The Announcement of Appointment of Senior Counsel

[2015] HCATrans 4

[2015] HCATrans 004

H I G H   C O U R T   O F   A U S T R A L I A

CEREMONIAL SITTING

ON THE OCCASION

OF

THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPOINTMENT

OF

SENIOR COUNSEL

Coram:          FRENCH CJ

HAYNE J
CRENNAN J
KIEFEL J
BELL J
GAGELER J
KEANE J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2015, AT 3.30 PM

The following Queen’s Counsel, Senior Counsel and counsel were seated at the Bar table:

Mr D.F. Jackson QC

Mr D.M.J. Bennett QC

Mr A. Harris QC, President of the South Australian Bar Association

Mr J. Peters QC, Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council

Ms F. McLeod SC, President‑Elect of the Australian Bar Association

Mr M. Livesey QC, President of the Australian Bar Association

Mr S. McLeish SC, Solicitor‑General for the State of Victoria

Mr A. Moses SC, Junior Vice‑President, New South Wales Bar Association

Mr G. Diehm QC, Vice‑President, Bar Association of Queensland

Mr M. O’Farrell SC, Solicitor‑General for the State of Tasmania

Mr A. Wyvill SC, President of the Northern Territory Bar Association

Mr P. Quinlan SC, President of the Western Australian Bar Association

Mr B. McTaggart SC, President of the Tasmanian Bar

Mr P. Garrisson SC, Solicitor‑General for the Australian Capital Territory

Mr S. Gill, President of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association

FRENCH CJ:   Mr McTaggart, President of the Tasmanian Bar.

MR McTAGGART:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel in the State of Tasmania. 

He is:

William Albert Ayliffe who ranks in seniority after Shaun Brendan McElwaine

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr McTaggart.  Mr Gill, President of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association.

MR GILL:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel in the Australian Capital Territory. 

He is:

Jonathan White who ranks in seniority after Philip Anthony Walker

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Gill.  Mr Harris, the President of the South Australian Bar Association.

MR HARRIS:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of South Australia. 

They are:

Claire Mary O’Connor who ranks in seniority after Mark Andrew Norman

Darren John Blight who ranks in seniority after Ian Douglas Press

Brendon Charles Roberts who ranks in seniority after Darren John Blight

Charles Samuel Lempriere Abbott who ranks in seniority after Brendon Charles Roberts

Sophie Victoria David who ranks in seniority after Charles Samuel Lempriere Abbott

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Harris.  Mr Moses, Vice‑President of the New South Wales Bar Association.

MR MOSES:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel in the State of New South Wales.

They are:

Peter John McGrath who ranks in seniority after James Oleg Hmelnitsky

Ian David Bourke who ranks in seniority after Peter John McGrath

Rashda Parveen Rana who ranks in seniority after Ian David Bourke

Jonathan James Priestley who ranks in seniority after Rashda Parveen Rana

Jeremy Mearns Morris who ranks in seniority after Jonathan James Priestley

Nicholas Joseph Polin who ranks in seniority after Jeremy Mearns Morris

Belinda Jane Rigg who ranks in seniority after Justin Dupont Smith

Michael Roland Hall who ranks in seniority after Belinda Jane Rigg

Timothy Michael Faulkner who ranks in seniority after Michael Roland Hall

Kevin Leo Andronos who ranks in seniority after Peter Anthony Campton

Gabrielle Antoinette Bashir who ranks in seniority after Kevin Leo Andronos

Craig John Gordon Smith who ranks in seniority after Gabrielle Antoinette Bashir

Christian Dimitriadis who ranks in seniority after Craig John Gordon Smith

Matthew John Darke who ranks in seniority after Christian Dimitriadis

Jeffery Mark McLennan who ranks in seniority after Matthew John Darke

Angus Morkel Stewart who ranks in seniority after Jeffery Mark McLennan

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Moses.Mr Quinlan, President of the Western Australian Bar Association.

