Ms Molly Townes O'Brien
Areas of expertise
- Access To Justice 180102
- Human Rights And Justice Issues 220104
- Criminal Law And Procedure 180110
- Education Assessment And Evaluation 130303
- Civil Law And Procedure 180104
- Litigation, Adjudication And Dispute Resolution 180123
- Law 1801
- Other Law And Legal Studies 1899
Biography
Molly has served on the law faculties of Emory University, University of Akron and University of Wollongong. Prior to entering the academy, she worked as a judicial clerk in the United States District Court and the Georgia Supreme Court before practicing law in Pennsylvania as a civil litigator and then as an Assistant Public Defender. She had a TBI in 2012 and wrote a book, Nobody Home – My Brain Injury and Recovery about her experience. Visit nobodyhomebook.com to order a copy.
Songwriter and humorist, Molly was born in Nashville, Tennessee and learned to play guitar at her daddy’s knee. She plays original songs and covers roots-country, folk, and blues. She also performs old songs from Tennessee and songs by some of her favorite performers, including John Prine. She has performed in various coffeehouses, clubs, restaurants and radio shows in the United States where she is appreciated as much for her humor as she is for her rhythm guitar. She moved to Canberra in 2008 and now is a host of World Vibe on ArtSound fm.
Researcher's projects
Books
Nobody Home — My Brain Injury and Recovery from Pavement to Podium, (2021) Stringybark Publishing, Australia.
Trial Advocacy Basics (3rd edition) co-authored with Gary Gilden, (2021) National Institute for Trial Advocacy Press, USA.
Civil Procedure, (2nd edition), co-authored with Stephen Colbran, Sheryl Jackson, Peta Spender, and Tania Penovic, (2019) LexisNexis.
New Directions for Law in Australia: Essays in Contemporary Law Reform, co-edited with Ron Levy, Simon Rice, Pauline Ridge and Margaret Thornton, (2017) ANU Press.
Trial Advocacy Basics (2nd edition) co-authored with Gary Gilden, (2016) National Institute for Trial Advocacy Press.
Civil Procedure, co-authored with Stephen Colbran, Roger Douglas and Sheryl Jackson (2016) LexisNexis Butterworths.
Book Chapters
‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ in Stephen Colbran, et al., Civil Procedure: Commentary and Materials (7th edition, 2019) Lexis Nexis.
‘Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Promoting Cooperation and Sustainability,’ in (2018) Old Issues – New Perspectives, D. A. Frenkel (ed.) ATINER Institute for Education and Research. Athens: Greece. ISBN 978-960-598-174-7, co-authored with Charles Lineweaver.
‘Connecting Law Students to Health and Wellbeing’ in (2016) Promoting Law Student and Lawyer Well-Being in Australia and Beyond, Rachel Field, James Duffy and Colin James, editors, Routledge.
‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ in Stephen Colbran, et al., Civil Procedure: Commentary and Materials (6th edition, 2015) Lexis Nexis.
‘The Cosmic Context of the Millennium Development Goals: Maximum Entropy
and Sustainability’ in (2015) Nanotechnology for a Secure and Sustainable Future, Tom Faunce, editor, Pan Stanford Publishing, co-authored with Charles Lineweaver.
‘The Challenge of the How: Developing a Process for Legal Educational Program Renewal,’ in (2014) The First-Year Experience in Law School: A New Beginning, Leon Wolff and Maria Nicolae, editors, co-authored with Anthony Connolly.
‘Mother Tongue Education as a Legal Right’ in (2014) Intersections: Applied Linguistics as a Meeting Place, Elke Stracke, editor, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, co-authored with Peter Bailey.
Articles, Essays & Refereed Conference Proceedings
“Brain Injury and Prison: Over-Representation, Prevention and Reform” presentation at the 2nd International Conference on Neurology and Brain Disorders on 20 November 2023 (virtually) in London, UK.
‘Prisoners with brain injuries: What do we know and what should we do?’ presentation at 8th National Brain Injury Conference, University of Sydney, June 2022.
‘Brain injury and prison: over-representation, prevention and reform,’ 28 Australian Journal of Human Rights 1, 1-20 (2022), DOI: 10.1080/1323238X.2022.2093462
‘Teaching Human Rights in Australia’ presentation to 19th Annual International Conference on Law, 11-14 July 2022, Athens, Greece.
“Nurses Can Train Families, Police and Lawyers” talk to Nurses Conference, 2nd Edition Of Virtual Conference On Nursing Education & Practice (Virtual Nursing 2022) 12 December 2022.
‘Representing the Brain Injured Accused,’ presentation at 7th National Brain Injury Conference, University of Melbourne, 29 October 2019.
‘A Hidden Hierarchy: Helping and Hindering a New Online JD Program,’ presentation at Hierarchies in Legal Education Symposium, Temple University, Philadelphia, October (2019)
‘Awakening from a Coma’ presentation in Frankenstein 2018: 200 Years of Monsters, Australian National University, Canberra, September (2018).
‘Becoming a Law Teacher Again,’ ALTA Conference 2018, Perth Australia (2018).
Publications
- Levy, R, O'Brien, M, Rice, S et al 2017, 'Introduction', in (ed.), New Directions for Law in Australia: Essays in Contemporary Law Reform, ANU Press, Canberra, pp. 1-10.
- Colbran , S, Douglas, R, Jackson, S et al. 2016, Civil Procedure, LexisNexis Butterworths, Melbourne, Victoria.
- O'Brien, M 2016, 'Connecting law students to health and wellbeing', in Rachel Field, James Duffy, Colin James (ed.), Promoting law student and lawyer well-being in Australia and beyond, Routledge, Oxon, United Kingdom, pp. 158-168.
