Leo Finn Bernard Cussen was born at Portland Victoria in 1859 and died in 1933. He graduated from law school in 1887 with a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. He was called to the Victorian Bar in 1886. While a barrister he played for the Bar Cricket XI and from 1907 until his death he was the President of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

He was appointed to the Supreforme Court of Victoria in 1906. In 1922 he received a Knighthood for invaluable service to his country. Sir Leo Cussen died in 1933.

He was deeply respected by other members of the judiciary and in 1972 the Leo Cussen Institute now known as the Leo Cussen Centre of Law was, at the wish of the profession, named after him.

Artist – John Longstaff

(1922-2017)

John Campbell Longstaff (1861-1941) was born in Clunes, Victoria, the son of a store keeper. In 1882, he began his art studies at the National Gallery School in Melbourne. He was the winner of the National Gallery’s first travelling scholarship in 1887, which facilitated studies in Paris, London and Spain. He returned to Australia in 1895 and established a portraiture practice in Melbourne, but returned to England in 1901.

In 1918-1919, Longstaff served with the Australian Imperial Force as an official war artist. He returned to live in Melbourne permanently in 1920.

John Longstaff won the Archibald Prize five times during the 1920s and 1930s. The Victorian Bar’s portrait of Sir Leo Cussen, attributed to Longstaff, was painted around that time.

Isaac Isaacs was born 6 August 1855. He attained his law degree from the University of Melbourne where he graduated with Honours in 1880. Isaacs worked full time at the Prothonotary`s Office while studying law at the University of Melbourne. He joined the Bar in 1882. In 1892 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a Liberal member for Bogong, a seat which he held until 1901. From 1894 to 1899, Sir Isaac was the Victorian Attorney-General. Issacs was elected to the convention that drafted the Australian Constitution. Isaacs took Silk in 1899.

In 1901 he was the acting Premier; he was encouraged to stay in that role permanently. He declined to do so, however, and was then elected in 1901 to the first Federal Parliament to represent the Federal Victorian seat of Indi in north-east Victoria.

In 1906, Sir Isaac was appointed to the High Court of Australia and in 1930, at the age of 75, Isaacs was the third Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Shortly after that appointment, King George V, on the advice of Prime Minister Scullin, appointed Isaacs as Governor General. Isaacs was the first Governor General to live permanently at Government House Canberra.

Artist – Percy White

Percy White, born Peretz Witofski in July 1885, attended the Vilnius Art School in Lithuania where one of his fellow students was Marc Chagall. His teachers and mentors included Adolf von Menzel and Professor Liebermann. He worked in Leningrad, Berlin and Paris and then in London for many years, before emigrating with his family to Australia in 1926. In London he exhibited with the sculptor Jacob Epstein. In Melbourne in 1963 his entry in the third annual exhibition of members of the Jewish Society of Arts was awarded the ‘best overall exhibit’ and his oil painting ‘Indian Shepherd’ was nominated for the B’Nai Brith Interstate and New Zealand Travelling Exhibition. He exhibited in the 1964 and 1965 annual exhibitions at the Toorak Gallery and in the Young Lions Second Annual Jewish Art Exhibition at the Argus Gallery in c. 1980. Mr White was the first official patron of the Melbourne-based Bezalel Fellowship of Arts in 1965, and was regarded as the dean of Jewish artists in Australia.

Percy White was the grandfather of Jeffery Sher QC (Bar Roll no. 624). He painted the Bar’s portrait of Sir Isaac Isaacs at his grandson’s request when Sher first came to the Bar in 1961. It is a copy of a three-quarter length portrait, which White had painted in 1930. Sher generously donated his portrait to the Victorian Bar in the late 1970s and for many years it hung in the Bar Chairman’s office.

The Right Honourable Sir John Greig Latham was a politician, diplomat, ambassador, Lieutenant Commander and Chief Justice. He received a scholarship to Scotch College and progressed thereafter to gain degrees in Arts and Law at the University of Melbourne. He was called to the Victorian Bar in 1904 and became a King`s Counsel (KC) in 1922. He was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from October 1935 until April 1952.

During World War I, he served as Lieutenant Commander in naval intelligence and was an Australian advisor at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 for which he was awarded Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). He served as Australia`s first ambassador to Japan in 1940-41 during World War II while still Chief Justice. Latham was also a member of the House of Representatives from 1922 until 1934. He held the positions of Attorney General from 1925 until 1929 and then from 1932 to 1934. He was Minister for Industry from 1928 to 1929, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs from 1932 until 1934, and Leader of the Opposition from 1920 to 1931. Later, in 1933, Sir John Greig Latham became President of the first Australian Legal Convention. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1939 until 1941. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor (PC) in 1933.

Artist – Charles Bush

(1919–1989)

Bush was born in Brunswick East. At the age of 14 he gained admission to the National Gallery School where he studied under Wheeler and McInnes. He later taught at the school and in the 1960s, with others, established the Leveson Street Gallery which became a place for young artists to exhibit. During his lifetime he won several Crouch and Wynne prizes. He was appointed an official war artist in 1943.

Sir Charles John Lowe was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1905, having studied Arts and Law at the University of Melbourne. Lowe quickly became a leader of the Bar.

Sir Charles was elevated to the Supreme Court bench on 28 January 1927, where he served for 37 years. In the same year, he joined the Council of the University of Melbourne, later becoming Chancellor from 1941 to 1954. Lowe also served as a council member of Trinity College from 1927 to 1935.

Known as a judge who applied the law meticulously, Sir Charles acted three times as Chief Justice. Lowe retired from the Court in December 1962 at the age of 82. Sir Charles was knighted in 1948. In 1956 he was appointed KCMG.

Lowe presided over several commissions of inquiry – three for the Commonwealth and one for the State. One of those inquiries required him to inquire into all the circumstances of the Japanese air raids on Darwin in 1942. In 1949-50 he investigated the activities of the Communist Party in Victoria.

Artist – Judy Cassab AO CBE

Judy Cassab was born in 1920 in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish-Hungarian parents. She was raised by her mother and grandmother in Hungary and studied art at the Budapest Academy. She survived the Holocaust by assuming her maid’s identity.

Judy Cassab migrated to Australia with her husband and two young sons in 1950 and settled in Sydney. She has had a very successful career as an artist exhibiting in Australia and overseas and won the Archibald Prize twice (1960 and 1967). She is the recipient of official Honours in “recognition of service to the visual arts."

The Victorian Bar’s portrait of Sir Arthur Lowe by Judy Cassab was painted in 1966.

Sir Owen Dixon was born in 1886 and completed his schooling at Hawthorn College. He studied law, classical languages and literature at the University of Melbourne, taking a BA in 1906, an LLB in 1908, and an MA in 1909. Sir Owen completed articles with Crisp & Cameron. He signed the roll of counsel of the Victorian Bar on 1 March 1910 and was appointed Kings Counsel in 1922.

Sir Owen declined several judicial posts before accepting appointment as Justice of the High Court of Australia in 1929. In 1942, he was appointed Australian Minister to Washington, and took leave of his judicial post to fulfil his role of ensuring that Australian interests were not overlooked during the war. He returned to his judicial position in 1944.

In 1952, Sir Owen was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, a position he held for twelve years. On his appointment as Chief Justice, Sir Owen said:

“For my part, I have never wavered in the view that the honourable practice of the profession of advocacy affords the greatest opportunity of contributing to the administering of justice according to the law.”

Sir Owen resigned from the High Court in 1964, and died in 1971. During his time on the Bench, he was widely acknowledged as one of the most eminent judicial lawyers in the English speaking world. He continues to be regarded as one of the greatest jurists in the history of the common law.

Artist – Archibald Colquhoun

Archibald Colquhoun (1894-1983) was born in Heidelberg, Melbourne; the son of artists. He attended the National Gallery School, where he studied under Frederick McCubbin. He later studied under Max Meldrum.

Colquhoun toured Europe during the 1920s, returning to Melbourne in 1926 to set up a studio and art school in Collins Street. His students included William Dargie (whose portraits of Sir Henry Winneke and Richard McGarvie are also in the Victorian Bar Collection).

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Born in Dublin, Sir Frank Gavan Duffy studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne.  He joined the Victorian Bar and took silk in 1901.  A renowned advocate, Sir Owen Dixon said that Duffy “could make bricks without straw in open court." He contributed to the legal profession in various ways, lecturing at the university and publishing legal texts.

Duffy was appointed to the High Court of Australia in 1913.  He is said to have displayed a States-rights approach to the Constitution, dissenting in the seminal Engineers’ case of 1920.  He was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court in 1931.  Another portrait of Duffy by William McInnes can be found at the High Court in Canberra.

Artist – Percy White

Percy White, born Peretz Witofski in July 1885, attended the Vilnius Art School in Lithuania where one of his fellow students was Marc Chagall. His teachers and mentors included Adolf von Menzel and Professor Liebermann. He worked in Leningrad, Berlin and Paris and then in London for many years, before emigrating with his family to Australia in 1926. In London he exhibited with the sculptor Jacob Epstein. In Melbourne in 1963 his entry in the third annual exhibition of members of the Jewish Society of Arts was awarded the ‘best overall exhibit’ and his oil painting ‘Indian Shepherd’ was nominated for the B’Nai Brith Interstate and New Zealand Travelling Exhibition. He exhibited in the 1964 and 1965 annual exhibitions at the Toorak Gallery and in the Young Lions Second Annual Jewish Art Exhibition at the Argus Gallery in c. 1980. Mr White was the first official patron of the Melbourne-based Bezalel Fellowship of Arts in 1965, and was regarded as the dean of Jewish artists in Australia.

Percy White was the grandfather of Jeffery Sher QC (Bar Roll no. 624).

Adan Bushby

Sir Robert Menzies was born in Jeparit, in the Wimmera district, in 1894. He was the fourth of five children. His father, James was a storekeeper and a lay preacher, who later served as the Member for Lowan in the Victorian Parliament (1911-1920). Sir Robert’s early education began in Ballarat and was completed at Wesley College, Melbourne on a scholarship.

Sir Robert obtained his LLB from the University of Melbourne in 1916 (LLM 1918); again on a scholarship. He was admitted to the Bar in May 1918 and read with Sir Owen Dixon. Within two years he had appeared in the High Court of Australia, in the landmark Engineers Case (for the Amalgamated Society of Engineers).

Sir Robert entered State politics in 1928 and for some years worked concurrently as a barrister and an MP. He took silk in 1929. In 1934, he moved full time into politics, standing for the Federal Seat of Kooyong. In that year, he was appointed Attorney General in the government of Joseph Lyons’ United Australia Party. Sir Robert first became Prime Minister in 1939 following Lyons’ death. He served two terms 1939-1941 and 1949-1966.

In his careers in both law and politics, Sir Robert is remembered for being superbly erudite and having a ready wit. In retirement, he was Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1967-1972 and also wrote two volumes of reminiscences Afternoon Light (1967) and The Measure of the Years (1970). He suffered a stroke in 1971 and died at home in Malvern, Melbourne in 1978.

The Victorian Bar’s portrait of Sir Robert Menzies was commissioned by the Bar from Sir Ivor Hele in 1966. An earlier portrait of Sir Robert by Hele won the 1954 Archibald Prize.

Artist – Sir Ivor Hele

(1912-1993)

Ivor Hele was born in Edwardstown, South Australia in 1912. At age 16, he left Australia for Europe to study drawing and painting in Paris and Munich.

Hele was appointed as an Australian war artist during the Second World War and the Korean War.

He won the Archibald Prize five times, including in 1954 for a portrait of Sir Robert Menzies.

The Victorian Bar’s portrait of Sir Robert Menzies was commissioned by the Bar in 1966.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

The son of a country school teacher, he was born in Merino. He attended Scotch College from 1907 and won an exhibition to Melbourne University in 1910, graduating LLB in 1915. He then enlisted and served on the Western Front in the 7th Battalion at Pozieres. He was commissioned in September 1916 and wounded at Passchendaele. When he returned to the Front, he was gassed in December 1917 before returning to Melbourne in 1919. He published trench poetry in army magazines and later co-wrote a history of the 7th Battalion. He was admitted in 1919, took silk in 1944, and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949. He mostly heard equity and commercial cases but presided over the controversial Tait murder trial. He lectured in Equity at Melbourne University and was Chancellor from 1954 to 1966. He wrote a history of the Victorian Bar in 1968, entitled "A Multitude of Counsellors."

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Sir Norman O’Bryan was born in South Melbourne in 1894. He was the son of a bank manager and the youngest of six children. His early schooling was at the local parish school, St Peter and Paul’s and then at St Patrick’s College, East Melbourne and Christian Brothers College, Victoria Parade, from which he matriculated as dux.

Sir Norman obtained his LLB from Melbourne University in 1915 and was the Supreme Court Prize winner for that year. He served Articles with the firm of Plante & Henry and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria on 1 August 1916.

Sir Norman served with the Australian Imperial Force’s artillery division in France from April 1918 and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. He was wounded in September 1918. He then spent some months in chambers at Middle Temple, London, before returning to Melbourne. He was discharged on Christmas Day 1919.

Sir Norman was called to the Victorian Bar on 20 February 1920. His practise was successful and varied and included trials, royal commissions and appeals. Sir Norman also lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1929 to 1932, in private international law. He took silk in 1937. In 1939, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria.

During World War II, Sir Norman acted as legal adviser to the Minister for the Army and as an Official Visitor to internment camps in Victoria. He was knighted in 1958.

Sir Norman retired in 1966, after 28 years on the Bench. In an interview with The Age newspaper upon retirement, Sir Norman referred to the practise “increasing amongst barristers” where, at the end of cross-examination, the barrister asks all and sundry about him if there are any further questions which should be asked. Sir Norman waxed dryly, “I have always felt tempted to ask: ‘Well do you really think such indecision is worth the 75 guineas marked on your brief?’” Times haven’t changed, only the fees.

Sir Norman died at home on 5 June 1968.

The portrait of Sir Norman O’Bryan is one of a series of portraits of judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria painted by Paul Fitzgerald in the 1950s and 1960s.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Alexander Duncan Grant Adam, one of five siblings and a twin, was born in Scotland and immigrated to Australia in 1908, at the age of 5, when his father took up a chair in theology at Ormond College.

