Robert Baxt (27 June 1938 – 11 March 2018) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and a chairman of the

Trade Practices Commission The Trade Practices Commission was an agency of the Government of Australia responsible for monitoring and enforcement activities under the Trade Practices Act 1974. It was superseded by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in 1995.< ...

, dean of law at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

and a professorial fellow of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Early life

Baxt was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China, raised in Australia, where his family had moved in 1947. He was educated at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1947–1955), commencing as a preparatory school student at Wyvern House, and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and did his LLM – Master of Laws – at Harvard Law School 1963–1964.

Legal career

Baxt was a partner of the Australian commercial law firm

Freehills Freehills was a commercial law firm operating in the Asia Pacific region. It was one of the Big Six Australian law firms. In 2012 it merged with Herbert Smith to become Herbert Smith Freehills. History The firm's predecessors include the prac ...

. He initially joined Freehills as a solicitor in 1965 before entering academia. From 1980 to 1988, he was dean of the

Monash University Faculty of Law The Monash University Faculty of Law is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1964, it is based in Melbourne, Victoria and has campuses in Malaysia and Italy. It is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in Australia and gl ...

. From 1991 to 2004, he was a partner at

Allens Arthur Robinson Allens is an international commercial law firm that operates in the Asia-Pacific region. The firm is one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region and has many high-profile political, judicial and corporate alumni. It is in an alliance with t ...

. He rejoined Freehills in January 2005 and became an emeritus partner. Baxt was involved in a number of Australian legal publications. He was the founder and then general editor of the ''Company and Securities Law Journal'' as well as the ''Australian Business Law Review''. He was also editor of the monthly newsletter on corporate regulation, ''The Baxt Report''. In his time as an academic, he was also an editor of the

Monash University Law Review The ''Monash University Law Review'' is an academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is pub ...

Honours

* Officer,

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

2003 * Recipient,

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

2001It's an Honour
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxt, Bob 1938 births 2018 deaths People educated at Newington College University of Sydney alumni Academic staff of Monash University Australian legal scholars Australian solicitors Officers of the Order of Australia Educators from Shanghai Chinese emigrants to Australia Harvard Law School alumni