Dr Aaron M Lane

About Dr Aaron M Lane

Aaron Lane is a commercial, public law and white-collar crime barrister who is also one of Australia’s better-known legal academics on cryptocurrency and blockchain. He was admitted on 12 December 2012 and signed the Victorian Bar roll on 19 October 2023. His clerk’s profile says he brings economic and financial evidence into his practice, and that he is briefed on crypto questions arising in banking, family law, insolvency, proceeds of crime, tax and estates matters.

Before the Bar he was special counsel at Duxton Hill from 2020 to 2023, working on fraud, misconduct and financial crime, and he began his career as a lawyer at Maddocks in administrative law and summary prosecutions. He read with Thomas Warner, and Dr Charles Parkinson KC is his senior mentor.

Academic work. He has been at RMIT University’s School of Law since 2017 and is a Senior Lecturer there, teaching corporations law, competition and consumer law, and law and technology. RMIT lists him as a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Competition & Innovation Lab and an honorary research associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies. He co-wrote Cryptodemocracy (2019) and the commercial law textbook Law in Commerce, has published on blockchain dispute resolution, cryptocurrency crime in Australian courts and the legal recognition of decentralised autonomous organisations, and has given evidence to state and federal parliamentary inquiries on blockchain, crypto and artificial intelligence. His 2024 chapter on private law remedies for cryptocurrency fraud was featured by a private law theory blog in January 2026.

Professional roles. He chairs the Law Council of Australia’s Digital Commerce Committee, is a member of the Blockchain Expert Group at Business at OECD, and sits on the Victorian Bar’s CPD Committee. He is also listed as a member of the Tasmanian Bar.

Education. Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws with honours (Deakin University); Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts (University of Divinity); PhD (RMIT University).

• Victorian Bar 2023 Signed the Bar roll on 19 October 2023.
• Crypto and blockchain Crypto issues across commercial, insolvency, criminal, tax, family and estates matters.
• White-collar crime Fraud, regulatory offences, compulsory examinations and disciplinary proceedings.
• RMIT Senior Lecturer School of Law since 2017; PhD from RMIT.
• Law Council chair Chairs the Law Council of Australia’s Digital Commerce Committee.
• Published author Co-author of Cryptodemocracy and Law in Commerce.

What Dr Aaron M Lane handles

His Victorian Bar profile lists practice categories including commercial, corporations, bankruptcy and insolvency, equity, criminal, public and administrative law, government, tax and revenue, and technology and media law. His clerk’s profile describes appearances since joining the Bar in:

• Commercial disputes: freezing orders, shareholder disputes, financial services and misleading conduct claims
• Bankruptcy and insolvency
• White-collar and regulatory crime: fraud, theft and regulatory offences, proceeds of crime and money laundering
• Disciplinary proceedings and compulsory examinations
• Cryptocurrency and digital assets arising in any of the above, and in family law, tax and estates matters

How a barrister is engaged. Barristers in Victoria are sole practitioners. They are ordinarily briefed by a solicitor rather than retained directly by a client, and their availability and fees are arranged through their clerk.

Sources: his Victorian Bar profile (practice categories and publications, reviewed 24 September 2026) and his Foley’s List profile (reviewed 24 September 2026). Practice descriptions are supplied by the barrister and are not independently verified by the Victorian Bar, his clerk or this site. We do not list individual cases or clients.

Rankings

We searched Doyle’s Guide’s 2025 and 2026 Victorian commercial litigation junior counsel lists, its 2026 Victorian insolvency junior counsel list and its 2026 national competition law junior counsel list, and did not find him listed. He came to the Bar in 2023, and Doyle’s ranks a small share of the Bar, junior barristers in particular, so absence from its lists is not a finding about a barrister’s work.

Register details

Dr Aaron M Lane is listed on the Victorian register of lawyers kept by the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner. The entry below is reproduced as it appeared on 24 September 2026.

• Name on the registerAaron Lane
• Practising certificate typeBarrister
• Practising atAaron M Lane
• AddressMELBOURNE VIC 3000
• Areas of practiceAdministrative Law, Advocacy, Business/Corporate Law, Charity/Not-For-Profit, Civil Litigation, Commercial Law, Competition/Consumer Law, Criminal Law, Debts/Insolvency, Financial Services/Superannuation, Information technology/Telecommunications, IT/Cybersecurity, Litigation - general, Regulation/Compliance/Ethics, Trade Practices Law
• Accredited specialisationsNot applicable
• LanguagesNot applicable

The register records him as Aaron Lane. Barristers in Victoria are sole practitioners, which is why the “practising at” field shows his own name rather than a firm, and why accredited specialisation is recorded as not applicable — the Law Institute of Victoria specialist accreditation scheme is for solicitors.

The register shows only one Aaron Lane entitled to practise in Victoria.

How to engage him

Contact his clerk, Foley’s List, on 03 9225 7777 about availability. He practises from Owen Dixon Chambers West, 525 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Barristers are normally briefed by a solicitor. If you do not yet have one, our matching service can put your matter in front of a lawyer who can then brief counsel if your matter needs it.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Dr Aaron Lane?

Dr Aaron M Lane is a Melbourne barrister practising in commercial and public law and white-collar crime, with a focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain disputes. He joined the Victorian Bar in October 2023, is a Senior Lecturer in law at RMIT University and is clerked by Foley’s List.

Is the barrister Aaron Lane the same person as the RMIT blockchain academic?

Yes. His Victorian Bar profile lists his blockchain and cryptocurrency papers, his clerk’s profile records his RMIT PhD and teaching post, and RMIT’s own staff profile lists his practice at the Victorian Bar since October 2023.

What does Aaron Lane specialise in?

Commercial disputes such as freezing orders and shareholder disputes, insolvency, public and administrative law, white-collar and regulatory crime including fraud and proceeds of crime, disciplinary proceedings and compulsory examinations, and cryptocurrency and digital-asset issues across all of these.

When did Aaron Lane become a barrister?

He was admitted to practice on 12 December 2012 and signed the Victorian Bar roll on 19 October 2023. Before that he was special counsel at Duxton Hill and, earlier, a lawyer at Maddocks.

How do I brief Dr Aaron Lane?

Through his clerk, Foley’s List, on 03 9225 7777. Barristers are ordinarily briefed by a solicitor, so a member of the public would usually engage a lawyer first.