David Goldman, an insolvency and restructuring partner at Deacons, has been asked to rewrite and run the course, which is the only postgraduate course in NSW dedicated to corporate insolvency.

“The university of NSW has had this course on its books for a few years, but it hadn’t been able to staff it to its satisfaction and it required a rewrite that’s been motivated by the current financial market,” Goldman said.

The course is structured to cover corporate insolvency over a 12-week timeframe, and will address fundamental insolvency principles as well as venturing into deeper issues of cross-border and international comparative insolvency law.

To remain as responsive as possible to the rapid developments in insolvency law, three weeks of teaching will be dedicated to comparative and cross-border issues, Goldman said. These will include analysis of the operation of the UNCTIAL model law, and comparative studies of foreign insolvency systems, particularly the regulatory schemes in the United Kingdom, the United States and European Union.

Recent case studies will also be discussed, including the cross-border insolvency issues arising form the HIH case.

Goldman admits he will be burning the midnight oil as both practitioner and lecturer. But, he said, much of the work that has gone into preparing the course would be necessary to keep himself up to date in his own practice.

“I suppose, with the sort of practice that I have, it’s going to be a busy time. The matters that I have are going to require a close look at these laws, particularly the new laws, and so, it’s going to be, to some degree, work that I would otherwise have done.

“It’s work I need to do to prepare myself for the type of inflow of work that is to be expected, particularly with the developments in the United States.”

UNSW anticipates high demand for the course, with an initial cap of 30 places on offer to students, who will include practitioners, in-house lawyers and international students.

“I expect that most of them will be practising lawyers and in-house council and I would expect they would be in-house council for banks and probably large corporations,” Goldman said.

Lectures and tutorials will be held in Deacons’ Sydney office and the top student will be awarded the Deacons Prize for Corporate Insolvency.

The lecture series will also include guest lectures from a selection of high-profile insolvency practitioners from firms including Corda Mentha and Ernst & Young.