MR QUINLAN:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of Western Australia.

He is:

Martin David Cuerden who ranks in seniority after Linda Petrusa

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Quinlan.  Mr Peters, Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council.

MR PETERS:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the State of Victoria.

They are:

Peter Fox who ranks in seniority after Nicholas James Tweedie

Paul Bernard Jens who ranks in seniority after Peter Fox

Brendan Francis Kissane who ranks in seniority after Paul Bernard Jens

David George Robertson who ranks in seniority after Brendan Francis Kissane

Robert Snowdon Hay who ranks in seniority after David George Robertson

Jeremy Arthur Frederick Twigg who ranks in seniority after Robert Snowdon Hay

Timothy John Walker who ranks in seniority after Jeremy Arthur Frederick Twigg

Michael John Galvin who ranks in seniority after Timothy John Walker

Jacinta Mary Forbes who ranks in seniority after Michael John Galvin

Ian William Doggett Upjohn who ranks in seniority after Jacinta Mary Forbes

Christopher Beaumont Boyce who ranks in seniority after Ian William Doggett Upjohn

Helen Mary Joan Rofe who ranks in seniority after Christopher Beaumont Boyce

Kristen Louise Walker who ranks in seniority after Helen Mary Joan Rofe

Steve James Moore who ranks in seniority after Kristen Louise Walker

Trevor Edwin Wraight who ranks in seniority after Steve James Moore

Lachlan Wishart Leaf Armstrong who ranks in seniority after Trevor Edwin Wraight

Pasquale Zappia who ranks in seniority after Lachlan Wishart Leaf Armstrong

Rowena Jane Orr who ranks in seniority after Pasquale Zappia

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Peters.  Mr Diehm, Vice‑President, Queensland Bar Association.

MR DIEHM:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Queen’s Counsel in and for the State of Queensland.

They are:

John Joseph Allen who ranks in seniority after Adam Michael Pomerenke

Phillip Paul McQuade who ranks in seniority after John Joseph Allan

David Murray Logan who ranks in seniority after Phillip Paul McQuade

Catherine Claire Heyworth‑Smith who ranks in seniority after David Murray Logan

Jacoba Brasch who ranks in seniority after Peter Robert Franco, who cannot be here today

Jonathan Mark Horton who ranks in seniority after Jacoba Brasch

Dominic Bernard O’Sullivan who ranks in seniority after Jonathan Mark Horton

Michael Cowen who ranks in seniority after Dominic Bernard O’Sullivan

FRENCH CJ:   Thank you, Mr Diehm.  I call on counsel at the Bar table generally for motions.  I acknowledge the representatives of the Bar Associations of the States and Territories, the President and President‑Elect of the Australian Bar Association, the Solicitors‑General for Victoria and Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory and the presence at the Bar table of Mr Jackson, Mr Bennett and Mr Sheahan of Senior Counsel.  I also acknowledge the presence in Court of the Honourable Michael McHugh, a former Justice of this Court, and the Honourable Justice Lasry of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The Court welcomes the family and friends of those whose appointments have just been announced.  The commitment required to attain the rank of Senior Counsel is sustained in many, if not most, cases with the support of family and friends and your presence is testament to that support.

On behalf of the Court I congratulate the new Senior Counsel.  You are members of a national legal profession practising in the courts of a national judicial system and your attendance here today from the States and Territories of Australia reflects that reality.

Of course, as befits a federation, there is more than one view about how the national legal profession should be organised and about the mode of appointment and designation of senior counsel. 

It is a common feature of all your appointments, whether they attract the post nominals “SC” or “QC”, that you have the confidence of your peers and that you meet the requirements of integrity, independence and excellence which should mark you as exemplars and leaders in the profession.