- Colbran , S, Spender, P, Douglas, R et al. 2015, Civil procedure: commentary and materials (6th ed), LexisNexis, Australia.
- Lineweaver, CH & O'Brien, M 2015, 'The Cosmic Context of the Millenium Development Goals: Maximum Entropy and Sustainability', in Dr Tom Faunce (ed.), Nanotechnology For a Secure and Sustainable Future, Pan Stanford Publishing, Singapore.
- O'Brien, M, Leiman, T & Duffy, J 2014, 'The Power of Naming: the Multifaceted value of learning students' names', QUT Law Review (University of Queensland Law Review), vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 114-128.
- O'Brien, M 2014, 'Legal Education as a Meaningful Struggle', Wellness for Law Forum, QUT Faculty of Law, Brisbane Australia.
- O'Brien, M 2014, 'CONNECTING LAW STUDENT WELLBEING TO SOCIAL JUSTICE, PROBLEM-SOLVING AND HUMAN EMOTIONS', QUT Law Review (University of Queensland Law Review), vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 52-62.
- O'Brien, M & Bailey, P 2014, 'Mother Tongue Education as a Legal Right for Indigenous Children', in Elke Stracke (ed.), Intersections: Applied Linguistics as a Meeting Place, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, pp. 312-329.
- O'Brien, M 2014, 'The Learning Journey: Please Take Me with You', Adelaide Law Review, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 23-34.
- Connolly, A & O'Brien, M 2014, 'The Challenge of the How: Developing a Process for Legal Education Program Renewal', in L Wolff, M Nicolae (ed.), The First-year Law Experience: A New Beginning, Halstead Press, Braddon, ACT, pp. 117-129.
- O'Brien, M 2013, 'Bring Your Whole Self to Law School', National Wellness for Law Forum, University of Melbourne, Melbourne.
- O'Brien, M 2013, 'PRESENTATION - Perspectives on Criminal Prosecution and Identity'.
- O'Brien, M 2013, 'SEMINAR - Enriching Legal Education Globally: The Role of Curriculum and Legal Methodology'.
- O'Brien, M 2013, 'PRESENTATION - From Plessy to Present: Desegregation and the Struggle for Equal Schooling'.
- O'Brien, M & Tang, S 2013, 'Stop struggling for the struggle's sake: Make it meaningful', The International First Year in Higher Education Conference, The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, New Zealand, pp. 1-10.
- O'Brien, M 2013, 'Connecting law student wellbeing to social justice, problem solving and human emotions', National Wellness for Law Forum, University of Melbourne, Melbourne.
- O'Brien, M & Tang, S 2013, Law school too hard? Why the struggle could be a good one. The Conversation.
- O'Brien, M 2012, 'Criminal Law's Tribalism', Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 31-50.
- O'Brien, M, Tang, S & Hall, K 2011, 'No time to lose: Negative impact on law student wellbeing may begin in year one', International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, vol. 2, no. 2012, pp. 49-60.
- Rice, S & O'Brien, M 2009, Inquiry into Access to Justice.
- O'Brien, M, Tang, S & Hall, K 2011, 'Changing Our Thinking: Empirical Research on Law Student Wellbeing, Thinking Styles and the Law Curriculum', Legal Education Review, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 149-182.
- O'Brien, M., Tang, S. & Hall, K. 2011 'No Time to Lose: Negative Impact on Law Student Wellbeing May Begin in Year One', The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, Vol. 2, No.2, pp. 49-60, 2011
- O'Brien, M 2011, 'Facing Down The Gladiators: Addressing Law School's Hidden Adversarial Curriculum ', Monash Law Review, vol. 37, no. 1.
- O'Brien, M 2011, 'An Active Learning Smorgasbord for Teaching Evidence', Journal of the Australasian Law Teachers Association, vol. 4, no. 1 & 2, pp. 31-40.
- O'Brien, M 2011, 'Walking the Walk: Using Student-Faculty Dialogue to Change an Adversarial Curriculum', Journal of the Australasian Law Teachers Association, vol. 4, no. 1 & 2, pp. 129-135.
- Hall, K, O'Brien, M & Tang, S 2010, 'Developing a Professional Identity in Law School: A View from Australia', Phoenix Law Review, vol. 4, no. 19, pp. 19-50.
- O'Brien, M 2009, 'Desegregation and the Struggle for Equal Schooling: Rolling the Rock of Sisyphus', in Maurice R. Dyson, Daniel B. Weddle (ed.), Our Promise: Achieving Educational Equality for America's Children, Carolina Academic Press, North Carolina, USA, pp. 3-24.
- O'Brien, M & Hall, K 2009, 'Alternative Dispute Resolution', in S. Colbran, G. Reinhardt, P. Spender, S. Jackson, R. Douglas, M. Townes O'Brien (ed.), Civil Procedure: Commentary and Materials (4th ed), LexisNexis, Australia, pp. 62-120.
- O'Brien, M & Littrich, J 2008, 'Using Assessment Practice to Evaluate the Legal Skills Curriculum', Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 61-76.
- O'Brien, M 2008, 'Exploring The Group-Identity Function of Criminal Law', Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference 2008, ed. Chris Cunneen & Michael Salter, SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Sydney, Australia, pp. 285-310.
- O'Brien, M 2006, 'Essay Review: Final Test and Class and Schools', Educational Studies, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 77-83.
- O'Brien, M 2004, 'Brown on the Ground: A Journey of Faith in Public Schooling', University of Toledo Law Review, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 813-839.
- O'Brien, M & Woodrum, A 2004, 'The Constitutional Common School', Cleveland State Law Review, vol. 51, pp. 581-642.
- O'Brien, M 2003, 'At the Intersection of Public Policy and Private Process: Court-Ordered Mediation and the Remedial Process in School Funding Litigation', Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution (JDR), vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 391-438.