Alistair, as he was known, was educated at Scotch College, and studied arts and law at the University of Melbourne, where he won the Supreme Court Prize for the top ranking law student.

He was called to the Bar in 1928, and read with Sir Wilfred Fullagar, later appointed to the High Court of Australia. In 1930 he married Miss Nora Laver.

From 1932 until 1952, he was the independent lecturer in Property in Land and Conveyancing at the University of Melbourne. His war service comprised working with the Treasury at Victoria Barracks.

Alistair had a specialised practice in the areas of property law and equity. In one celebrated case, he acted for Walt Disney Productions injuncting a North Melbourne trader from selling figures known as “The Three Little Pigs” and the “The Big Bad Wolf." Sir Keith Aickin, a future High Court judge, and Richard Newton, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967, read with Alistair. In 1950, at the age of 47, he was appointed KC.

In 1957 he was appointed to the Supreme Court, and served as a judge until his retirement in 1974. He had a reputation as a very good all round judge.

Artist - Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Tait was born in 1890 at Geelong and educated at Geelong College and worked as an accountant and law clerk whilst studying law part time at the University of Melbourne. Tait graduated with an LLB in 1916 and signed the roll of counsel of the Victorian Bar in 1919. He was the last pupil of Sir Owen Dixon.

Tait had a practice in which he specialised in commercial and taxation work, often representing the Commonwealth Commissioner of Taxation. He took silk in 1945. Tait was retained by the Commonwealth in the 1948 bank nationalisation case.

Tait played an extremely active role in the life of the Victorian Bar throughout his long association and was its Chair from 1952 to 1955. He was a director of the company that owned Selborne Chambers and was one of the chief protagonists behind the decision to construct of Owen Dixon Chambers, the home of the Victorian Bar.

Tait was knighted in 1963.

Sir James was a director and chair of many companies and played an active role in the life of corporate Australia. It is said that were it not for his commercial skill and business relationships, the construction of Owen Dixon Chambers would not have been possible. All barristers owe him a great debt of gratitude.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Sir Edmund Francis Herring was born in 1892 in Maryborough, Victoria. He was a Rhodes Scholar at New College Oxford, when the first world war commenced. He was awarded the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order during his service with the Royal Field Artillery.

Upon conclusion of the war, Sir Edmund completed his studies, and returned to Australia where he signed the Victorian Bar roll of counsel on 8 June 1921. He maintained a successful professional practice as a barrister and later Kings Counsel. He served with the Australian army over many years, and became a colonel in 1939. During the Second World War, Sir Edmund commanded the 6th Division Artillery in the Battle of Greece, and in 1942 he commanded the land forces in the Kokoda Trail campaign.

Sir Edmund was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George by the King in 1949. Sir Edmund was also president of the Boy Scouts Association of Victoria, and the first president of the Australian Boy Scouts’ Association from 1959 to 1977.

Sir Edmund was appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1944, a position he held until 1964. Upon his retirement as Chief Justice, he remained as Lieutenant Governor until 1972.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Born in the mining town of Matlock, he came to Melbourne as a boy and worked in the office of Arthur Phillips, solicitor. He studied law while working as a clerk and won the Supreme Court Prize. He came to the Bar in 1922 and read with Leo Cussen. He developed a busy common law trial practice and took silk in 1939. He became Judge-Advocate-General of the RAAF in the war as an Air-Commander. In 1950 he was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court before being appointed permanently in 1953. He was an accomplished golfer and the President of the Riversdale Golf Club. He also enjoyed trout fishing on the Howqua River.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Sir Robert Vincent Monahan was born on 11 April 1898 in Swan Hill, Victoria. Sir Monahan was educated at St Patrick’s College Ballarat and Newman College, University of Melbourne. He was admitted to practice on 1 June 1922 and worked with F.C. Mueller, a solicitor in Echuca, before signing the Bar Roll on 30 April 1923. In Melbourne he read with L.B. Cussen.

In 1931 Sir Monahan established himself in Equity Chambers. By the end of the decade he was well known as a defence counsel and as a persuasive advocate in personal injury cases. Sir Monahan was appointed King's Counsel in 1947 and appeared in a succession of trials in the 1940s and early 1950s. In total, Monahan J conducted over one hundred murder trials.

He was appointed acting-judge of the Supreme Court on 3 March 1955 (confirmed 31 October) and in 1967 he was knighted. He retired in 1970 and passed away on 10 May 1975. During his time, Sir Monahan was widely acknowledged for his influence, charm and dominance in court.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Born in London, he came to Australia in 1910 and attended Melbourne High and Melbourne University, graduating LLB in 1923 and LLM in 1924. Admitted to the Bar that year, he read with Robert Menzies. He took silk in 1940 but in February 1941 he sailed to Singapore as a lieutenant in the 8th Division. He became the AIF Legal Officer in Malaya and was promoted to Major in October 1941. After the fall of Singapore he led a group of escapees via the Dutch East Indies to Fremantle. He became a Lt Colonel in the PNG campaign and was mentioned in dispatches. He chaired the Bar from 1953 to 1956 and was instrumental in the construction of Owen Dixon Chambers. He was also chair of the ICJ. He unsuccessfully contested the Federal seat of Balaclava for the ALP in 1946 and ran for the Senate in 1958. In 1966 he was part of the anti-hanging committee that attempted to persuade Premier Bolte not to hang Ronald Ryan. He was the founding President of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies and President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He was knighted in 1971.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian journalist and illustrator who is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for the Age.

Spooner has won many awards for excellence including Walkley Awards for cartoon illustrations.

Sir Reginald Richard Sholl was a barrister, judge and diplomat. He was educated at Queens College in St Kilda and at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, where he was head of the school in 1918. He progressed to the University of Melbourne and graduated with Honours (BA Hons 1923; MA 1925). His athletic skill in AFL, cricket and lacrosse, coupled with his academic attainments, led to a Rhodes Scholarship at New College, Oxford.

Sir Reginald was then admitted to the Bar of the Middle Temple in 1927. A year later he was admitted to practice in Victoria and signed the Bar Roll in 1929. From 1928 to 1938 he lectured in law at the University of Melbourne. Sholl began full time duty in the Citizen Military Forces in July 1942 and also served with the Allied Forces, Land Headquarters as a Staff Captain and in the New Guinea Force from 1943 to 1944. Sholl then transferred to the Reserve of Officers on 10 February 1944, in Melbourne, returning to the Bar and taking Silk in 1947.

Sir Reginald was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1950, leaving the Bench in 1966. In 1962 he was knighted and he accepted an appointment as Australian Consul-General in New York from 1966 to 1969. He wished to return to the Victorian Bar following his time in New York when it was unheard of for judges to resume active practice, but the idea was resisted, so he chose to work as a consultant to a firm of Melbourne solicitors.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Smithers was born in Echuca, the son of a piano tuner; his family moved to Melbourne when he was five years old.  He attended Melbourne Grammar School on a choral half-scholarship.  Smithers studied law at the University of Melbourne (1920-24) while working as a public servant at the Land Titles Office and subsequently as a law clerk at the firm of Shaw & Turner.  He was admitted to practice in 1924.  Smithers signed the Roll in 1929 (VBR No. 268), reading with Clifden Eager. He developed a common law practice and a reputation as a “brilliant” jury advocate.

During World War II, Smithers served in the RAAF in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines, in censorship and intelligence roles, attaining the rank of Squadron Leader. He returned to practice at the Bar after the War, and took silk in 1951. In addition to continuing his practice as a leading jury advocate, Smithers served the Bar as Chairman (1961-1962).

Smithers was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Papua and New Guinea (1962-1964), then an additional Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (1964-1971) and a Justice of the Australian Industrial Court (1965-1986). He was one of the first Justices of the Federal Court of Australia (1977-1986), and was Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (1977-1980).  He was known to litigants and practitioners for his “patience," “fairness," and “unfailing good humour."

He served as Chancellor of the La Trobe University (1972-1980) and was made a Knight Bachelor in 1980.  Retiring from the judiciary aged 85 “at the very height of his powers," he continued to work as a consultant to law firm Dunhills.

His brother Sir Arthur (1894-1972) was a notable member of the Victorian Public Service, and his son Adrian (1934-2016) was a Justice of the Family Court of Australia (1977-2002).

Reginald Smithers’ portrait was commissioned by the Victorian Bar from Christine Hooper in 1992.

Daniel Kinsey (Bar Roll #4846)

Sir Douglas Macfarlan Little was born in Warrnambool in 1904. He was educated at Scotch College Melbourne and Ormond College within the University of Melbourne where he was admitted to the degree of M.A. and L.L.M. Following his admission to practice, Sir Little signed the Bar Roll on 14 June 1930 and established a large general practice in Common Law Jurisdiction. He took silk on 30 November 1954.

During World War II, he served in the R.A.A.F and rose to the rank of Wing Commander. On 3 February 1959, Sir Douglas was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Sir Douglas passed away in 1990.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Sir Henry Winneke was a Governor of Victoria and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He was educated at Ballarat Grammar School, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne where he graduated in 1929. Sir Henry was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria on 1 May 1931 and commenced practice at the Victorian Bar on 30 July 1931.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Sir Henry joined the Royal Australian Air Force in October 1939. He held the office of Director of Personnel Services and in 1941 was made a Group Captain.

Following the end of the war, Sir Henry returned to the Bar and developed a substantial general practice. Appointed a Kings Counsel in 1949, Winneke then became Solicitor General for Victoria in 1951.

In 1964 Sir Henry was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Sir Henry became Lieutenant Governor of Victoria in 1972 and Governor of Victoria two years later, in 1974. Sir Henry was knighted in 1957, created KCMG in 1966, KCVO in 1977 and AC in 1982.

Sir Henry’s father was a judge of the County Court of Victoria and his son was the first President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Artist – Sir William Dargie CBE

(1912 – 2003)

Sir William Dargie was born in Footscray, Victoria. He was educated as a primary and secondary school teacher but chose to pursue an artistic career and study at the Melbourne Technical College and informally with Archie Colquhoun. In 1941 Dargie was appointed an official war artist and travelled to the Middle-East. After the Second World War he worked to set up the exhibition galleries at the Australian War Memorial.

Dargie won the Archibald Prize on eight occasions and is best known for his portraits which include the “Wattle Painting” portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the original of which hangs in Parliament House Canberra.

Sir Douglas Menzies was born in Ballarat in 1907, the son of a Congregational minister. His cousin was Robert Menzies, also a member of the Victorian Bar, who became Prime Minister of Australia (1939-1941; 1949-1966).

Sir Douglas studied law at the University of Melbourne, obtaining his LLB in 1928 (LLM 1969). He was the Supreme Court prizewinner for that year. He was articled to E. C. Rigby at Rigby & Fielding and was admitted as a solicitor in 1930. He was called to the Bar in 1932 and took silk in 1949.

Sir Douglas had a successful civil practise specialising in commercial and tax law. He also lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1941 to 1950. During World War II, he was secretary to the Defence Committee and Chiefs of Staff.

During the late 1940s and 1950s, Sir Douglas regularly appeared before the High Court of Australia and the Privy Council in London. He was counsel in seminal cases including the Bank Nationalisation Case and the Boilermakers Case. He was the President of the Law Council from 1956 to 1958 and was the Chairman of the Victorian Bar in 1958.

In 1958, Sir Douglas was appointed to the High Court. Sir Douglas collapsed at the NSW Bar Association’s Annual dinner on 29 November 1974 and died that night.

Sir Douglas was known for his wit and humour. The Australian Dictionary of Biography records that, “His dark hair and youthful face belied his age. He sparkled and had the ability to fill a room”. These characteristics are well captured in the portrait of Sir Douglas as a young barrister by Archibald Colquhoun. The portrait was donated to the Victorian Bar by the Menzies family.

Artist – Archibald Colquhoun

Archibald Colquhoun (1894-1983) was born in Heidelberg, Melbourne; the son of artists. He attended the National Gallery School, where he studied under Frederick McCubbin. He later studied under Max Meldrum.

Colquhoun toured Europe during the 1920s, returning to Melbourne in 1926 to set up a studio and art school in Collins Street. His students included William Dargie (whose portraits of Sir Henry Winneke and Richard McGarvie are also in the Victorian Bar Collection).

Colquhoun’s portrait of Sir Douglas Menzies was painted in 1940, when Menzies was a junior barrister.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Murray McInerney was born 11 February 1911 and died on 23 November 1988. He served on the bench of the Supreme Court of Victoria for 18 years. He graduated MA and LLM collecting many prizes on the way in 1934 and was admitted to practice that year and signed the bar roll a year later in 1935.

World War II interrupted his career from 1942 -1945 during which he was a lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy and served as an intelligence officer attached to General MacArthur's headquarters; he saw service in Melbourne, Brisbane and on the North Coast of New Guinea where he suffered severe injury in a maritime collision. After the war, he returned to the Victorian Bar and developed his practice. He was a member of the Bar Council for 12 years and was chairman from 1962 -1963. He was also Vice President of the law Council of Australia in 1964 and 1965 and was also Deputy President of the Courts Martial Appeals Tribunal from 1959 until 1965.

He took silk in 1957 and was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1965. He was knighted in 1978. He retired from the Bench in February 1983 and continued his contributions to the law in the conduct of moots at Melbourne University; he had a firm interest in the activities of the Leo Cussen Institute and began to write his memoires which were not completed at the time of his death.

Campbell Thomson (Bar Roll #2754)

Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick was born on 22 June 1903 and completed his schooling, while on scholarship, at Fort Street High School in Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and was awarded the University Medal in Law. Sir Barwick was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1927.

He was appointed a King's Counsel in 1941, a Knight Bachelor in 1953, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1965, and in June 1981 a Knight of the Order of Australia. Sir Barwick pursued and attained leadership positions such as President of the Bar Association (1950–52 and 1955–56), President of the Law Council of Australia (1952–54), and first President of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1966. He also served in Federal Parliament. During his terms as a Member of the House of Representatives (1958–64), he served as Attorney-General (1958–61), and Minister for External Affairs (1961–64). He was a Judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice (1973–74).

