Dr Michael Douglas

Dr Michael Douglas is a barrister with specialist expertise in defamation, media law, torts and the conflict of laws.

Michael’s background is in commercial litigation and media law. He accepts briefs in all areas of law.

Prior to joining the bar, Michael was a Consultant at Bennett, where he regularly drafted submissions for superior courts and worked on several high-profile matters.

Michael advises on complex legal questions, drawing on his background as a legal academic. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Sydney, where he researched on exchange at Harvard Law School. His dissertation was on ‘Forum Shopping in Australian Defamation Litigation’. Michael obtained his undergraduate degrees and an MBA(Dist) from UWA through full-ride academic scholarships.

Michael has co-authored and co-edited 5 books. They include the latest edition of Nygh’s Conflict of Laws in Australia, co-authored with the Hon Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales. His writing on the law has been cited by superior courts, including the High Court.

Michael is a member of the Council of the Law Society of WA and of the Council at Trinity Residential College; Australian Vice-President of the Australasian Association of Private International Law; and editor of ConflictofLaws.net for Australia. He is editor of Brief, the bi-monthly journal of the Law Society of WA.