Vale – Brendan Anthony Murphy KC

Brendan was educated at Parade College in East Melbourne and completed his Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne.  Brendan completed his Articles at John Burgess & Co in Springvale and was admitted to practice on 1 March 1967.  On coming to the Bar, Brendan read with David Mattei and signed the Bar Roll on 4 March 1971, and took Silk on 23 November 1999.  Brendan had two Readers: Roger Cleary and Jim Rutherford and was a mentor to countless more.

Brendan made a significant contribution to the life of the Bar.  He served on the Bar Council during the 1980s and again during the 2000s, the Counsel Committee, the Ethics Committee, the Clerking Committee, and was Chairman of the Victorian Firearms Consultative Committee.  Brendan taught at the Readers Course from its inception and also lectured at the Victoria Police prosecutors course and the Victoria Police detective training course.

In 1998 Brendan was an inaugural inductee as a Legend of the Victorian Bar and this year was honoured by having his portrait hung in the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery in Owen Dixon Chambers East.  He was a formidable and fearless advocate and was both feared and respected by his opponents.  Brendan was known as the barrister’s barrister for good reason.  He provided unflinching advice and assistance to countless members of Counsel and other members of the profession both in relation to the preparation and running of their cases and also when they faced disciplinary and other charges.

In 2012 Brendan was appointed as Victoria’s first Principal Public Interest Monitor (PPIM).  As the PPIM, Brendan and his team assessed and where necessary appeared as contradictor to applications by Victoria Police and other investigative agencies seeking covert and coercive search warrants.  Brendan returned to the Bar in 2018.

Brendan is survived by his wife Marianne and his children Ben (a member of the Bar), Emily and Jason together with his eleven grandchildren.

Brendan’s funeral will be held at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Church, 210-218 Richardson Street, Middle Park on 6 January 2022 at 10.00 AM.