Sean Johnson

Contact Details

Biography

Sean is the Director of the Dispute Resolution program in the School of Law at James Cook University. He has an extensive professional career as a lawyer in private and public practice and as a Senior Executive in the agribusiness, financial services and management consulting industries. His legal career has included being a Partner of a national law firm, Principal of his own firm and Principal Legal Officer/Legal Practice Manager with a large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal service.

Sean was formerly Director of Research and Strategy with a financial services consulting firm and was responsible for the development of a number of business banking lending products for a major bank based on his research and industry benchmarking.

Sean is currently a director on the Board of the Australian Technical College - North Queensland, where he is also Chairperson of the Board’s Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. He has previously been on the boards of a number of not-for-profit organisations. He is a Past President of a local Rotary Club in Townsville.

Presently, Sean is continuing postgraduate studies in tertiary education as well as undertaking a doctorate in the area of dispute and conflict resolution with a focus on reconciliation and justice through the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney.

As Director of the DR program Sean teaches in the areas of Negotiation, Commercial Dispute Resolution, and has also taught Company and Partnership Law. He coordinates or has developed the curriculum for subjects in mediation, conflict management, indigenous and cross cultural dispute resolution, and multi-party dispute resolution.

Teaching Interests

• Negotiation

• Dispute resolution

• Corporate law and corporate governance

Main Areas of Research

• Alternative dispute resolution, conflict and negotiation

• Cross cultural dispute resolution and conflict resolution

• Community dispute resolution

• Reconciliation and structural violence

• ADR pedagogy

• Regulation and governance with a focus on not-for-profit organisations

• Corporate governance