Barwick was sworn in as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 27 April 1964 and was the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia. Following his retirement from the High Court in 1981, and in recognition of his service to the Australian Parliament, government and the law, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian journalist and illustrator who is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for the Age.

Spooner has won many awards for excellence including Walkley Awards for cartoon illustrations.

The Honourable William Charles Crockett AO was the longest serving Supreme Court Judge in Australia, serving on the Supreme Court of Victoria bench for 26 years. Crockett was born in Mildura and moved to Williamstown as a child, where he matriculated at age 16 in 1940. Crockett obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Master of Laws at The University of Melbourne, winning several scholarships and prizes, including the Supreme Court prize. He was admitted to practise law in 1948.

Crockett’s services as a barrister were in high demand, and he was appointed to Queen’s Counsel in 1962. As a QC he was involved in a variety of both civil and criminal cases as well as several Royal Commissions and judicial accident inquiries. He became a Supreme Court Judge in 1969, where he would serve until his retirement in April 1996, the last 10 years of which he served as senior puisne judge.

Crockett’s services were recognised in 1987 when he was made an Officer of the Order Australia for ‘service to the law and to horse racing’, given his extensive association with horse racing, being a long-time Vice-Chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club. Crockett was also awarded doctorates of law at both Melbourne and Monash Universities in 1995 and 1996. Crockett was well-respected in his application and administration of the law until his death in February 2007, aged 82 years.

Artist – Barbara August

Campbell Thomson (Bar Roll #2754)

Sir Zelman Cowen was born in 1919 in Melbourne, on the day Alfred Deakin died. He was educated at the University of Melbourne (where he was awarded the Supreme Court prize) and New College Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Civil Law and the Vinerian Scholarship as the top law student at Oxford in his year. After completing his studies Sir Zelman became a lecturer at Oriel College, and there wrote his doctoral thesis on Sir Isaacs Isaacs.

In 1950 Sir Zelman was appointed to the Chair of Public Law at the University of Melbourne, and became Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Melbourne in 1951. During his career he held various academic posts, including visiting professorships at several American universities, and was later appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, and was renowned as one of the leading constitutional lawyers of the English speaking world.

He was knighted upon his appointment as Governor General of Australia in 1977, and he continued in this role until 1982. From 1982 to 1990 Sir Zelman was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford. Sir Zelman also found time to be patron of the St Kilda Football Club and Chairman of Fairfax Newspapers.

Sir Zelman died on 8 December 2011, at the age of 92. He was one of Australia’s most distinguished constitutional lawyers.

Artist – Andrew Sibley

Sir Zelman Cowen’s portrait was painted by Andrew Sibley, who was born in 1933 in Kent, England and studied at the Gravesend School of Art, before emigrating to Australia in 1948.

Andrew Sibley moved to Melbourne in 1965, and became Head of Painting, Faculty of Art & Design at Monash University in 1997, a post he held until 1999 when he retired from teaching.

Andrew Sibley has been represented at over eighty exhibitions throughout Australia, Whitechapel and Tate Museums in London, Germany and the United States.

Xavier Connor spent his early years in the Victorian High Country. His father was the publican at Tarrawingee, east of Wangaratta. At nine years old, he was sent to board at Xavier College in Kew.

In 1935, Xavier commenced his legal studies part time at the University of Melbourne, whilst also working as a Clerk of Courts. In 1941, he enlisted in the AIF and served in New Guinea, reaching the rank of Major. A gifted communicator, Xavier famously avoided a faceoff with Japanese troops behind enemy lines on 15 August 1945, by successfully conveying news of the armistice, notwithstanding the isolated location and the untimely arrival of some RAAF fighter-bombers who also had not been informed of the war’s end.

Xavier was called to the Bar in 1949 and read with Murray McInerney. He developed a broad practice with a common law and personal injuries emphasis. He took silk in 1962.

Xavier was Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council from 1967 to 1969. In 1972 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the ACT. In 1977, he became a foundation member of the Federal Court of Australia.

Xavier retired from judicial office in 1982 but continued his public service on several significant inquiries, including the Inquiry into the introduction of a Casino into Victoria (1982-83); the Committee on the Special Broadcasting Service; (Chairman 1983-84); the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Allegations Concerning a Judge (Commissioner Assisting 1984); Australian Law Reform Commission (President 1985-87); the Defence Forces Disciplinary Board Review (Chairman 1988-89) and the Inquiry into Judicial Remuneration in Victoria (Chairman 1991-92).

Xavier Connor died on 27 December 2005 aged 89. His eulogy published in the Bar News recalled him as a principled jurist and a “as noble a spirit as anyone could expect to meet."

Xavier Connor’s portrait was commissioned by the Victorian Bar from Christine Hooper in 1992.

Daniel Kinsey (Bar Roll #4846)

The son of a dairy farmer, Richard McGarvie had a country upbringing in the Western District. He was educated at Camperdown High School, of which he was dux.

From 1944 to 1946 he served in the Royal Australian Navy on the HMAS Arunta and with the Occupation Forces in Japan.

Following discharge, McGarvie studied law at Melbourne University. He graduated in 1950 and was the Supreme Court Prize winner for that year. He was called to the Bar in 1952. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1963, at the age of 37.

Richard McGarvie was Chairman of the Victorian Bar during 1973 to 1975. In 1976, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. He served on the bench until his appointment as Governor of Victoria (1992 to 1997).

Richard McGarvie died on 14 May 2003.

His country upbringing was never forgotten or ignored. His Opening Address to the Judicial Council of Australia’s annual colloquium in 1998 was entitled, “The Courts and the Future: New Stump Jump Ploughs to Cultivate Old Paddocks” and at his funeral, his son Richard (McGarvie QC) told the congregation, “He could shoe a horse, skin a rabbit, milk a cow and kill a snake with a single bullet."

Artist – Sir William Dargie CBE

(1912–2003)

Dargie was born in Footscray, Victoria. He was educated as a primary and secondary school teacher but chose to pursue an artistic career and study at the Melbourne Technical College and informally with Archie Colquhoun.

In 1941 Dargie was appointed an official war artist and travelled to the Middle-East. After the Second World War he worked to set up the exhibition galleries at the Australian War Memorial.

Dargie won the Archibald Prize on eight occasions and is best known for his portraits which include the “Wattle Painting” portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the original of which hangs in Parliament House Canberra.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Sir Ninian Stephen was born at Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire, England in 1923. Sadly, his father died when he was an infant. Young Ninian and his mother travelled extensively and his early schooling was somewhat itinerant; St Paul’s in London, the Edinburgh Academy in Scotland and in Montreux, Switzerland. In 1940, the family immigrated to Australia and Ninian completed his education at Scotch College, Melbourne.

Sir Ninian commenced his legal training by undertaking the Articled Clerk course whilst employed by the firm of Arthur Robinson. In 1943, he joined the army and served in Papua New Guinea and Borneo, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. Upon discharge in 1946, Sir Ninian returned to his studies and obtained his LLB from Melbourne University in 1950.

Sir Ninian was called to the Bar in 1952 and took silk in 1966. He had a leading constitutional law, equity and company law practice. In 1970, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. In 1972, he was appointed to the High Court of Australia. In 1982, he was appointed as Australia’s Governor General and held that office until 1989.

During the 1990s, Sir Ninian served on numerous international commissions and tribunals; as Australia’s first Ambassador for the Environment (1989); as the chair of talks between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (1992-1993); as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (1993) and later in the Appeals Chamber for the Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals; as a judge on the International Court of Justice on the East Timor resources case (1995); as an investigator for the International Labour Organisation in Burma; as the chair of the Group of Experts investigating the possibilities for trying former leaders of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (1998).

The Governor of Victoria and former Chair of the Victorian Bar, Alex Chernov AC QC paid tribute to Sir Ninian on his ninetieth birthday, remarking on “...the relaxed atmosphere that Sir Ninian engendered by his demeanour ... the words he chose, his often wicked sense of humour and that fabulous, calm velvety voice that would tame even the wildest beasts in man”. If only paintings could talk! As Rick Amor’s portrait so expertly captures Sir Ninian’s other qualities.

The portrait was commissioned by the Victorian Bar and unveiled in September 2006 by the Honourable Justice Ken Hayne, High Court judge and member of the Victorian Bar.

Artist – Rick Amor

Rick Amor was born in Frankston, Victoria in 1948. He studied at the Caulfield Institute of Technology and the National Gallery School, Melbourne. He has been the recipient of several prestigious art prizes, including travelling scholarships to London, New York and Barcelona. In 1999, he was appointed as the Official War Artist to the Australian Defence Force’s mission in East Timor.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Frank Costigan was admitted to practice in 1953 and his early practice was in workers’ compensation and common law, but he later developed a very broad general practice including crime, commercial matters, and public law. Frank signed the Roll of Counsel in 1957 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1973. Frank served on the Victorian Bar Council between 1968 and 1979 and as Chairman for the last two years of that period. His notable professional positions include President of the Australian Bar Association; and Executive Member, then Treasurer, of the Law Council of Australia. He was on numerous Victorian Bar Committees for many years, including 15 years on the Applications Review Committee.

In 1980, Frank was appointed to chair the Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union which ran until 1984. The Costigan Commission, as it became known, moved from the investigation of union criminality to allegations of tax evasion and organised crime.

He was a Victorian Bar Accredited Mediator for more than 15 years, and was Nationally Accredited in 2008. For many years, Frank was Vice-Chairman of Jesuit Social Services and Chairman of the Victorian Drug Rehabilitation Fund. He was very pleased in 2007 to be appointed to the panel of counsel assisting the AFL Tribunal. He was a respected member of the legal society until his death in 2009.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian journalist and illustrator who is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for the Age.

Spooner has won many awards for excellence including Walkley Awards for cartoon illustrations.

Nicholas Modrzewski (Bar Roll #5043)

Sir Daryl Dawson studied law at the University of Melbourne and later completed a Masters of Law at Yale University.

Sir Daryl was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1957 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1971. He served as the Solicitor-General of Victoria from 1974 to 1982.

In 1982 Sir Daryl was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Australia, retiring in August 1997. From 1997 until 2003, he served as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He was knighted in 1982 and became a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1986.

Artist – Robert Hannaford

Hannaford is a self-taught South Australian artist who, for a time, worked as a cartoonist for the Adelaide Advertiser. Hannaford won the Doug Moran portrait prize in 1990 and has won numerous People’s Choice awards at the Archibald Prize.

Retired Supreme Court Judge Professor George Hampel AM KC had a long and illustrious legal career. Admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1958, Hampel was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1976. He sat as Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria between 1983 and 2000. Since retiring, Hampel J directed his energies to improving the way advocacy is taught in Australia and abroad.

Hampel is considered a leader in the field of advocacy and sits as Chairman of the Australian Advocacy Institute, Leo Cussen Institute and the Victorian Bar Readers’ Course. Hampel J was appointed Professor of Advocacy and Trial Practice at Monash University in 2000. He was involved with bodies such as the Victorian Bar Council, Council of Legal Education, Legal Practice Board and Law Council of Australia which has broadened his field of contact within the profession. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal for chairing the Constitution Commission. Hampel J was the founder and President of Monash University’s International Academy of Forensic Studies.

When asked what has been the most enjoyable part of his career, the answer is teaching. His passion for teaching was sparked when he was a tutor at Melbourne University and has driven him for the past 40 years. In 2006, Hampel was awarded the Order of Australia for the development of advocacy training and service to legal institutions.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian journalist and illustrator who is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for the Age.

Spooner has won many awards for excellence including Walkley Awards for cartoon illustrations.

The Honourable Justice Thomas Weetman Smith was admitted to practice in 1923 and was called to the Bar in 1926.

From 1942 to 1945 he was secretary to the War Cabinet. Smith took Silk in 1948. His Honour was a lecturer in Contract Law at the University of Melbourne from 1934 to 1946.

His Honour served on the Supreme Court Bench for some 23 years between 1950 and 1973. Notably, as Chairman of the Council of Legal Education, his Honour implemented what became known as the RMIT Articled Clerk’s course. His Honour was Chairman of the RMIT Law course from 1962 to 1973.

His Honour was also a member of the Monash Law School Faculty and held the position of Victoria’s Law Reform Commissioner from 1973 to 1977. After retirement from this position, and at the invitation of the Attorney General Hadden Story QC, he participated in further advisory work for the Government, particularly in the area of Criminal Law.

His Honour is remembered also for being a prominent advocate for both women’s rights and the rights of indigenous Australians.

Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM

(1922-2017)

Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.

Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.

Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.

Margaret “Peg” Lusink was born in 1922 in Tocumwal, New South Wales, the daughter of Emanuel Rosanove, a medical practitioner, and Joan Rosanove, a solicitor, who later became Victoria’s first female silk.

Margaret was educated in Melbourne at the Loreto Convent and the Melbourne Girls Grammar School. She came to the law relatively late, beginning her legal studies at Melbourne University in 1960, at the age of 38, after being widowed the previous year and with three sons to support. By 1970, Margaret was a partner at Corr & Corr (Corrs Chambers Westgarth) heading up its Matrimonial Causes practice.

Margaret was called to the Bar in 1975. She read with Bill Gillard (the Hon. E. William Gillard QC). In February 1976, she was appointed to the newly established Federal Family Court. This was the first appointment of a Victorian woman as a judge to a superior Court. Margaret served on the Family Court for twelve years, during which time she set up the Dandenong Registry. Following her resignation in 1988, Margaret became an adjunct professor of law at Bond University in Queensland and later set up one of the early mediation practices in Victoria.

In 1996, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the law through the Family Court of Australia and to the Community.

In 2014, Margaret generously donated her mother, Joan Rosanove QC’s portrait by Flora Lyon and her own portrait by Dudley Drew, to the Victorian Bar’s collection.

Artist – Dudley Drew

Dudley Drew was born in 1924, in Dennington, in the western district of Victoria. His artistic talent was recognised early by the nuns at his primary school. Dudley left school at 14 to become a fitter and turner, but was encouraged by his teachers at the Working Man College in Melbourne to realise his talent as a painter.

