News
New appointment for law department
Monday, 08 March, 2010
Professor Ken Mackinnon has been appointed Head of Law at Aberdeen Business School.
Joining the University from his previous role as Head of Law at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, Professor Mackinnon was impressed by 'The Professional University' ethos Robert Gordon continues to strive for. He sees the move as a unique opportunity for him to further his research into professionalism, develop the department's extensive range of programmes and further his interest in alternative dispute resolution.
Ken said: "The University's focus on professionalism is aimed at ensuring that teaching is directed towards graduates' career opportunities as well as being delivered to a high standard. Our undergraduate LLB is likely to be the first degree to be re-accredited by the Law Society of Scotland because it meets revised expectations of 21st Century legal education.
"With a growing demand for graduates to have a firm grasp of legal ethics and alternative dispute resolution, practical skills are increasingly important to the field. We are beginning to realise as a society that going to court is not always the best way to solve a dispute and it is important that current students learn to be adaptable in a changing employment environment. The wide-ranging expertise brought into the department by staff provides a unique opportunity to respond to this."
Born in Glasgow, and educated at Kelvinside Academy and Cambridge University, Ken previously taught at the University of Aberdeen, where his research focus was on the legal ideas of Scottish Enlightenment figures such as David Hume and Adam Smith. As a member of the Social Security Appeal Tribunal in Aberdeen in the 1980s, he formed an enduring interest in access to justice and in alternatives to the court system.
In 1990, Ken moved to New Zealand as a foundation staff member for Waikato's new Law School. He was involved in an effort to bring more Maori people into the legal profession by developing a new curriculum, ensuring personal support for students, and most recently by increasing distance learning options. When he left, more than one quarter of the student population studying law were Maori.
During his time in New Zealand, Ken also authored the Social Welfare volume of the encyclopedic Laws of New Zealand. In 2003, he spent a year as Reviewer (first level of appeal) of Accident Compensation Corporation decisions in New Zealand, and then took a year out from New Zealand as Head of Law at the University of Derby in the UK.
Ken is keen to expand the use of online teaching of law courses. He said: "For me, a major attraction of Robert Gordon University was a more innovative style of teaching. I believe that the University is leading the way in online distance learning and our Masters degree in Construction Law and Arbitration is a particularly successful example of this, with a truly international student enrolment.
"As well as serving the North-east of Scotland, the Law Department is a major participant in the globalization of legal knowledge. Notable for our range of online Masters degrees in commercial, information technology, construction, oil and gas, and employment laws, we are working with professionals in these industries to provide top-rate courses. I am excited about future prospects in this regard."
The creation of three new research institutes at RGU has allowed the Law Department's most prolific scholars to have dedicated time for research activity. Ken continued: "We are looking forward to the next national research assessment when we expect Law to exceed its already high rating."
His own current area of research relates to accident compensation. His expertise as Reviewer on the New Zealand no fault system has led to his being appointed to a Scottish Government working group on compensation for medical injuries.
ENDS March 2010
Katy Jones
Communications Officer
Robert Gordon University
Schoolhill
Aberdeen
AB10 1FR
Tel: 01224 262206
Email: c.a.c.jones@rgu.ac.uk