Metadata
Title
Rick Bigwood
Category
general
UUID
24330e746ac84cbca41ee732856b2144
Source URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/13902
Parent URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/bel/about/leaders
Crawl Time
2026-03-11T06:57:50+00:00
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# Rick Bigwood

**Source**: https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/13902
**Parent**: https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/bel/about/leaders

Professor

# Rick Bigwood

Email:
:   [dean@law.uq.edu.au](mailto:dean@law.uq.edu.au)

Phone:
:   [+61 7 336 52361](tel:+61 7 336 52361)

## Positions

Sir Gerard Brennan Chair in Law and Head of School
:   Faculty of Business, Economics and Law

## Overview

### Background

Professor Rick Bigwood’s principal teaching and research interests lie in the areas of contract and property law. He was formerly a Senior Solicitor and Acting Principal Solicitor with the Federal Attorney-General's Department in Canberra (Office of Commercial Law). Before joining TC Beirne School of Law, Professor Bigwood taught at Bond University for five years, and he was on the Auckland Law Faculty for 16 years before that, where he was also the Director of the Research Centre for Business Law. He has published widely in leading international journals on subjects within contract, equity and property law, and he has been a keynote speaker at international conferences on contract law. His publications include the following books: Legal Method in New Zealand (Butterworths, 2001); Exploitative Contracts (Oxford University Press, 2003) (awarded the JF Northey Memorial Book Award for 2003); The Statute: Making and Meaning (LexisNexis, 2004); Public Interest Litigation: The New Zealand Experience in International Perspective (LexisNexis, 2006); The Permanent New Zealand Court of Appeal: Essays on the First 50 Years (Hart Publishing, 2009); Contract as Assumption: Essays on a Theme (by Brian Coote) (Hart Publishing, 2010); The Law of Remedies: New Directions in the Common Law (Irwin Law, 2010) (with Jeff Berryman); Cheshire & Fifoot, Law of Contract (various editions since 2012) (with Nick Seddon); and Variations on a Theme of Contract (LexisNexis, 2019) (with GHL Fridman). Professor Bigwood was formerly the General Editor of the New Zealand Universities Law Review, and he was Editor of the New Zealand Law Review 2002-2008 and University of Queensland Law Journal 2019-2021. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of the New Zealand Law Review and the Journal of Contract Law. Professor Bigwood has received a number of awards, prizes and honours for his teaching at various tertiary educational institutions, in a variety of countries, including a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2006 (New Zealand). He is currently Academic Dean and Head of the TC Beirne School of Law at The University of Queensland and current holder of the Sir Gerard Brennan Chair in Law.

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### Availability

Professor Rick Bigwood is:
:   Available for supervision

### Fields of research

[Commercial law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4808)
[Commercial law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5444)
[Contract law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=6373)
[Corporations and associations law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5154)
[Law and Legal Studies](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4770)
[Private law and civil obligations](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4821)
[Property law (excl. intellectual property law)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5377)

### Research interests

- #### Contract law

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- #### Property law

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### Research impacts

While contracts are the backbone of commerce and general life, rarely are real-world bargaining situations perfectly balanced. People can be pressured, misled, or disadvantaged by reason of asymmetric power relations or informational imbalances. Professor Rick Bigwood’s research tackles this problem: how should private law distinguish acceptable persuasion from wrongful pressure, and legitimate advantage-taking from intolerable exploitation, so that contracts, and other voluntary dispositions, remain both freely made and socially legitimate. His scholarship charts the fine line between lawful bargaining and duress, undue influence, unconscionable dealing, and misleading conduct, and asks how courts should respond when consent is compromised or trust has been abused. This agenda matters because rules that are too permissive can legitimise the merely instrumental utilisation of persons, while rules that are too strict can stifle ordinary commerce. Bigwood’s long-standing contribution — spanning doctrinal analysis and legal philosophy — seeks principled tests that protect vulnerable parties without undermining certainty for businesses and consumers.

Professor Bigwood combines comparative doctrinal analysis (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK), case-based reasoning, and normative theory to evaluate how private law should respond to ill-gotten contracts (among other forms of voluntary disposition). His method interrogates the internal logic of legal and equitable doctrines, and their practical effects, often re-examining leading cases to clarify the policy justifications behind relief. Recent outputs apply this approach to misleading silence, the taxonomy of vitiating factors, and a critique of strict-liability unconscionability in the light of landmark decisions such as *Uber Technologies Inc v Heller*, in which his work is extensively cited. Bigwood’s work has refined the doctrinal architecture of vitiating factors and remedies, giving courts and lawyers better tools to identify and redress bargaining misconduct. His scholarship — spanning books (e.g., *Exploitive Contracts*, *Cheshire & Fifoot Law of Contract*), articles and chapters — has become a touchstone for judges and law reformers grappling with questions of consent and transactional fairness in modern contracting.