Dudley Drew is well known for his portraits of subjects as varied as the Carlton footballer and 1947 Brownlow medal winner, Bert Deacon, the war hero Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop and Catholic Archbishops Daniel Mannix, George Pell and Dennis Hart. His portrait of The Hon. Margaret Lusink AM was painted in 1975.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Sally Brown was admitted to practice in 1974. After practising as a solicitor and tertiary lecturer she spent seven years at the Victorian Bar. She was appointed a Magistrate in 1985, Deputy Chief Magistrate in April 1987, Chief Magistrate of Victoria in 1990 and a Judge of the Family Court of Australia in 1993. She in retired in 2010. 

In 2003 she was appointed to the Victorian Roll of Honour for Women and in 2006 was made a Member of the Order of Australia. She served on many Boards including as Chair of the Australian Institute of Criminology.

She was instrumental in the development and delivery of judicial education in Victoria particularly in relation to gender and culture and the impact of family violence. She is recognised for her longstanding commitments to equality of opportunity for women and the welfare and rights of children.

Artist – Josephine Kuperholz

Josephine Kuperholz is a Victorian photographic artist with a distinguished record of solo and group exhibitions. She is recognised for her innovative techniques. For this portrait, commissioned by the Victorian Bar and the Women Barristers’ Association in 2002, she printed the images used on the two glass panels by adapting a 19th Century non-silver photographic process. The colour and translucency of the work was achieved by adding layers of water-colour pigments mixed with light sensitive chemicals.  

Angela O'Brien (Bar Roll #4276)

Marilyn Warren was the first female articled clerk in the public service in Victoria and was admitted to practice in 1975. She was then called to the Victorian Bar in 1985. From 1986 to 1994 Marilyn Warren was a member of the Law Reform Committee at the Bar.

On 25 November 1997 Marilyn Warren was appointed silk and on 13 October 1998 she was appointed a Judge in the trial division of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 25 November 2003; the first female Chief Justice of any of the states and territories of Australia.

Marilyn Warren is also Lieutenant Governor of Victoria since 2006, President of the Victorian Law Foundation, Chair of the Judicial College of Victoria, Chair of the Council of Legal Education and Chair of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. Marilyn Warren was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2005 for service to the judiciary and to the legal profession.

Artist – Peter Churcher

Peter Churcher was born in Brisbane, Queensland. Churcher is currently living and working in Barcelona, Spain.

His first solo exhibition was in 1994. He was selected by the Australian War Memorial to be the official Australian war artist for the War on Terrorism in 2002 where he was sent to the Persian Gulf and Diego Garcia, he recorded the people and operations of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

He has entered at ten Archibald prizes and been hung six times. He was represented in the 1996, 1997 and 1999 Archibald Prizes, as well as the 1998 and 2000 Sulman Prize.

Sir Edward was born in Ballarat on 6 August 1928. His father, Lieutenant-General Sir Eric Woodward, was Governor of New South Wales 1957-65. His father’s military postings to England and around Australia resulted in young Edward attending a number of different primary schools – ending up at Melbourne Grammar School, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He earned a Master of Laws degree at the University of Melbourne and served articles with Alec Masel at Phillips Fox and Masel. He served as Associate to the Chief Justice of Victoria, Sir Edmund Herring and came to the Bar in 1951, reading with Clifford Menhennitt.

In 1968, Sir Edward was leading counsel for the Yirrkala people in the first major Aboriginal land rights case, Milirrpurn v Nabalco Pty Ltd. In 1973-74, he was the Royal Commissioner inquiring into Aboriginal Land Rights in the Northern Territory. Many of his recommendations became law in the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. Throughout his career, he was involved in 17 Royal Commissions and Inquiries, as the Commissioner in 4 of them.

Sir Edward was appointed Queens Counsel in 1965 at the age of 37 and a Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and of the Supreme Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, and as Deputy President of the Trade Practices Tribunal, in 1974. He became a Judge of the Federal Court on its formation in 1977. He served as Director-General of ASIO from 1976 to 1981. After retiring from the Federal Court in 1990, he became Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, serving until 2001.

Sir Edward received an OBE in 1969 for service as Royal Commissioner into the Stevedoring Industry. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1982 and AC in 2001; the latter for his voluntary work, including for advocacy for people with mental illness. He died in April 2010 aged 81 and was survived by his wife of 60 years, five of his six daughters, one son and 19 grandchildren.

Artist – Clifton Pugh AO

Clifton Pugh was born in Richmond, Victoria on 17 December 1924. As a young man during the 1940s, Pugh attended evening classes at the Swinburne Technical College to study cartoon drawing. Pugh served with the AIF in New Guinea during World War II and, after the war, with the financial support of the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Training Scheme, Pugh returned to Melbourne and enrolled in the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.

Pugh was strongly influenced by German Expressionism, and was known for his landscapes and portraiture. He chaired the Victorian ALP Arts Policy Committee from 1971, and Gough Whitlam appointed him to the Australia Council for the Arts in 1973. He was a three-time winner of the Archibald Prize, including for his portraits of Sir John McEwan (1971) and The Hon EG Whitlam (1972). His other well-known works include portraits of Archbishop Mannix (1962), Barry Humphries (1966), The Hon Harold Holt (1967), Sir John Kerr (1975), Mr Justice Lionel Murphy (1975), and HRH Prince Phillip (1976).

Beatrice McCay (known as “Bix”) was born in Castemaine in 1901 and obtained her LLB (Hons) from the University of Melbourne in 1923. She continued her studies to obtain a Master of Laws in 1925 and was only the third woman to do so. She was an active member of university life and, for a number of years, was the only woman on the committee of the Law Students’ Society of Victoria. She was also the secretary of the University Debating Society for two years, and a vice president for one year.

On 10 June 1925, Beatrice McCay became the second woman (after Joan Rosanove) to sign the Victorian Bar Roll (No. 224). She read with Robert Menzies and, in doing so, became the first female Reader at the Bar.

Beatrice was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1929. The following year she married a fellow lawyer, George Reid, at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne. She left the Bar around that time.

In 1936, due to ill health Beatrice stepped back from her previously active involvement in the community, which had included helping the disadvantaged and volunteering at the Yooralla kindergarten. However, she maintained roles as a Special Magistrate for the Children’s Court and as Vice President of the Legal Women’s Association.

George Reid entered State politics in 1947 and his ministerial appointments included that of Attorney General from 1967-73. He became Sir George Reid.

Lady Beatrice’s portrait was painted by Douglas Baulch in 1966. It has been generously loaned to the Victorian Bar by his son, Kevin.

Artist – Douglas Baulch

(1917–1996)

Douglas Baulch was born in Malvern, Victoria in 1917. He studied at the Prahran Technical College, where Sidney Nolan was among his classmates and William Dargie was a mentor. He later taught at Monash University for 15 years and also ran his own art school at home. He was a member of the Victorian Artists Society and exhibited extensively with it.

During the 1930’s Baulch worked as a commercial artist, as well as in Athol Shmith’s renowned photography studio. At the outbreak of World War II, Baulch joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a commercial artist. In 1964 he exhibited at Victoria Government House for the Queen’s visit. Douglas Baulch’s works are displayed in private collections around the world in the UK, US, Belgium, Paris and Hong Kong.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

Born in Munich in 1948, Lieder’s family immigrated to Melbourne in 1951. After completing schooling at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Lieder took an Honours degree in law at the University of Melbourne and was articled at Gilbert Field and Warne.  Lieder signed the Roll in 1973 (VBR No. 1064), reading with Frank Walsh (later Judge Walsh of the County Court).  At that time, there were only five women at the Victorian Bar, almost all practicing in family law. Drawing on her volunteer involvement with drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization, The Buoyancy Foundation, Lieder developed an expertise in the then-emerging field of drug trials and earned a reputation at the criminal bar as “an extremely intelligent and fearsome opponent." She appeared for the defence and the Crown in all jurisdictions from the Magistrates’ to the High Court, and was particularly noted for her intellectual prowess in appellate matters.

Lieder was Vice President of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty Victoria), a member of the Mental Health Review Board and the ethics committees of the Prince Henry and Alfred Hospitals.  She also taught at the Leo Cussen Institute and was a moot master at Melbourne Law School.

In 1991, Lieder became the first woman practicing in crime to take silk in Victoria. Lieder had three sons, including Mathew Kowalski (VBR No. 3267).

This portrait was commissioned by Lieder’s colleagues at the criminal Bar as a memorial tribute following her early death from cancer in 2001.

The Honourable Susan Crennan AC QC was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1980 and made Queen's Counsel in 1989.  She obtained silk in New South Wales the following year.  In addition to her work as a barrister, Crennan has served numerous esteemed roles across the legal profession, including commissioner of what is now the Australian Human Rights Commission, and President of the Australian Bar Association.  After being appointed to the Federal Court in 2004, Crennan became a judge of the High Court of Australia in 2005, serving until 2015.

Artist – Lewis Miller

Lewis Miller is a highly regarded Australian artist specialising in portraiture.  He has won several prestigious portrait prizes, including the Archibald Prize in 1998.  His significant commissions include being made official war artist to Iraq in 2003.  Miller's portraits of prominent individuals often display bold brushstrokes and expressionistic qualities, giving the viewer insights into the character of his sitters.  Miller's portrait of Susan Crennan was unveiled in 2016.

Adan Bushby

The Honourable Ken Hayne AC QC was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1945. He was educated at Scotch College in Melbourne and at the University of Melbourne, where he obtained First Class Honours in Arts and Law. He was the Supreme Court Prize winner of 1967. Whilst at law school he co-edited the Melbourne University Law Review with Robert Richter QC.  In 1969, Ken won the Rhodes Scholarship, which he took up at Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with another First in the Bachelor of Civil Law. 

He joined the Victorian Bar in 1971, reading with JD Phillips. He practised in commercial and public law. He took silk in 1984. During his time at the Bar, Ken was instrumental in developing the Victorian Bar Readers Course. He taught pleading for many years and even during his time as a judge made time to speak to each cohort of readers. Among his other contributions to the Bar were long stints as a Trustee of the Bar Super Fund and director of the Melbourne Bar Pty Ltd as well as service on the Barristers’ Disciplinary Tribunal and the Rules Committee of the Supreme Court.

Hayne was appointed to the Victorian Supreme Court in 1992. Higher appointments came in quick succession. In 1995, he became a foundation member of the Victorian Court of Appeal with his mentor Phillips J and in 1997 he was appointed to the High Court of Australia. In 2002, Hayne was made a Companion of the Order of Australia for his contribution to the administration of justice in Australia. He served over 17 years on the High Court. Upon his retirement in 2015, Ken Hayne returned to the Victorian Bar.

Artist – Bill Henson

Bill Henson was born in Melbourne in 1955. He studied photography at Prahran College under commercial photographers Athol Schmith and John Cato. At the age of 19, he had his first solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. He has exhibited in Australia and overseas continuously since then. In 1995, he was Australia’s representative at the Venice Biennale.

Henson’s photographs are renowned for their painterly qualities and mastery of shadows and light. He rarely undertakes commissions, although notable exceptions are his series for the Paris Opera and portraits of the conductor, Simone Young and the actress, Cate Blanchett. Henson’s portrait of Ken Hayne was completed in 2017. It is a gift from an anonymous donor, the Bar and twenty-seven of Ken Hayne’s former Associates who contributed funds.

Born in London on 14 August 1928 and schooled at Eltham College in Kent, Hartog Berkeley began an Arts and Economics course at the University of London. This was interrupted by the family migrating to Australia in 1947. He was, for some years, a sheep roustabout, then he and his brother began an interstate trucking business. From trucks to concrete, to clothing - then to the Law. He read with Tom Hughes and was admitted to the NSW Bar in October 1958.

Hartog came to Melbourne and was admitted in Victoria in June 1959. He immediately came to the Bar and read with Bill Harris (later Bar Chairman and a Supreme Court Judge). He established a large commercial practice, specialising in taxation. He taught Commercial Law at the Monash Law School. He had four Readers and took Silk in 1972.

He served on numerous Bar Committees, including as Chairman of the Ethics Committee; Chairman of the Accommodation Committee, the Equality Before the Law Committee, the Bar Centenary Committee, and of the Essoign Club - of which he was a Life Member. He was a Director of Barristers' Chambers Limited. He was Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council for more than 2 years, and Chairman for 2 years (1979-81) and, concurrently, President of the Australian Bar Association.

In 1982 he was appointed Solicitor-General for Victoria, until 1992, returning then to practice at the Bar until his retirement in June 2005.

He was also a framer and is said to have been as proud of the title Poll Hereford "stud master" as that of QC.

He was a generous man and a colourful character, devoted to the Independent Bar and the men and women of the Bar. In 1998, he instigated (with Jopling QC and Graeme Thompson) the Bar Legends and was named one in 2003. He played major roles in the gifts to the Bar of the Silks' Tapestry (1985) and the Silks' Sculpture (2003).

Hartog Berkeley QC passed away on 17 February 2019.

Photograph gifted by Mrs Anna Berkeley

Alex Chernov was born in Lithuania to Russian parents, and migrated with his family to Salzburg, Austria where he commenced his schooling. In 1949 his family migrated to Australia and he completed his schooling at Melbourne High School. He graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom.) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB.) (with Honours) from the University of Melbourne in 1961 and 1968 respectively.

Chernov was admitted to practice and signed the Roll of Counsel in 1968, practising mostly in commercial law and equity. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1980. He was Chairman of the Victorian Bar 1985-86, Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association 1986-87 and President of the Law Council of Australia 1990-91. He was Vice President of LawAsia 1995-1997.

In May 1997 he was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and in October 1998 to the Court of Appeal of that Court. He retired from the bench in February 2008.

In January 2009, he was appointed the 20th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, serving in that office until he resigned to take up the office of Governor of Victoria in April 2011, which he held until June 2015.

Chernov was instrumental in founding the Australia-India Institute and served as its Chair from 2008 to 2011.He is currently its Patron. He was appointed Chair of the Public Policy Think Tank the Grattan Institute in February 2016.

Chernov was created an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list for service to the law and education and in 2012 he was named a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Artist – David Rosetzky

David Rosetzky is a Melbourne-based contemporary artist working across photography, video and installation. In his black and white photographs and double exposures, human behaviour, identity, subjectivity and community come under intimate observation. Known for the elegance and aesthetic rigour of his art, Rosetzky has been commissioned to create distinctive portraits of some of Australia's most prominent figures, most recently Cate Blanchett and Jessica Mauboy for the National Portrait Gallery.

Rosetzky has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and internationally, including How to Feel at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2011; The Third ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, International Centre for Photography, New York, 2009; Viewpoints & Viewing Points: Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2009; and Face Up, Hamburger Bahnhoff, Berlin, 2003. His work is held by every major public institution in Australia, as well as numerous private collections.

Michael Black was born in Egypt on 22 March 1940, where his father was serving as an officer in the Royal Air Force. After Italy entered the war, his parents decided that he and his mother should travel back to Australia, and his mother embarked with her three-month-old baby on a perilous voyage home, via Colombo.

After attending schools in Australia, Egypt and England, he completed his secondary education at Wesley College Prahran, and then read Law at the University of Melbourne. He graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor's Degree in Law.

In 1964, Black was called to the Victorian Bar, where he read with E.D. Lloyd. He had a broad common law, commercial and public law practice. He particularly relished jury matters. He had ten readers, several of whom rose to the judiciary.

Black took silk in 1980 (Victoria, 1984 in Tasmania) and developed a thriving appellate and High Court practice, notably representing the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in the Dams case, and the Commonwealth in the Daintree and Lemonthyme world heritage matters in the High Court.

Over various periods at the Bar, Black was a member of the Victorian Bar Council and various of its committees, including as the foundation Chair of the Victorian Bar Readers Course. He was also was a member of the Council of Legal Aid Victoria and a Defence Force Advocate from 1987 until 1991.

On 1 January 1991, Black QC was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, succeeding Sir Nigel Bowen. For more than 19 years, he administered the Court, managed the Full Court hearings, presided in Full Courts, and was closely involved with guiding an ambitious program of major building projects. Over the course of his tenure, the accommodation of the court in its various district registries around the country was largely transformed, marked in particular by new and beautiful, light-filled buildings in Adelaide and Melbourne, and by refurbishments to similar effect in Hobart and Sydney.

Also, during his tenure as Chief Justice, Black supported a program of significant civil procedure and case management reform, starting with the docket system in 1999, and the adoption of specialist judicial panels in the large registries. He continued to support legal education, and he supported various initiatives in judicial education in Australia and also in the Asia ­ Pacific Region.

On Australia Day 1998, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his services to the law, the legal profession and the judiciary.

The Hon Michael Black AC QC retired from the Federal Court on 21 March 2010, and was succeeded as Chief Justice by the Hon Patrick Keane (now the Hon Justice Keane AC of the High Court of Australia).

In retirement, Michael Black chaired the Advisory Board for the introduction of the Juris Doctor at the Melbourne University Law School, and was co-President of the International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions. He was the inaugural Judge in Residence at the Melbourne Law School 2004, and in 2010 was awarded an LL D (Honoris Causa) by the University of Melbourne.

He is currently (2014 - 2020) Chair of the Legal Services Council. Since 2012 he has also chaired the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee.

He met his wife Margaret as an undergraduate at Melbourne University. They have two children and two granddaughters.

Artist – Louise Hearman

Louise Hearman (born 1963) is Melbourne artist who grew up in Croydon and has been painting and drawing from a very young age. She attended the Victorian College of the Arts from 1982 1984. She mostly paints with oil on masonite, and work with pastel and charcoal from time to time.

Hearman first came to public notice in 1986 when she spent a year painting a mural on the inside of the concrete dome of the old gymnasium at the Missions to Seamen building in Flinders Street in Melbourne. The premises also served as her studio at that time. Sadly, that work has been painted over.

Her portrait, of the renowned photographer, Bill Henson, Bill-1383, won the 2014 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize; and in 2016, she won the Archibald Prize for her portrait of entertainer, satirist, painter and Dadaist, Barry Humphries.

Hearman's work is held in collections including Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville; and private corporate collections.

Diana Bryant was born in Perth, WA. She was brought up by her single mother, who was a lawyer, the owner of her own mortgage-broking practice. The family moved to Melbourne, and Diana attended Firbank Girls' Grammar School, followed by Melbourne University where she obtained her LLB. She later completed a Master of Laws degree at Monash University .

She was admitted to practice in Victoria in 1970, but thereafter moved back to Perth where she was, from 1977 to 1990, a partner of the firm Phillips Fox, specialising in family law.

Returning to Victoria in 1990, Bryant went to the Bar and established a significant practice in family law. She helped establish Chancery Chambers in 1997, the same year she took silk.

She was the first Chief Federal Magistrate, appointed in May 2000, and served in that capacity until 2004.

Bryant QC was appointed Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia in July 2004, succeeding the Hon Alastair Nicholson, AO RFD QC. She was only the second female Chief Justice of the Family Court, after the inaugural Chief Justice, Elizabeth Evatt AC. While Bryant was a trailblazer, by the time of her retirement in October 2017, five out of 12 Chief Justices in Australia and New Zealand were female.

As Chief Justice, she placed emphasis on building trust in the Court, important process reforms, and international engagement. She absorbed the intense public scrutiny to which the Court is subject and fought hard to ensure that it was properly resourced. She brought significant compassion, warmth, wisdom and energy to the role. Both as an advocate and later as a judge, she was renowned for her sense of justice and fairness. She had a particular interest in surrogacy and family violence. She was, and remains, a passionate advocate for the welfare of the child.

On top of her administrative and other duties as head of jurisdiction, she regularly sat in Court on matters covering family law and general federal law, at first instance and on Appeal.

She has been a passionate advocate for women in the legal profession. She was a founding member of the Women Lawyers Association of Western Australia. In 2009, she was appointed Patron of Australian Women Lawyers, in place of founding patron, Mary Gaudron QC. She was inducted into the Western Australian Women's Hall of Fame in 2018.

In 2012, Diana was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly to family law policy reform and practice, through the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court, and to the advancement of women in the legal profession."

Artist – Sally Ross

Melbourne based artist Sally Ross is a contemporary genre painter whose practice is exclusively derived from photography. The photographic source material of her subjects presents a graphically resolved composition for the artist to reinterpret in her signature detail. Indeed, the sitting process for the current portrait The Hon. Diana Bryant AO involved the subject being photographed by the artist in the first instance before being rendered in oil on wood.

Sally Ross is a 4-time Archibald Prize finalist. Recent notable sitters portrayed by Ross include Academy and Emmy Award winning Australian film director/producer Eva Orner; celebrated Sydney gallerist and philanthropist, Roslyn Oxley AO; human rights and social justice lawyer George Newhouse; and Nellie Castan.

Sally Ross's portraits are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra and the National Gallery of Victoria.

The Hon Ray Finkelstein AO QC was born in Germany, to Polish parents, in 1946. He arrived in Australia with his parents in 1951. He studied at Elwood High School and graduated from Monash University in 1970. Between 1971 and 1975 he worked as a solicitor and also as a tutor at Monash University.

Ray was called to the Bar in 1975 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1986. Thereafter, he concentrated on appellate work, often acting for State and Federal Governments and their instrumentalities. He was acting Solicitor General for the State of Victoria during 1992.

As counsel, Ray was the leader of the commercial and equity Bar in Victoria. He appeared regularly in the High Court, including in seminal constitutional and company law cases.

In 1997, he was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. As a judge, Ray helped shape several areas of law, in particular in the areas of insolvency and commercial law.

While a judge of the Federal Court, Ray held additional appointments as Deputy  President of the Australian Competition Tribunal and the Copyright Tribunal of Australia. In December 2008 he was appointed President of the Australian Competition Tribunal.

On 30 June 2011, Ray retired as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia and President of the Competition Tribunal.

Following his retirement from the bench, Ray was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Law Faculty at Monash University. During 2011 and 2012, he Chaired the Independent Inquiry into Aspects of the Media.

Artist – Polly Borland

Los Angeles based photographer and artist, Polly Borland left her home town of Melbourne in the late-1980s to pursue what has become a remarkable international career. After successfully emerging in the spheres of reportage and editorial photography, since 2000 Borland has almost exclusively concentrated on her personal work as an artist.

The artist's most celebrated portraits include Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II, which was commissioned by invitation from Buckingham Palace to mark the monarch's Golden Jubilee in 2002; and Nick Cave in a blue wig, held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

In 2000 the National Portrait Gallery, London, in association with the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, commissioned the exhibition Australians, comprising 50 photographic portraits of celebrated expatriate Australians living and working in the UK at that time. Notable sitters in the exhibition included Clive James, Geoffrey Robertson QC, Germaine Greer, Cate Blanchett, Barry Humphries and Kylie Minogue. Within Borland's creative oeuvre, it is this series that best represents the context for the artist's current portrait The Hon. Ray Finkelstein AO QC.

Polly Borland's photographs are included in the collections of MONA; the Andy Warhol Foundation; the National Portrait Gallery; and Parliament of Australia among many more. In 2018-2019, the National Gallery of Victoria held a survey exhibition of Borland’s work, Polyverse.

Jeff Sher was born on 26 May 1936. He was admitted to practice on 1 May 1958, signed the Bar Roll on 1 February 1961 and took silk in 1975.  Jeff practised law for just over 48 years - over 45 years at the Bar and 30 of those years as a silk.

Sher QC was the silk of renown at the Victorian Bar, indeed, he had a high profile Australia wide. He was a formidable opponent and a brilliant advocate. Peers variously describe him as tenacious, robust, no pretensions, hardworking, bullet proof, warrior like, down to the task, charming, disarming and humorous. In August 2003, 42 years after signing the Bar Roll, Sher was anointed, along with others, as a Living Legend of the Bar.

He had a reputation for competence and for being relentless in the manner in which he ran his trials. His cross-examination thrilled and was once described as follows: "Sher hit a nerve, and without the benefit of anesthetic, he drilled deeper."

Sher QC’s long career at the Bar was marked by its breadth and diversity. He moved between the criminal and civil jurisdictions with ease. His practice encompassed a wide range of areas took him to all courts from the Magistrates Court through to the High Court.

In crime, he appeared in rape cases, murders, stabbings with intent to murder, attempted murders, conspiracy to murder, larceny, drink driving, dangerous driving, culpable driving, armed robbery, bribery, arson, assault and false imprisonment cases. Among his high-profile criminal matters, was the murder trial of painter and docker Billy Longley.

He was briefed for plaintiffs in major personal injuries cases, winning in 1978 the highest damages award made by the Victorian Supreme Court for personal injury. This was followed soon after with the highest settlement awarded to a plaintiff under the age of 18 in Victoria.

In the civil law, he appeared in all types of matters - corporate, sporting, estates, for newspapers resisting attempts to silence the press, in Royal Commissions and inquiries. He developed an unequalled defamation practice.

In the commercial jurisdiction, he appeared in high-profile cases, including the National Companies and Securities Commission inquiry into cross shareholdings between Elders and BHP and the battle between Rupert Murdoch and Robert Holmes a Court for the Herald & Weekly Times Ltd.

Sher QC was also senior counsel for the Northern Land Council, in cases including the Kenbi land claim in the Cox Peninsula area, the land claim by the Jawoyn Aboriginal people for the Katherine Gorge and a challenge to mining agreements for the Ranger uranium deposits.

Jeff Sher QC retired on 30 June 2008. His portrait was commissioned by his family to celebrate his retirement and was gifted to the Bar in 2019.

Artist – Lianne Gough

Lianne Gough was born in 1954 in Perth, Western Australia. She was educated in Australia and the United States of America. In 1976 she received a Diploma of Art and Design (Gordon Institute of Technology, Geelong), and in 1977 was awarded an Arts Council Scholarship for postgraduate studies at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture (USA). She returned to Geelong and has continued her painting practice, doing commissioned works for public and private collectors, exhibiting and teaching;

Gough's paintings have a singular vision. There is emotional impact and vigour in the uncompromising way they deal with the physical reality of bodies, both as objects and in relation to environment and each other. Gough's drawing and brushwork is not afraid to be simple - but there are 'bones' in the drawing and her colour is masterly and bold. Neither overworked nor underworked, this is figurative painting in full life, constantly evolving.

This is very evident in her portrait of Jeff Sher QC.

Robert Richter QC and Philip Dunn QC are legends of the Victorian Bar and leaders of the Australian Criminal Bar.

In 1994, Richter and Dunn represented Detectives Lockwood and Avon who were charged with the murder of Gary Abdallah. Police suspected that Abdallah supplied the stolen car used to lure two young police officers, Steven Tynan and Damien Eyre, to their deaths in Walsh Street, South Yarra. Lockwood and Avon arrested Abdallah and took him to his Drummond Street flat. The prosecution case was that they executed him. Lockwood said Abdallah pulled a .357 magnum on him when he momentarily turned away. Lockwood fired 6 shots from his own revolver and then grabbed Avon's revolver and fired one shot more.

Martin Tighe's painting depicts Richter and Dunn as they were at the Bar table in Court 4 of the Supreme Court of Victoria, just before Richter's final address to the jury. They are checking Lockwood's revolver. Richter will shortly demonstrate that it took only 1.6 seconds to fire the shots. It is a moment of tense stillness before a dramatic recreation. The chiaroscuro isolates the two advocates in the darkness of the trial. Both Lockwood and Avon were acquitted.

Robert Richter was born on 13 February 1946 in Kyrgyzstan.  Richter arrived in Australia when he was 13 years old with little or no English.  It has been reported that he taught himself English with the aid of television programs and dictionaries.  Richter was called to the Bar in 1971.  Richter has been President of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties and a part-time Commissioner for the Law Reform Commission of Victoria.  He was appointed silk on 26 November 1985. 

Philip Dunn was called to the Bar in 1969.  He has been Chairman of the Addiction Research Institute and a member of the Lord Mayor's Drug Advisory Committee.  Philip is a teacher with the Australian Advocacy Institute and the Victorian New Barristers Committee and regularly lectures on advocacy and related topics throughout Australia.  He was appointed silk on 5 December 1995.

The artist Martin Tighe has built a career focusing on stories important to Australia’s culture and identity.  He has painted a number of Australian barristers.  Martin uses many different media in his artwork including traditional materials such as oil, acrylics and bronze and found objects such as scoreboard numbers, timber cut-offs and flat iron. Martin exhibits frequently in both individual and group exhibitions and is a regular entrant and finalist in the Archibald Prize.

The portrait was commissioned by the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery Foundation of the Victorian Bar. 

Artist – Martin Tighe

The artist Martin Tighe has built a career focusing on stories important to Australia’s culture and identity.  He has painted a number of Australian barristers.  Martin uses many different media in his artwork including traditional materials such as oil, acrylics and bronze and found objects such as scoreboard numbers, timber cut-offs and flat iron. Martin exhibits frequently in both individual and group exhibitions and is a regular entrant and finalist in the Archibald Prize.

The portrait was commissioned by the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery Foundation of the Victorian Bar.

Francine McNiff practised as a criminal barrister for 23 years from 1987 until illness prevented her continuing in 2010. She transferred to the List of Retired Counsel in 2014 and died in April 2015.

McNiff was 32 years old when she was admitted to legal practice in 1980, after 10 years as an academic and policymaker. In 1983, she was appointed as a stipendiary magistrate in the Children’s Court. This was the State of Victoria’s first appointment of a woman judicial officer. At the time, The Age newspaper’s law reporter, Garry Sturgess, enthused that: “Three of the most shunned attributes in judicial appointees – youth, femininity and reformist attitudes – have suddenly bobbed up in one person”. The Bar’s portrait was painted from one of the photos taken for that article. McNiff’s red hair and green eyes are striking. Her mouth is pursed as if holding back one of those “reformist attitudes."

McNiff is celebrated as a benefactor of Monash University (her alma mater and where she became a sub-dean) and the University of Melbourne (where she taught). Towards the end of her life, she established a Chair in Human Rights in the Law School and a Chair in Criminology in the Faculty of Arts as well as scholarships, in her parents’ names, for doctoral research in medical jurisprudence: all at the University of Melbourne. This generosity was matched on her death by her bequest to Monash University, which has funded a Chair in Criminal Jurisprudence in the Law School and a scholarship to support PhD students studying criminology in the Faculty of Arts.

McNiff, who was known to drink copious cups of black tea with lemon and chain smoke menthol cigarettes during her trials, was also a technophobe, shunning mobile phones and emails. She famously penned her own death notice two years before her death and faxed it to Ron Tait, a great friend and executor of her estate with Brett Tait. Mr Tait honoured her wishes and published it at the appropriate time. It read: “I have ceased to exist – Francine." The Victorian Bar’s notice succinctly captured her life’s purpose, stating: “She lived for the law."

The portrait of Francine McNiff has been generously gifted to the Bar by the Hon Betty King QC. The artist is unknown. 

Max Perry completed his law degree at the University of Melbourne in 1975.  In May 1976, he was admitted to practice when only 22 years old.  A few months later, he was called to the Bar and read with the late Frederick James.  Max practises predominantly in criminal law.  He is a highly respected member of the Bar who serves his clients, opponents and the bench with candour, honour and distinction. 

Max is a modest and humble man who has made a name for himself in his own way.  When Max was honoured as a Living Legend of the Bar in 2003 he was described by Justice Goldberg as being “in a class of his own”. 

Max has shown a tireless commitment to educating and mentoring young lawyers and barristers by spending much of his time teaching at the Leo Cussen Centre for Law and the University of Melbourne and personally mentoring an extraordinary number of barristers: Amanda Glaister, his Honour Magistrate Barry Schultz, Graeme Cantwell, Andrew McKenry, Diana Manova, Dr Cynthia Holland, John Munro, the list goes on, Campbell Hangay, Cameron Baker, Natalie Burnett, Ricky Iomea, Erin Hill and Chiry Chen. 

Max is not one to mince his words.  In an article written about him in the Victorian Bar News in the Summer of 2011, it was reported that if one were to call Max’s mobile phone and he did not answer, the caller would hear a message “I have either died or been arrested.  If you leave your name and a number and a detailed greeting, I will in all probability not get back to you, but neither of us will care.  Perry."

Artist – Martin Tighe

The artist is Martin Tighe. Tighe has built a career focusing on stories important to Australia’s culture and identity. He has painted a number of Australian barristers: Ted Hill, a barrister and communist activist; Julian McMahon, the barrister who defended the Bali Nine; Brian Bourke AC, who defended the last person to be legally executed in Australia; the portrait of Robert Richter QC and A Dunn AC which was commissioned by the Victorian Bar and hangs in the Gallery; and now the portrait of Max Perry.  

Martin uses many different media in his artwork including traditional materials such as oil, acrylics and bronze and found objects such as scoreboard numbers, timber cut-offs and flat iron.

Martin exhibits frequently in both individual and group exhibitions and is a regular entrant and finalist in the Archibald Prize.

The portrait has been generously gifted to the Bar by Max Perry’s family.

Leana Papaelia (Bar Roll #4526)

The Honourable Justice King studied law at the University of Melbourne, graduating with Honours in 1974. She came to the Bar in 1975, and established a formidable practice in criminal law. In 1986, she was appointed the first female prosecutor in the State of Victoria, and later became the first female barrister to prosecute cases on behalf of the Commonwealth. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel for the State of Victoria in 1992. In 2020, Justice King was appointed a Judge of the County Court of Victoria where she served the State of Victoria as a Judge of that Court until she was appointed to the trial division of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2005. Justice King served on the bench until her retirement in 2015.

Artist – Raelene Sharpe

This portrait was painted by Raelene Sharpe and gifted by Justice King to the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery. Sharp is an Archibald Prize Finalist and Archibald Packing Room Prize Winner (2012). She has won the third richest portrait prize in Australia – The Shirley Hannon National Portrait Prize – in 2006. She has been included in the Salon International USA twice, the Archibald Salon de Rufuse and received a First Merit in the Portrait Society of America’s annual Exhibition

Amy Wood (Bar Roll #4205)

The Honourable Alec James Southwell QC – nick-named “Ginger” was born on 1 November 1926.  He gave a long and distinguished service to the people of Victoria, the legal profession, the judiciary and the Courts.

He was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School and at the University of Melbourne. After completing first-year Law, he served in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve from 1944-46, seeing service in New Guinea and Morotai. He graduated with an LLB in 1949; served Articles with Alan Benjamin; and was admitted to practice in March 1951. He came straight to the Bar, signing the Roll in May 1951 and reading with Ben Dunn (later a County Court, then Supreme Court Judge).

Southwell had a varied practice and became a dominant figure in Common Law and Personal Injuries, serving some years on the Juries Subcommittee of the Bar Practice Committee and other Committees including as a Bar appointee to the Legal Aid Committee.  He had 5 Readers and took Silk in 1968.

His Honour served 10 years as a Judge of the County Court from 1969-79 in the course of which he also conducted three important Inquiries: into the Teaching Service; and two Courts of Marine Inquiry. He then served 18 years as a Judge of the Supreme Court.  At the time of his retirement in 1997, he was believed to be Australia's longest-serving judge after 28 years.  He then served a further 5 years as a Reserve Judge.

Alec Southwell was an outstanding sportsman. As a cricketer, he played in the First XI at Melbourne Grammar; earned a half-blue as a member of the University team; and played District Cricket, and for the Bar. He was elected to the Committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club and served from 1979-97, as Vice-President from 1988-97. He was Vice-Commodore of the Sorrento Sailing Club and Captain of the Sorrento Golf Club. He played tennis and pennant squash and billiards.

In 2014 and 2016, he moved the admission of his granddaughters, Sarah and Katherine Southwell, with Sarah as his junior for Katherine’s admission.

The Honourable Alec James ("Ginger") Southwell QC died on 26 January 2018, at the age of 91.

The portrait is a gift from his children Kay and Pet er.  In it he is wearing his County Court robes. The artist is unknown.

Siobhán Ryan KC (Bar Roll #3886)

William Ah Ket was born in country Victoria and studied law at the University of Melbourne. His legal career commenced as an articled clerk in 1898 at Maddock & Jamieson. In 1902, he won the Supreme Court Judge’s Prize, and was admitted to practice the following year. Ah Ket signed the Bar Roll in 1904, and became the first Australian lawyer of Chinese descent to practice as a barrister in the State of Victoria. His practice at the Bar was predominately in civil law, and he appeared in many cases involving issues of the welfare or well-being of the general public. During his professional career, Ah Ket also spent time as a diplomat, serving as acting consul-general for China in 1913-1914 and again in 1917. He retired from practice in March 1936.

This photograph was taken by an unknown photographer circa. 1904, and has been gifted to the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery by the descendants of William Ak Ket, namely, the Ah Ket, Wood and Hing families.

Amy Wood (Bar Roll #4205)

Julian McMahon comes from a NSW Riverina farming family.  He received a Jesuit education in Sydney, then came to Melbourne to study Law and Classics at Melbourne University. His first job was as a tutor in Classics, whilst studying a Masters in Byzantine History. After a few years as a solicitor in private practice and in the Office of Public Prosecutions he was called to the Bar in 1998.    

In December 2002, as a very junior barrister, he took a call from the distraught mother of 20 year Van Tuong Ngyuen, who had been arrested in Singapore, carrying 20 grams of heroin. The charge carried a mandatory death sentence. McMahon took on the case pro bono and brought in Lex Lasry QC.  For the next 3 years they, with Singaporean solicitors, fought for Van’s life; first, through the judicial system and, when that failed, through diplomatic channels. Van was executed by hanging on December 10 2005.[1]

McMahon has not stopped working for prisoners on death row and agitating for the end of the death sentence in those countries which still have it.

In April 2005, nine Australians were arrested in Bali for trafficking heroin. By 2006, the ringleaders, Mayuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, had been sentenced to death. McMahon and Lasry took on their appeals. For the next decade they, with a team of Australian and Indonesian lawyers and diplomats, fought to save Sukumaran and Chan’s lives. Sukumaran and Chan were executed by firing squad on 29 April 2015.

Julian McMahon was Victoria’s nominee Australian of the Year in 2016. In 2017, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia “for eminent service to the law and the legal profession, through pro bono representation of defendants in capital punishment cases overseas, as an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, and to human rights and social justice reform”.  He also received an Honorary Doctorate from the Australian Catholic University and was made Silk, in 2017.

Artist – Mayuran Sukumaran

(1981–2015)

Mayuran Sukumaran learned to paint in Kerobokan Prison, Bali, Indonesia while on Death Row. He was taught by Australian artists Ben Quilty (winner of the Archibald Prize 2011 and Official War artist 2011 - 2012) and Matthew Sleeth, who visited the prison to support Chan and Sukumaran. The influence of his mentor, Quilty can be seen in the strong colours and ferocious brush work in this early work (2013).

[1] Van Ngyuen’s story was rold in Better Man is an Australian television biopic mini-series which originally screened on SBS TV in July 2013. Julian McMahon was played by David Wenham and Lex Lasry QC was played by Bryan Brown.

Sir Keith Aickin was the son of schoolmaster, who academically excelled at science but chose to pursue the study of law at the University of Melbourne. Having graduated with the Supreme Court Prize, he took the position as Sir Owen Dixon’s associate in the High Court for two years and followed him as third secretary upon Sir Owen’s appointment as Australian Minister to the United States between 1942 and 1944. Aickin, who had lived in Washington as part of Dixon’s household, in 1944 joined the legal office of the UNRRA, and upon moving to Europe with that body, read for the English Bar and was called to the Middle Temple in 1948. He returned to Melbourne in 1949 and read with Alistair Adams (later a Judge of Supreme Court). He took silk in 1957 and was almost immediately viewed as the leader of the Victorian bar in constitutional and commercial matters. He had the rare distinction of being appointed to various high profile boards (Mayne Nickless in 1958, P&O Australia in 1969 and BHP in 1971). It was said that his desire to continue with his practice and sit on boards led him to turn down an offer to join the High Court in 1969. He finally accepted appointment to the High Court in 1976 at age 60. Aickin died at 66, from a pulmonary embolism following injuries sustained from his green Volkswagen being hit by another car on the Mornington Peninsula. The Prime Minister, upon his death in 1982, described Aickin as “one of Australia’s most eminent constitutional and commercial lawyers." The Victorian Bar honoured Sir Keith Aickin’s contribution by naming chambers after him in 1984, at 200 Queen St.

Dr Charles Parkinson KC (Bar Roll #4552)

The Honourable Susan Kenny AM KC

(1953–)

The Honourable Justice Susan Kenny was born in Oxford in November 1953, and she studied law at the University of Melbourne. In 1975, she was the editor of the Melbourne University Law Review, and the joint recipient of the Supreme Court Prize. In 1979-1980, Justice Kenny was associate to, the then High Court judge, The Hon. Ninian Stephen, before being called to the Bar in 1981. In 1985, she was awarded the Menzies Scholarship in law which enabled her to attend and complete her doctorate at the University of Oxford in 1988. In 1996, Justice Kenny was appointed Queen’s Counsel for the State of Victoria. In 1997, Justice Kenny was the first woman to be appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria. In October 1998, she was appointed as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, and in November 2021, was appointed a presidential member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. In June 2020, Justice Kenny was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia honour for significant service to the law, and to the judiciary, particularly to the Federal Court of Australia.

The Honourable Katharine Williams

The Honourable Justice Katharine Williams commenced studying law at the University of Melbourne at the age of 16. In her early career, Justice Williams practiced as a solicitor, and thereafter worked as an academic at both the University of Melbourne and Monash University. She signed the Bar Roll in 1988, and established a practice specialising in commercial law.  Whilst at the Bar, Justice Williams was a director of Barristers’ Chambers Limited. In 1999, she was appointed a Judge of the County Court of Victoria and, was then appointed to the trial division of the Supreme Court of Victoria on 28 October 2002. Justice Williams served the State of Victoria as a Judge of the Supreme Court until her retirement in February 2015. 

The Honourable Marilyn Warren AC KC

The Honourable Chief Justice Warren studied law at Monash University graduating with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1973 and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours the following year. She completed her article clerkship with the Solicitor to the Public Trustees and was the first woman to do so. She was admitted to practice in 1975 and worked as a solicitor in the public service until 1985. She completed a Master of Laws in 1983, and signed the Bar Roll in 1985. Chief Justice Warren was appointed Queen’s Counsel for the State of Victoria in 1997 and, in October 1998, was appointed to the trial division of the Supreme Court of Victoria. On 25 November 2003, Justice Warren (as she then was), was appointed the 11^th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She was the first female chief justice appointed in Australia. In 2005, Chief Justice Warren was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia honour for service to the judiciary and to the legal profession, particularly the delivery and administration of law in Victoria, to the community in areas affecting the social and economic conditions of women and to forensic medicine internationally. From 2006 to 2017, Chief Justice Warren was the Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria.     

The Honourable Julie Dodds-Streeton KC

The Honourable Justice Dodds-Streeton studied law at the University of Melbourne graduating with Honours. Her legal career commenced as an articled clerk at Pavey’s before she was admitted to practice in 1981. Thereafter, she worked as an academic before signing the Bar Roll in 1988. Whilst at the Bar, Justice Dodds-Streeton practised principally in equity, corporations and insolvency law. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel for the State of Victoria in 2001. In July 2002, she was appointed to the trial division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, before being elevated to the Court of Appeal in August 2007. Justice Dodds-Streeton was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia where she served as a Judge of that Court until April 2014. In November 2015, she returned as a Reserve Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, until retiring as a Judge in December 2019. In 2020, she returned to the Victorian Bar.

The Honourable Rosemary Balmford AM

(15 September 1933 – 8 August 2017)

The Honourable Justice Balmford studied law at the University of Melbourne and, in 1954, she won the Supreme Court Prize. Her early legal career was in academia before she joined the firm Whiting & Byrne. She returned to academia, and completed a Master of Business Administration. In the late 1970’s, she was appointed to the Equal Opportunity Board, and then in 1982, to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. From 1993, Justice Balmford served as the only woman on the Country Court of Victoria, until 1996, when was appointed the first woman to serve as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She served on that Court until her retirement in 2003. In 2012, Justice Balmford was made a Member of the Order of Australian for services to the judiciary, the practice of law in Victoria, and to the study of ornithology.

Artist – Murray Yann

Amy Wood (Bar Roll #4205)

Sir John Barry studied at the University of Melbourne. During his articled clerkship, he was involved in a murder trial which resulted in the accused being hanged. Barry became and remained an opponent of capital punishment. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1926, reading with Sir Eugene Gorman. In 1942, he was appointed King’s Counsel. The same year he was counsel assisting Sir Charles Lowe in the commission of inquiry into the Japanese air-raid on Darwin.

On 14 January 1947, Barry was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. Extra-judicially, he wrote significantly on the field of criminology. He was the foundation chairman of the board of studies in the department of criminology at the University of Melbourne from 1951 and of the Victorian Parole Board from 1957.

Artist is unknown

Nicholas Modrzewski (Bar Roll #5043)

Alfred Deakin studied law at the University of Melbourne in 1872. He was admitted to the Bar in 1877 (without ever graduating from university). He found little work as a barrister and soon shifted to journalism in 1878, writing for The Age. From 1887 – 1900, Deakin was a leader in the movement for Federation. In 1901, Deakin became Australia’s first Attorney-General and Leader of the House. As Attorney-General, Deakin was responsible for formulating legislation that guided the federal government up until the First World War, including the Immigration Restriction Act (1901), which became the basis of the White Australia policy.

Between 1903 – 1910, Deakin served as Australia’s second Prime Minister. During his three terms, Deakin was largely responsible for establishing institutions such as the High Court, the Public Service and the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. Throughout his career, Deakin continued to write and publish. While he was Prime Minister, he wrote anonymous newspaper articles about federal politics.

Artist – Stephen Benwell

Stephen Benwell (born 1953) is a visual artist living in Melbourne, Australia. His body of work, now spanning four decades, comprises ceramics, drawings, works on paper and paintings. He began his career in the mid 1970's after finishing art school (VCA) in Melbourne. Whilst not having any formal training in ceramics, this medium forms the basis of his art practice. His work marries studio based investigations of the ceramacist with the painterly and sculptural concerns of the contemporary artist.

Nicholas Modrzewski (Bar Roll #5043)

Neil Forsyth QC was one of Australia’s foremost tax advisers from the 1970s until his early death in 1997. He was immensely learned, personally charming and generous to his colleagues, with a powerful intellect, strong work ethic, and a profound knowledge of all aspects of taxation and commercial law.  His tax opinions, priced at so much per page, were widely sought after, widely retailed and widely relied upon, not without issue (charged in 1985 with defrauding the Commonwealth in respect of a tax scheme on which he gave advice, he was acquitted by direction of Hampel J in 1990).  Underpinning his practice, he had an unrivalled personal library.  Neil had an incisive sense of humour and widely esteemed and liked.  

Artist – Michael Crennan QC

An informal and affectionate photograph, taken by a fellow member of the Bar

Peter Willis (Bar Roll #3337)

Joining the Bar in 1931 soon after admission, Gillard built a wide practice; appointed silk in 1950; Chairman of the Bar Council for three years while Owen Dixon Chambers was built (1958 – 1962); appointed to the Supreme Court in 1962; supervised the conversion of the now Court of Appeal building (formerly Crown Law Offices).  Retiring from the Court in 1978, he served as Chancellor of The University of Melbourne 1978 – 1980.  Father of two distinguished silks, Bill and Roger, of whom Bill Gillard also served as a judge of the Supreme Court.  See Victorian Bar News No 119, pp 34-34; [1984] VR, xii.

Artist – Paul McDonald-Smith OAM

A posthumous portrait in oil; in ‘traditional tonal style’ of the artist’s early mentor, William Dargie; the judge in repose

Campbell Thomson (Bar Roll #2754)

Adelaide born and educated, a scion of distinguished long legal lineage (named eccentrically by his father, a leading Adelaide KC, after the nineteenth century Lord Chancellor), he left South Australia, after ten years’ practice which culminated in a controversial and highly-charged Royal Commission in Adelaide into the conviction of Max Stuart, an Aboriginal worker framed by police for a gruesome murder near Ceduna. In the Commission, effectively confronting the South Australian judicial and political Establishment, he was led successively by Jack Shand QC of Sydney and eventually Jack Starke QC, who encouraged him to move to Melbourne as his future career in SA appeared untenable. At the Victorian Bar, he had a large criminal and civil practice, with extensive circuit work at Warrnambool and Ballarat. QC in 1975, he was counsel assisting the Beach Inquiry into police corruption. Appointed a County Court judge in 1983, the role in which the Spooner caricature captured him.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian newspaper cartoonist and illustrator, winner of Walkley Awards for political cartoons. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for The Age, and later for The Australian.

A tyro of the defendant’s side of common law and insurance Bar and civil juries, Barnard was gregarious, informal, warm and humane.

Artist – J.H. Spooner

Spooner is an Australian newspaper cartoonist and illustrator, winner of Walkley Awards for political cartoons. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for The Age, and later for The Australian.

John Eric Middleton sat as a judge of the Federal Court for over 16 years.  In that role he was famed for his intelligence and acumen, not only in quickly comprehending sometimes arcane legal issues, but also for his ability to guide complex litigation (and the monumental egos of some participants, both client and counsel) efficiently through the judicial process.  He did so through charm more than by force, although, as all who appeared before him came to know, his charm had an indefatigable power of its own.

Success visited John early and seemed to enjoy his company, so lingered.  To summarise: he was dux of his school in Humanities (at Camberwell Grammar School) and completed his Bachelor of Laws at Melbourne University, with first-class honours. He attended Oxford and obtained his Bachelor of Civil Laws, with first-class honours.  Upon finishing these studies, in 1979, he became associate to the Hon Sir Ninian Stephen, then a High Court Justice (and later to be Governor General).  Shortly afterwards, John signed the Bar Roll and read with the Hon Michael Black AC KC, later to be Chief Justice of the court on which John was to sit.  He then developed what was to become a successful commercial practice.  He gained an early reputation for excellence in advocacy.  In 1991, he was appointed silk.  He served on the Victorian Bar Council for many years, and as chairman (over 18 months) from 1995-1997.  He was appointed to the Federal Court in 2006 and, among other roles, sat as President of the Australian Competition Tribunal for six years (until his commission as Federal Court judge expired in December 2022).

In addition to all of that outwardly observable achievement, he was and is chiefly known for his dedication to family, his loyalty to friends, his generosity and his humour. 

Turning then to the portrait by Rick Amor, it is perhaps at first glance incongruous to compare, on the one-hand, the painted image of the Hon Justice John Middleton (seemingly statue-like; its stern features carved into monumental alabaster and festooned with the burgundy ribbon of office) and, on the other-hand, the Laughing Middleton of Bar legend.  (Writing of John Middleton’s retirement as Federal Court Judge in the Victorian Bar News (VBN173), the Hon Paul Anastassiou KC (a former Bar and Federal Court colleague) noted, “Any person who has had even a passing encounter with John Eric Middleton will have observed that he smiles nearly all the time, and laughs loudly.”

However, such a first glance (as with most first glances) is not at all fair or accurate. It is perhaps the subtle genius of the portrait that it captures Middleton in mid-inspection (and introspection), not mid-joke.  To do so would have been too limiting an image.  Painted portraits have the capacity, over and above what might be captured by a photographic snap, to represent a personality over the time it takes to observe the sitter thereby, necessarily, capturing a nuanced image (in this case, Middleton sat over several sessions in the artist’s studio). We see Middleton as the thoughtful and seriously intelligent person he is (and was as a judicial officer).  And yet, if we take a moment to pause and observe this portrait closely, it does not take long to see the muscles at the corners of the mouth are tensing. A smile is breaking out and a loud laugh is sure to follow.

Artist – Rick Amor

Rick Amor is one of Australia’s most respected portrait painters, sculptors and printmakers. 

He was born in Frankston, Victoria in 1948. He studied at the Caulfield Institute of Technology and the National Gallery School, Melbourne. He has been the recipient of several prestigious art prizes, including travelling scholarships to London, New York and Barcelona. In 1999, he was appointed as the Official War Artist to the Australian Defence Force’s mission in East Timor.  In addition to this portrait, the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery also includes Rick Amor’s portraits of former High Court Justice and Governor General, the Hon Sir Ninian Stephen, and Peter O’Callaghan QC himself, after whom the Gallery is named.

Justin Tomlinson (Bar Roll #4145)

Peter O’Callaghan left school when he was 14 and (foreshadowing a nascent persuasive talent) seemingly convinced himself to spend his days playing football and working as a mechanic in his home-town of Horsham. It was an ill-fated vocation.

Others saw in him a capacity to shoulder greater burdens. He was encouraged by a local doctor to resume his studies, which he did with considerable success. Ultimately, he obtained his qualifications at Melbourne University Law School, then worked as a law clerk, before heeding a call to the Bar in 1961 (reading with the Hon Sir Kevin Anderson QC).

He developed his practice at a time when specialisation was eschewed, working over a broad range of fields including crime, commercial and constitutional cases.

Peter O’Callaghan took silk on 12 November 1974 and was recognised as a Bar Legend in 2012. He never had a reader, although was regarded as a true and generous mentor to many.

Peter was a resilient director of Barristers Chambers Limited from 1982-1992 and Chair of the building committee during the development of Owen Dixon Chambers West. Given his crucial role in overseeing the construction (being primarily responsible for steadfastly steering the project through numerous rough waters), it is apt that his portrait sits at the foundation of that building as the Gallery itself has expanded to flow between the open foyer spaces of both Owen Dixon Chambers West and East.

In 2014, the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery was established in his name. At that time, Peter was the most senior practicing member of the Victorian Bar. 

The portrait by Rick Amor reveals an age wearied, but alert and compassionate visage. The sitter holds our stare, although his gaze is not at all menacing. There is everything empathetic and nothing frivolous about this face (notwithstanding the gentle bow of a wry smile held in relaxation). It is a masterful portrait of a most significant contributor to the Bar and the Victorian community.

Artist – Rick Amor

Rick Amor is one of Australia’s most respected portrait painters, sculptors and printmakers. 

He was born in Frankston, Victoria in 1948. He studied at the Caulfield Institute of Technology and the National Gallery School, Melbourne. He has been the recipient of several prestigious art prizes, including travelling scholarships to London, New York and Barcelona. In 1999, he was appointed as the Official War Artist to the Australian Defence Force’s mission in East Timor.  In addition to this portrait, the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery also includes Rick Amor’s portraits of former High Court Justice and Governor General, the Hon Sir Ninian Stephen, and Peter O’Callaghan QC himself, after whom the Gallery is named.

Justin Tomlinson (Bar Roll #4145)

Bill Lally was admitted to practice on 1 April 1969, signed the Victorian Bar Roll on 7 May 1970 and read with the late Honourable Justice Kenneth J Jenkinson. His areas of practice at the Bar included commercial, wills and estates, construction, insolvency, insurance law, licensing, mediation and trade practice. He had eight readers and took silk on 30 November 1993. Throughout his practice, his door was always open and he gave generously of his time to his colleagues. He was appointed a member of the Supreme Court Board of Examiners in January 1998 as a deputy-member and then in January 2002, Bill became a principal board member, going on to serve as chairman of the board in 2005. Bill also served as a member of the Ethics Committee from November 2001 to November 2007. His formidable contribution and commitment to the many issues addressed by the Committee were invaluable. He retired from the Victorian Bar on 11 August 2011.

This portrait was gifted to the Victorian Bar by William Lally QC. The photographer is unknown.

Laura Colla (Bar Roll #3429)

Paul Guest is a man of many interests and talents. He was educated at Wesley College Melbourne. He is a former three-time Olympic rower and rowed in the National King’s Cup finals from 1963 – 1975. He was admitted to practice in 1965, called to the Victorian Bar in 1969 with a general practice, specialising in complex family law property disputes. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1983. He served as a Family Court judge for ten years from 1998 – 2008.

Paul Guest is a philanthropist. In 2008, he joined the board of the Lasallian Foundation, a human rights foundation which helps in the development of impoverished Asia Pacific communities. He is a collector of modern art and a member of the board of Not Fair. He is a significant benefactor of the Bendigo Art Gallery, founding the biennial Paul Guest Prize for drawing which encourages Australian artists to engage with the important medium of drawing in contemporary art practice.

Artist – Ted May

Ted May (b. 1939, West Ryde NSW) began his exhibiting career in 1964 after graduating from the National Art School in Sydney.

May has had in excess of 40 solo exhibitions and has been a finalist in numerous art awards including the Lester, Waterhouse, Doug Moran, Wynne, Dobell and Sulman Prizes. His work is held in private, university and public collections in Australia and overseas, notably the National Gallery of Victoria, the Chartwell Collection NZ, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust UK, Heide MoMA Melbourne and the Art Galleries of Ballarat and Townsville.

May’s narrative portrait of Guest was completed in 2009, with the artist and subject having known each other for several decades.

This portrait was gifted by the Hon. Paul Guest AM QC to the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery.

Laura Colla (Bar Roll #3429)

Ron Merkel attended Melbourne High School and attained his Bachelor of Laws in 1963, from the University of Melbourne. He was admitted to legal practice in March 1964 and called to the Bar in 1971. He then soon after established the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service with Gareth Evans KC AC. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1982.

In 1985, Ron along with his uncle Jim Bert and Ron Castan QC instituted proceedings against the University of Melbourne and Museum of Victoria for the return of collections of Indigenous cultural material and through this act the Koori Heritage Trust was created. He served as the president of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties and was the Founding President of the Victorian Immigration Advice and Rights Centre and part-time Commissioner of the Commonwealth Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was a Federal Court judge for over ten years from 1996 - 2006, returning to the Bar in 2006 with a primary focus on public interest and indigenous matters.

In 2011, Ron was awarded the Human Rights Medal.

In 2017 Ron received the International Commission of Jurists Victoria award, for Distinguished Human Rights and Refugee Advocacy.

Important indigenous rights cases in which Ron has been counsel include challenges in the High Court to the Northern Territory Intervention and Eatok v Bold, concerning a newspaper columnist’s contravention of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).

Ron’s current work addresses discrimination issues such as the disproportionate impact of Western Australia’s mandatory sentencing rules on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the underpayment of the community Development Program in some indigenous communities, as well as Stolen Generations issues.

Artist – Tony Clark

Tony Clark (b. 1954, Canberra) is an artist living and working in both Canberra, Australia, and overseas. He began his career as an artist in the late 1970s in Melbourne. He is self-taught as an artist, with an academic background in art history.

Clark has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and his work is held in numerous public collections in Australia, notably the National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales and National Gallery of Victoria.

This portrait was commissioned by the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery Foundation of the Victorian Bar.

Laura Colla (Bar Roll #3429)

Sir James Gobbo, born in Carlton on 22 March 1931, to Italian parents Antonio and Regina, was raised in North Melbourne with his sister, Natalina and brother, Flavio. He attended Xavier College, going on to study Law at the University of Melbourne and living at Newman College. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1951 and then achieved a Master of Arts at the University of Oxford. He was admitted to practice on 1 October 1956, called to the Victorian Bar on 24 October 1957 and appointed Queen’s Counsel on 3 November 1971. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, serving from 1978 to 1994. In 1982, he was appointed Knight Bachelor, then a Companion of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993 and in 1997, a Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. He served as the 25th Governor of Victoria from 1997 – 2000. In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary medal and was also a Knight of Malta. In 2006, Gobbo was the Chair of the Counsel of the National Library of Australia and the Council of Order of Australia and the Chair of the Australian Multicultural Foundation.

Artist – Brook Andrew

Brook Andrew (b. 1970) is an Australian artist, writer, and curator.

Andrew has exhibited nationally and internationally since 1996, with his art practice grounded in his perspective as a Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal Indigenous person of Australia.

This portrait was commissioned by the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery Foundation of the Victorian Bar.

Laura Colla (Bar Roll #3429)

Ross Gillies was born to the Gillies dairy farming family in the Ivanhoe Valley.  In 1965, he was articled at Clark, Rowan and Richards and admitted to practice on 1 March 1966.  He was called to the Bar in 1967, reading with John Barnard QC.  He had five readers, Peter Young KC AM, Paul Maginn, Dennis Connell, Justice Terry Forrest  and Chris Blanden KC. He took Silk in 1986. 

Ross was in constant practice as a barrister for close to 56 years, 27 years of which he was a silk.  He practiced mainly in the common law and insurance law. He held the first General Retainer for the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority. 

Ross gave many years of dedicated service to the Bar.  He was Chair of the Common Law Bar Association and of Dever’s List for more than 20 years. He was on the Bar Council from  1990 to 1993 during which time he was Chair of the Legal Aid Committee,  Chair of the New Barristers’ Committee 1991 to 1993 and member of the Ethics Committee from 1991 to 1993.

Throughout his career, Ross acted on behalf of barristers with respect to disciplinary matters on a pro bono basis.  He represented the interests of barristers in submissions to the courts and to the government including the leader of the charge in opposing the Government’s restrictions of common law rights of injured workers, a committee member to ensure the appointment of Silk was retained by the  Chief Justice and a committee member of the Case Transfer Committee led by Chief Justice McGarvie.

Ross was renowned for his advocacy and his oratory skills. He was the speaker at the Bar Dinner in 2008, speaker in 2006 Vic Bar debate – “Are Judges Human?” and spoke at the retirement dinner of Chief Justice Warren.

In 2012, Ross was declared a Legend of the Bar.  He retired in August 2023.

Artist – Julia Ciccarone

Born in Melbourne in 1967, Julia Ciccarone completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1988. Julia lived and worked in Italy as the recipient of the Verdaccio Studio awarded by the Visual Arts & Crafts Board of the Australia Council. She was a finalist in the 2013 & 2021 Archibald Prize, winning the ANZ People’s Choice Award in 2021. In 2014, she was a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Prize, The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize and semi-finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. Ciccarone has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions and her work is held in number public collections, including a number of university collections, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery and Victorian Parliament House.

Julia Frederico (Bar Roll #4552)

Alan Archibald KC was one of Australia’s pre-eminent counsel and reportedly its highest paid. Alan's family were in South Australia for generations, originally from Scotland and Cornwall. He completed degrees at Melbourne and Oxford, before returning to commence practice at the Bar in 1970. His decision to become a barrister was driven by a desire to stand on his own feet and not be either propped up by others or pulled down by others. As with many barristers, he started out doing 'crash and bash’ cases in the Magistrates' Court, but very quickly developed a practice as a very busy commercial junior.

For several decades until his retirement in 2018, Alan was briefed in Australia’s highest profile cases. As an advocate, he was eloquent but sparse, his argument demonstrating meticulous preparation and deep learning. As a lawyer, his opinions were taken as authoritative. He never spoke about his cases, taking the view that doing so was inappropriate. He was intensely individualistic, seeing the Bar as a group of individuals who choose to gather together and believing that each barrister should prosper or whither on the vine according to his or her own merits or demerits.

Alan had a prodigious work ethic, which matched the size of his practice. He arrived in chambers before 8am, left precisely at 7pm, and didn’t break for (or eat any) lunch. Most evenings, a passerby of his home could observe the glowing light in his home study well past midnight. But against that, he would take 3 months off each year. When he worked, he worked intensely; when on leave he would not countenance being disturbed.

Artist – John Gollings AM and the Australian Tapestry Workshop

The portrait is a tapestry. The design is by photographer John Gollings AM, taken inside Alan’s chambers, and the weaving was undertaken by Chris Cochius and Pamela Joyce. The challenge in doing this portrait was the limited tonal and colour range. To give greater texture to the face and lacework, the weavers used sumac, a tapestry technique involving wrapping coloured weft threads over and under the warp threads.

Dr Charles Parkinson KC (Bar Roll #4552)

The Castan name is synonymous with human rights and continues as a beacon through the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University.

Ron Castan AM QC was born on 29 October 1939 and attended Carey Baptist Grammar School. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and signed the Bar Roll in 1966.

Most notably, Castan was senior counsel on the landmark Mabo case, which spanned a decade of litigation and was eventually successful at the High Court of Australia in reversing the concept of Terra Nullius and securing land rights for many Indigenous people.

Mabo is perhaps the most well-known case in Australian legal history, and most important in indigenous peoples’ rights. However, Castan’s commitment to indigenous peoples’ rights was present at the early stages of his career, when he was the founding secretary of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and appeared before the High Court in Koowarta v Bjelke-Peterson.

Castan, described as the quintessential renaissance man, remained committed to human rights and indigenous rights by negotiating with governments that sought to withdraw native title rights. He was for several years the Commissioner of Human Rights and Equal Opportunity and was instrumental in the revitalisation of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty Victoria). Castan was also an integral member of the Australian Constitutional Commission from 1986-1988.

Castan was relentless in protecting human rights, and while others saw many issues as a lost cause, he had the stamina and the belief fuelled by his strong moral compass, to continue to fight for the most unlikely of causes. Castan’s name and legacy, which continues to evolve, is synonymous with the fierce protection of human rights and civil liberties, advancement of social justice, and removal of discrimination. He was described by Senator Aden Ridgeway as “the great white warrior against racism.”

Artist – Unknown

The photograph of Castan by an unknown photographer, encapsulates an air of mystery with the fierce determination of Castan. The photograph offers a window into the soul of a brilliant man with an unwavering commitment to the good cause, and to an even greater enduring legacy.

Melanie K. Albarella (Bar Roll #5261)

Myers is a titan of the Victorian Bar, but also a man of multi-dimensional interests and talents.

Myers graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. He was admitted to legal practice in 1971 and taught as a tutor at the Melbourne Law School and also taught at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Canada from 1972 to 1974. Myers was called to the Victorian Bar in 1975 and resumed at Melbourne Law School, teaching from 1974 to 1988. Myers was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986. Myers served as the Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 2017- 2022.

A video portrait is an appropriate medium for Myers, who has been bestowed with many public roles and honours. Myers’ achievements in the law, academia, business, public life, education, philanthropy and the arts demonstrate Myers as the ultimate renaissance man who cannot be fixed to one frame. The benefit of the video form is that it enables scale and perspective which capsulates the enormity of Myers’ career and legacy.

Filmed in Myers’ garden at Dunkeld in regional Victoria, Myers offers insight to his personal life and Mt Sturgeon dominates the background which provides a fundamental constant to Myers who remains very connected to the Dunkeld community.

Although Myers has had many high-profile clients and corporations, he is known as a private man. The video portrait conveys something of his soul, and allows his character to shine through in motion utilising perspective to demonstrate distance and reserve which is fitting for a man who is known for his penetrating intelligence to carefully control what he reveals. It is therefore unsurprising that the artist describes him as both fascinating and complex.

Artist – Shaun Gladwell

Gladwell is an internationally renowned artist that works primarily with digital mediums, namely video although he originally trained as a painter. He is described as a master of the moving picture portrait and his work is distinct and is a sophisticated portrayal of the dialogue between his subject and setting, often set in diverse environments, that demonstrate the correlation between the landscape and sitter. Gladwell has had his work exhibited at some of the most coveted exhibitions in the world such as Yokohama Triennale (2005), Busan Biennale (2006), Venice Biennale (2007), Sydney Biennale (2008) and the Venice Biennale (2009).

Melanie K. Albarella (Bar Roll #5261)

Remy van de Wiel KC is a renowned barrister with a captivating presence, known for his warmth and eccentricity.

Remy van de Wiel has had many colourful clients and a career of high-profile cases, therefore cementing his place as a titan of the criminal bar. His his legacy precedes him due to his involvement in establishing Fitzroy Legal Centre. He had the idea of providing free legal advice, which he dispensed two nights a week from a small room in the rear of a store, then more lawyers volunteered, thus giving rise to the Fitzroy Legal Service, the first free, non-Aboriginal legal centre in Australia. Remy van de Wiel sought to give people the opportunity to change their own lives, he was quoted “…I had a skill that I could give away which would help them and I felt I had a duty to give it away.” In 2015 Van De Wiel was deservingly recognised as a Victorian Bar Legend.

Artist – Katsuya

Katsuya was born in Japan and studied painting there and in Paris, in 1994 he came to Australia and is based in Melbourne. Katsuya works to the highest standards and only paints from life which creates a unique and true perspective. He works with only the highest quality of materials and is particularly skilled in applying paint, and known to do it with great speed. When painting, Katsuya aims to relinquish ownership; to seek and experience spirituality through the process of rendering his subject. Accordingly, Katsuya’s paintings become an affirmation of life’s spiritual dimension.

Melanie K. Albarella (Bar Roll #5261)

Emanating from a prominent legal and political family, the Honourable John Winneke, was educated at Scotch College and attended the University in Melbourne. His Honour was admitted to legal practice and called to the Victorian Bar in 1962 and appointed QC in 1976. His Honour was then appointed a Supreme Court judge in 1995 and became the foundation president of the Victorian Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2005.

The Hon. Winneke had an extraordinarily broad practice and was an advocate of great distinction that had an outstanding contribution to the administration of justice. His Honour had a deep understanding of people and was especially skilled in communicating with self-represented litigants and treated all who came before the court equally and with great courtesy.

His Honour was also a commander in the Royal Australian Navy and later appointed as Defence Force Magistrate and Reviewing Officer. His talents also extended to football, as an outstanding Australian Football Rules player, playing 50 games for Hawthorn Football Club and notably was ruckman in the 1961 VFL Premiership.

The Hon. Winneke’s quality of conspicuous fairness (a trait also attributed to his father, Sir Winneke AC QC) is remembered above all else, this without doubt was the virtue that carried him to high esteem across every chapter of his long and varied career.

Artist – Andrew De La Rue

De La Rue is a prolific Melbourne photographer who has captured some of the most memorable images of notorious figures who have graced the legal landscape and the courts precinct. De La Rue is famed for capturing some of Melbourne’s most iconic moments and places. In his photograph of the Hon. Winneke his timing is impeccable as he captures His Honour with reverence and empathy at the same time.

Melanie K. Albarella (Bar Roll #5261)