Our Story
In early 1990, Murdoch University opened its doors for the first time to students wanting to study law. Three days after the opening of Murdoch Law School, half of the Law School’s first cohort gathered near the Environmental Sciences Building to discuss starting a representative body for law students. Murdoch Law School’s first dean Professor Ralph Simmonds (now Justice Simmonds at the WA Supreme Court) encouraged these students to band together to set up a student society.
Following this initial meeting, talk of this potential law student society spread to the other student organisations, including the Murdoch Guild. The Guild was initially firmly against a law student society on the basis that it was ‘elitist’ because it excluded non-law students from joining. Nevertheless, the Guild’s Vice President collaborated with the law students to build an inclusive body which served to both represent law students at Murdoch University while being open to non-law students. The name of the society also reflects this inclusivity - rather than being called the ‘Murdoch Law Students’ Society’ (which denotes that the society is limited to law students), it was titled the ‘Murdoch Student Law Society’. After figuring out the nuts and bolts of the society, MSLS saw the genesis of its first committee:
President, Mark Dean;
Vice-President, Sharon Law;
Treasurer, Grant Gernhoffer;
Secretary, Julian Atkinson;
Socials Events Committee Member, Dave Stewart.
After all this time, MSLS still plays a vital role in the law student experience at Murdoch University. MSLS would like to thank our members, past and present, alongside the staff at the Murdoch Law School for supporting us.
Riya Shah, 2020 Education & Careers Vice President of MSLS
Why Join?
Being a member of MSLS has some insane perks like cheap coffee at the Law Cafe, massive discounts on events and exclusive access to competitions and forums! We also provide a FREE red bull to members EVERY DAY! So why not become a member?
Meet our Committee
University can be an overwhelming experience! It helps to have a friendly face through this experience. Feel free to approach any of our committee members for a friendly conversation or if you wish to learn more about the MSLS and upcoming events!
First Years!
Entering Murdoch Law School as a first year student can be quite daunting and overwhelming! At MSLS, we seek to ease this transition and assist you to the best of our availability, to have an amazing university experience.
Our publication, Guide to Law School, caters to those who are beginning their law degree or are in the early stages of their studies. This Guide sets out what studnets need to know about law school so they can make the most out of their time. The Guide provides student testimonies about their experiences, and the opportunities that law school has provided them.
As well as our main Facebook page, MSLS also has groups for each commencement year! Connect with people that started University in the same year as you with the groups below and bond with your cohort!