His widely cited analysis in the *University of Toronto Law Journal* on coercion in contracting, frames the doctrinal boundary between tolerated “pressure” and wrongful compulsion, while his doctrinal audits of undue influence in Australia post-*Thorne v Kennedy* highlight the need to restore fiduciary prophylaxis in the field (or else to openly justify its abandonment), a critique used by scholars and practitioners to reassess litigation strategy and judicial reasoning.

His recent outputs on legal fictions in contract and insurance law, supervening unconscionability, the taxonomisation of contract vitiation, and the unconscionable dealing doctrine in Anglo-Commonwealth legal systems, evidence ongoing relevance to courts and policy debates. Commercial, consumer, and litigation lawyers benefit from his analytical frameworks to assess risks in negotiations, draft fairer contracts, and advise clients when relief may be available according to equitable or statutory norms (e.g., unconscionability, misleading conduct). Judges, regulators and law reform bodies draw on Bigwood’s critiques and analyses to evaluate doctrinal drift and calibrate statutory interventions, and they benefit from clearer tests and taxonomies that make decisions more principled and consistent.

Collectively, these outcomes strengthen legal certainty while safeguarding voluntary exchange — a balance essential for consumers and businesses alike.

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## Works

[Search Professor Rick Bigwood’s works on UQ eSpace](http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/list/author_id/2579350)

[All
(60)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/13902/all)
[Book
(10)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/13902/4747)
[Journal Article
(40)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/13902/4748)
[Book Chapter
(10)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/13902/4752)

2025

Journal Article

##### The Amadio principle four decades on: still fit for apparent purpose?

Bigwood, Rick, Ridge, Pauline and Paterson, Jeannie Marie (2025). The Amadio principle four decades on: still fit for apparent purpose?. Melbourne University Law Review, 48 (2), 219-279.

[The Amadio principle four decades on: still fit for apparent purpose?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:d6b99ad)

2025

Book Chapter

##### Unconscionable dealing

Bigwood, Rick (2025). Unconscionable dealing. Research handbook on the philosophy of contract law. (pp. 431-446) edited by Mindy Chen Wishart and Prince Saprai. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781800885417.00038

[Unconscionable dealing](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:557fcab)

2024

Journal Article

##### Unconscientious retention of benefit: can unconscionability “supervene” in unconscionable dealing cases?

Bigwood, Rick and Ridge, Pauline (2024). Unconscientious retention of benefit: can unconscionability “supervene” in unconscionable dealing cases?. Journal of Equity, 18 (1) 1, 1-31.

[Unconscientious retention of benefit: can unconscionability “supervene” in unconscionable dealing cases?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:4530994)

2023

Journal Article

##### Legal fictions and the attainment of the just result: Continuing (mis)representation and the Insurance Contracts Act

Bigwood, Rick (2023). Legal fictions and the attainment of the just result: Continuing (mis)representation and the Insurance Contracts Act. Journal of Contract Law, 39 (1) 1, 27-50.

[Legal fictions and the attainment of the just result: Continuing (mis)representation and the Insurance Contracts Act](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:045649a)

2022

Book

##### Cheshire and Fifoot law of contract

Seddon, Nicholas and Bigwood, Rick (2022). Cheshire and Fifoot law of contract. 12th ed. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: LexisNexis.

[Cheshire and Fifoot law of contract](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:78becb2)

2021

Journal Article

##### Strict Liability Unconscionability in the Supreme Court of Canada: Observations on Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller

Bigwood, Rick (2021). Strict Liability Unconscionability in the Supreme Court of Canada: Observations on Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller. Canadian Business Law Journal, 65 (2), 153-194.

[Strict Liability Unconscionability in the Supreme Court of Canada: Observations on Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:bfd2e25)

2021

Journal Article

##### Uncertainty in private law: rhetorical device or substantive legal argument?

Bigwood, Rick and Dietrich, Joachim (2021). Uncertainty in private law: rhetorical device or substantive legal argument?. Melbourne University Law Review, 45 (1), 60-98.

[Uncertainty in private law: rhetorical device or substantive legal argument?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:bc98ef1)

2021

Book Chapter

##### Contract Vitiation

Bigwood, Rick (2021). Contract Vitiation. Australian Contract Law in the 21st Century. (pp. 153-173) edited by John Eldridge and Timothy Pilkington. Alexandria, NSW Australia: Federation Press.

[Contract Vitiation](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:80bfb79)

2020

Book Chapter

##### The norm against misleading conduct and implications for the regulation of ‘misleading silence’

Bigwood, Rick (2020). The norm against misleading conduct and implications for the regulation of ‘misleading silence’. Misleading silence. (pp. 107-132) edited by Elise Bant and Jeannie Paterson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509929283.ch-005

[The norm against misleading conduct and implications for the regulation of ‘misleading silence’](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:e91bcfa)

2019

Journal Article

##### Knocking down the straw man: reflections on BOM v BOK and the Court of Appeal's "Middle-Ground" narrow doctrine of unconscionability for Singapore

Bigwood, Rick (2019). Knocking down the straw man: reflections on BOM v BOK and the Court of Appeal's "Middle-Ground" narrow doctrine of unconscionability for Singapore. Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 29-66.

