Professor Philip Evans

BSc (Eng.)(Merit), ME (Hons), LLB, Phd, PG Certificate in Local Government Engineering, Graduate Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Education, Cert IV Training and Assessment, Diploma of Management (BSBS 1107)
Professor

Email: philip.evans@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Dr Phil Evans re-joined the School of Law as Professor of Law in August 2016 following his earlier appointment as adjunct professor and sessional lecturer. He is also the Principal of PJ Evans and Associates; Lawyers, Arbitrators, Mediators and Adjudicators. He is a graded arbitrator, accredited mediator and registered adjudicator under the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA). He holds a current legal practice certificate. In addition to his university teaching and research roles at the University of Notre Dame, Dr Evans conducts regular continuing professional development programs and in-house training in the areas of contract law, trade practices law, administrative law, statute law, dispute resolution, construction law, and arbitration. In 2013 he was appointed by the Western Australian government as a sessional arbitrator to resolve workers compensation disputes and in June 2014 he was appointed by the Minister of Commerce to undertake an extensive review of the operation of the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA). His review has resulted in significant changes to the legislation relating to contract administration and dispute resolution in Western Australia.

    Before leaving to practice law full time with a national law firm in 1998, Dr Evans was the Head of the Department of Construction Management at Curtin University. In 2001 he joined the College of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia, where he was Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Law, Director of Graduate Law Programs, and the Course Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Building and Construction Law. In 2010 he joined Murdoch University and was subsequently appointed Professor of Law, Deputy Dean and Dean of Law before leaving to take up a foundation professorial appointment at Curtin University Law School in July 2013. In July 2015 he left Curtin to return to private practice.

    He has lectured extensively in Contract Law, Torts Law, Trade Practices Law, Intellectual Property Law, Evidence, Project Management, Construction Contracts, Construction Claims and Dispute Resolution in the Construction Industry. Dr Evans has coached a number of award winning teams in international mooting competitions including the Willem C Vis International Trade Law Arbitration Moot (Vienna and Hong Kong), the International Maritime Law Moot (Australia) and the International ADR Moot (Hong Kong). He regularly acts as a judge in each of these competitions. He has taught in a number of university twinning programs including the University of Macerata (Italy), The Lim Kok Wing University of Technology (Malaysia) and BPI International (Singapore). He is also on the editorial boards of a number of law journals.

    His contribution to construction law education and dispute resolution has been acknowledged through the awarding of Fellowships by the Institution of Engineers (Australia), the Australian Institute of Building, the Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. In 2012 Dr Evans received the Murdoch Law Students Lecturer of the Year Award and at the World Building 2013 Conference in Brisbane, received the Moray and Agnew Construction Law Award. In 2013 he received the Vice Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Australian Award for University Teaching (Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning) for his contribution to international advocacy training. As a consequence of his contribution to the field of alternate dispute resolution, in October 2015 Dr Evans was awarded the inaugural Resolution Institute Award; Contribution to the Professional Development of Others in ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution).

    Dr Evans has also had a long involvement in Adult Legal Education as a regular presenter in the Professional Training Program in Arbitration Law and Practice (IAMA and WAIDM), the University of Western Australia Extension programs, Murdoch Executive Education, the Queensland Department of Main Roads. In 2019 Dr Evans was appointed to the Academic Board of the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education.

    In March 2020 Professor Evans was awarded a CPEE Honorary Alumni in recognition of his significant contribution to construction law education over many years and in July 2020 Professor Evans was invited to become a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law as a person of exceptional distinction in the discipline of law.

  • Books

    Annotated Text of the Commercial Arbitration Act 2012 (WA) (2015) G. Moens, J Trone and P Evans; Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-379-00266-9

    Dispute Resolution in the Resources Sector; An Australian Perspective G Moens and P Evans (Ed) (2015)  Springer Publications ISBN 978-3-319-17451-8

    Understanding Construction Law. J Coggins, T. Davie, T. Earls and P. Evans (2016) LexisNexis ISBN 9780409341645

  • Book chapters

    Security of Payment in Western Australia; The effect of Changes arising from the Review of the Construction Contracts Act (WA); A Commitment to Excellence, (Ed A. Zimmermann) Connor Court Publishing, ISBN 9781925826203. October 2018, Chapter 18, pps 389-415.

    An Australian Perspective on Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in the Resources Sector, Chapter 1, (pages 1 to 7)  Dispute Resolution in the Resources Sector; An Australian Perspective  G Moens and P Evans (Ed) (2015),Springer Publications ISBN 978-3-319-17451-8

    The Enforcement of Dispute Resolution Agreements in the Resources Sector, Chapter 5 (pages 43 to 63), Dispute Resolution in the Resources Sector; An Australian Perspective  G Moens and P Evans (Ed) (2015),Springer Publications ISBN 978-3-319-17451-8

  • Journal articles

    Refereed Legal Journal Articles

    • Workers Compensation; The Defence of Reasonable Administrative Action. International Trade and Business Law Review, Vol XX11 (2019) pps 205-229
    • Green v Comcare; Mental Injury and Reasonable Administrative Action. University of Notre Dame Law Review 2018, Vol XXII
    • “Better Contracting; Changes Arising from the Review of the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA)” The Arbitrator and Mediator (2017) 36(1)
    • “The use of Project Bank Accounts and the Implication of the Construction Code of Conduct in WA” Proceedings, Society of Construction Law (Aust) Annual National Conference 2017 (pps 1-12)
    • “The Statutory Review of the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA)”, University of Notre Dame Law Review, (2017) 18(1)

    Un-refereed Published Legal Articles

    • Bullying can occur in situations involving conduct between parties in commercial arrangements. ON THE CASE 24 (22 October 2018) available at http;/www.notredame.edu.au/about/schools/Sydney/lawschool-resources/on-the-case/24
    • “The Building and Construction Industry Code of Conduct (WA)”, Brief Volume 44, Number 6, July 2017, Law Society of WA, pps 22-27.
    • “The Independent Statutory Review of the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA)” AIB CONSTRUCT Magazine Edition 4 (2015), 18.