Bob Baxt

Robert Baxt AO (27 June 1938 – 11 March 2018) was an Australian lawyer and a chairman of the Trade Practices Commission, dean of law at Monash University and a professorial fellow of the University of Melbourne.^[1][2]

Baxt was born in Shanghai, China, raised in Australia, where his family had moved in 1947. He was educated at Newington College (1947–1955), commencing as a preparatory school student at Wyvern House,^[3] and the University of Sydney, and did his LLM - Master of Laws - at Harvard Law School 1963-1964.

Baxt was a partner of the Australian commercial law firm Freehills. He initially joined Freehills as a solicitor in 1965 before entering academia.^[4] From 1980–1988, he was dean of the Monash University Faculty of Law. From 1991–2004, he was a partner at Allens Arthur Robinson. He rejoined Freehills in January 2005 and became an emeritus partner.

Baxt was involved in a number of Australian legal publications. He was the founder and then general editor of the Company and Securities Law Journal as well as the Australian Business Law Review.^[5] He was also editor of the monthly newsletter on corporate regulation, The Baxt Report. In his time as an academic, he was also an editor of the Monash University Law Review.^[6]

• Officer, Order of Australia 2003^[7]
• Recipient, Centenary Medal 2001^[8]