Dr Mitchell Adams

Biography

Mitchell Adams is the Course Director of the Bachelor of Laws and Senior Lecturer at Swinburne Law School. His specialisation lies at the intersection of law and technology, as an expert in intellectual property law, legal tech and legal design. Mitchell heads up the Legal Technology and Design Clinics, where he creates the conditions for legal innovation through student and industry collaboration. He has recently been appointed as a Centre for Legal Innovation Distinguished Fellow investigating the use of generative AI in legal practice. 

He holds a PhD in trade mark law as well as science and law degrees from Monash University. He writes on intellectual property rights, using empirical legal methods to investigate international registration systems. His current research is focused on trade mark law and designs law. Other areas of research include those in the field of entertainment law and the legal protection afforded to fictional characters. He is the recipient of over $500,000 in grants from sources including IP Australia and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. 

He is also the producer of 40 Floors Up, the only law-themed board game in Australia. The game has been played by hundreds of secondary school legal studies students and has been purchased around the world.

Recently, Mitchell was named ‘Academic of the Year’ at the 2022 Australian Law Awards. He has also received several awards, including a Dean’s Excellence Award, a Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (High Commendation) and a Teaching Excellence Award. Mitchell is an intellectual property lawyer, being admitted as an Australian Lawyer with the Supreme Court of Victoria, a Practitioner of the High Court of Australia and a registered Trade Marks Attorney.