to maintain its distinctive identity in the face of merger proposals.

The group has proposed that the Faculty be re-named the Piggott Wood & Baker School of Law.

Group spokesperson James Beaumont said that as well as honouring three of Tasmania’s most famous legal identities, the new name reflected the Law Faculty’s established specialisations in property law and asset securitisation.

“It’s a well-established brand around Australia”, said Beaumont. “When people hear Piggott Wood & Baker, they think mortgage finance and the UTAS Law Faculty has long-established strengths in property law.”

Beaumont agreed with Deputy Vice-Chancellor David Rich that specialisation was critical for regional universities to compete successfully in the twenty-first century.

Naming a law school after a prominent lawyer, law firm or philanthropist is a common practice in the United States and has been adopted with success at the University of Queensland (UQ).

UQ’s T. C. Beirne School of Law operates within a combined Faculty of Business, Economics and Law but has maintained a high degree of autonomy and a distinctive identity.

Mr Beaumont said that the Law Faculty should establish centres to reflect its existing research strengths. “For some time, UTAS has been the only Australian law school teaching courses in Art Law. Why not capitalise on that by establishing the John Avery Centre for Art & Heritage Law? The idea would honour a great Tasmanian lawyer and passionate art collector.”