[Knocking down the straw man: reflections on BOM v BOK and the Court of Appeal's "Middle-Ground" narrow doctrine of unconscionability for Singapore](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:33ab899)

2019

Journal Article

##### Undue influence as constructive fraud

Bigwood, Rick (2019). Undue influence as constructive fraud. Journal of Equity, 13, 144-182.

[Undue influence as constructive fraud](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:5db936a)

2019

Book

##### Variations on the theme of contract

Fridman, Gerald and Bigwood, Rick (2019). Variations on the theme of contract. Toronto, ON Canada: LexisNexis Canada.

[Variations on the theme of contract](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:733393)

2019

Journal Article

##### The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part II

Bigwood, Rick (2019). The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part II. Journal of Contract Law, 35, 187-215.

[The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part II](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:dc3c23f)

2019

Book Chapter

##### Exploitation

Bigwood, Rick (2019). Exploitation. Reimagining Contract Law Pedagogy: A New Agenda for Teaching. (pp. 61-78) edited by Warren Swain and David Campbell. Oxford, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315178189

[Exploitation](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:733391)

2019

Book Chapter

##### New Zealand perspectives on contract remedies

Bigwood, Rick (2019). New Zealand perspectives on contract remedies. Research handbook on remedies in private law. (pp. 390-408) edited by Roger Halson and David Campbell. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781786431271.00031

[New Zealand perspectives on contract remedies](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:edb3e1a)

2018

Journal Article

##### Teaching Contract Vitiation in Australia: New Challenges in Subject Design

Bigwood, Rick and Mullins, Rob (2018). Teaching Contract Vitiation in Australia: New Challenges in Subject Design. Bond Law Review, 30 (2), 185-216. doi: 10.53300/001c.6797

[Teaching Contract Vitiation in Australia: New Challenges in Subject Design](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:733394)

2018

Journal Article

##### The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part I

Bigwood, Rick (2018). The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part I. Journal of Contract Law, 35 (1), 56-89.

[The undue influence of "non-Australian" undue influence law on Australian undue influence law: farewell Johnson v Buttress? Part I](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:733392)

2018

Book Chapter

##### Continuing representation and strict responsibility for accuracy after Cramaso: fact or (legal) fiction?

Bigwood, Rick A. (2018). Continuing representation and strict responsibility for accuracy after Cramaso: fact or (legal) fiction?. Transnational Commercial and Consumer Law: Current Trends in International Business Law. (pp. 187-221) edited by Toshiyuki Kono, Mary Hiscock and Arie Reich. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-1080-5\_8

[Continuing representation and strict responsibility for accuracy after Cramaso: fact or (legal) fiction?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:732665)

2017

Journal Article

##### ‘Rescuing the Canadian Unconscionability Doctrine? Reflections on the Court’s “Applicable Principles” in Downer v. Pitcher’

Bigwood, Rick (2017). ‘Rescuing the Canadian Unconscionability Doctrine? Reflections on the Court’s “Applicable Principles” in Downer v. Pitcher’. Canadian Business Law Journal, 60 (1), 124-155.

[‘Rescuing the Canadian Unconscionability Doctrine? Reflections on the Court’s “Applicable Principles” in Downer v. Pitcher’](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:6b6afec)

2017

Book

##### Cheshire & Fifoot law of contract

Seddon, N. C. and Bigwood, R. A. (2017). Cheshire & Fifoot law of contract. Sydney: LexisNexis.

[Cheshire & Fifoot law of contract](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:0706147)

## Funding

### Past funding

- 2018 - 2022

  Holding Redlich-UQ Property Law Research Partnership

  Holding Redlich

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/37348)

## Supervision

### Availability

Professor Rick Bigwood is:
:   Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on [how to choose a supervisor](https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/how-to-choose-a-supervisor).

### Supervision history

#### Current supervision

- Doctor Philosophy

  ##### The Source, Nature and Limits of a Duty to Act Reasonably in Australian Contract Law

  Principal Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Dr Ryan Catterwell](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/17836)

#### Completed supervision

- 2023

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Termination of Contract for Breach: Dispelling Certain Myths about Express Termination Powers in Commercial Contracts](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:eced0f8)

  Principal Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Dr Andrew Fell](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/24563), [Dr Ryan Catterwell](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/17836)
- 2025

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Responsive Informality in Australian State and Territory Combined-Jurisdiction Tribunals](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:2ea1e99)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Professor Anthony Cassimatis](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/74), [Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/10510)
- 2022

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Reconciling Customary and Formal Land Tenure: A Proposed Framework for the Process of Reform](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:0842037)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Emeritus Professor Jennifer Corrin](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/977)
- 2019

  Master Philosophy

  ##### The Relevance of Regulations of the EU Carbon Market in Construing Contracts for the Sale of EU Carbon Credits

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Honorary Professor Qiao Liu](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1830)

## Media

### Enquiries

For media enquiries about Professor Rick Bigwood's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

[communications@uq.edu.au](mailto:communications@uq.edu.au)

## External profiles

- [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5069-4608)

## Social media

- [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-bigwood-b34b0311/)

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