Like many of our legal institutions, that of senior counsel has a long and rather untidy history.  When it emerged in England it resulted in the displacement of the Serjeants at Law who had dominated the upper reaches of the legal profession for hundreds of years.  It is always useful therefore to remember, without undue anxiety about the future of senior counsel, that the law, the legal profession and legal institutions are subject to domestic and global forces of change.  The tension in Australia, as in other countries, between the provision of quality representation and access to justice on the one hand, and the cost of legal services and the litigious process on the other, invites continuing reflection upon all aspects of our justice system.  That reflection must involve a recognition that the time and resources available to litigants and the courts to which they resort are finite.  Advocates generally must make judgments about what is important and what merely takes up time in the preparation and conduct of litigation.  A good advocate has the ability to distinguish the wood from the trees.  Senior Counsel, picked out for their qualities of excellence and integrity as leaders and exemplars for the profession, have a special responsibility in the way they conduct their practices and, more generally, to contribute to the development of systemic measures to reduce costs and delay and to make the most efficient use of finite public and private resources in dispute resolution.

The delivery of legal services today has an increasingly global dimension.  International law, transnational model laws, transnational litigation and internationally recognised models for transactional documents are an increasing feature of legal practice in many areas.  That intersection can create opportunities for Australian counsel to deliver advocacy and advisory services in commercial centres in our region.  The conclusion of regional free trade agreements offers the promise, in the medium to long term, of new opportunities for freer access to legal service markets. 

Just under a month ago, the Singapore International Commercial Court was officially opened at the commencement of Singapore’s legal year.  It is a division of the High Court of Singapore with jurisdiction to hear claims of an international and commercial nature.  Three Australian jurists have been appointed to that Court.  There are provisions in the Court’s Practice Direction for representation of parties by foreign lawyers in the Court.  There are increasing opportunities for the provision of legal services in our region by the Australian Bar and it is important that the Bar and the profession generally engage at an institutional level to take advantage of those opportunities.

The honour conferred upon each of you brings with it special responsibilities, whatever the nature of your practice.  The most immediate of them lies in the advice you offer and the advocacy you provide for your clients.  They may be people in personal crisis with a legal dimension which could affect their economic welfare, their reputations or their liberty.  They may be firms, corporations, public authorities or governments seeking advice and representation in connection with transactions to be entered into or transactions which have gone wrong.  They may be seeking advice about the exercise of regulatory powers or the interpretation and validity of laws and regulations.  The client profiles of your different practices may change as your practices evolve.  Each client, however large or small, is entitled to the same standard of care, commitment, integrity and independence. 

What you do as advocates in court also has an important public dimension.  If done to the high standard which your office requires, it is not just a demonstration of your capacity and skill.  It is a demonstration of the working of the rule of law which is an essential part of our societal infrastructure. 

The public dimension of your calling is also demonstrated when you provide your services to those who cannot afford legal representation and who cannot be assisted by the limited resources of the legal aid system, or at least not to the extent necessary to do justice to their case.  There is a very powerful signal sent to the wider community about the Bar and its values when senior counsel offer their services in such cases.

The office of senior counsel, whether so designated or designated as Queen’s Counsel, has a long and honourable history of which you are now part.  On behalf of the Court I again congratulate you on your appointments and wish you well in your continuing careers at the Bar.

Before the Court rises, I wish to place on record that this is the final day of our colleague Justice Crennan’s office as a Justice of the Court.  Her Honour was appointed to the Court in November 2005.  At the time of her appointment she was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, an office which she had held since February 2004.  Her legal career, before her appointment, included the presidency of the Australian Bar Association and the chairmanship of the Victorian Bar Council. 

Her Honour came to this Court with a high reputation as a Judge, as an advocate and as a leader in the national legal profession.  Her knowledge of the law, and particularly in the field of intellectual property, her legal historical perspectives and her impeccable command of the written word have enhanced the work and reputation of this Court.  She has also spoken publicly on many occasions about the law and legal history.

Justice Crennan has been a valued colleague and friend to all of us.  We will miss her greatly and wish her and her husband, Michael, well in the next phase of their lives.

The Court will adjourn until 10.15 tomorrow.

AT 3.47 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED