Profile
Profile
Laurence is a graduate of The University of Melbourne (LL B, 1968) and The
Australian National University (LLM. 1976). He was admitted to practise
(Victoria, 1969 ; High Court, 1969, ACT, 1972)
Laurence practised as
an employee solicitor in Melbourne, 1969 - 1970. He worked as a research officer
in the Parliamentary Library, Canberra 1972, as a member of the personal staff
of Attorney General Lionel K Murphy, 1973 and as the Secretary of Standing
Committee A of the Australian Constitutional Convention, 1974.
He practised as a
solicitor in Melbourne 1975 - 1990 (full-time) 1991 - 1994 (part time) as a sole
practitioner, and as a member of small and large firms. He was a member of
various Law Institute and Law Council Committees.
Laurence has also
held the following appointments;
* Part-time Referee,
Small Claims Tribunals, 1982 - 1984 ;
* Part time member,
Residential Tenancies Tribunal, 1982-1984.
* State
Attorney-General's Nominee, Legal Aid Commission of Victoria, 1988 - 1994 ;
* Member and Deputy
Chairman, Historic Buildings Council 1988 - 1996;
* Nominee of Minister
for Consumer Affairs, Board of Consumer Law Centre of Victoria from 1992 - 1998.
* University of
Melbourne representative, Board of Leo Cussen Institute, 1990 continuing.
* Senior Lecturer and
later Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Melbourne, 1989 -
1994 ( taught Administrative Law, Legal Process, Media Law and Torts ).
Other matters of note
include;
* Editor, Law
Institute Journal, 1977 - 1982 ;
* Co-author ( with M.
Sexton ), The Legal Mystique : The Role of Lawyers in Australian Society
( Angus & Robertson, 1982 ) ;
* Co-author ( with J
L Goldring, J. McKeogh & G Pearson) Consumer Protection Law in Australia
( 5th Ed, Federation Press, 1998 ) ;
* author of various
law review articles.
Laurence's practice
at the Victorian Bar principally involves administrative law and tribunals (
federal and state ), employee wrongful dismissal claims, defamation, and
miscellaneous contract disputes.