First class honours in law, University of Adelaide. Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Harvard, LL.M programme, doctoral programme. Concentration – law of evidence. Early work as a prosecutor, later with Freehills in Sydney.
Recruited to Melbourne by Arnold Bloch Leibler (1989). Stayed with the firm for 10 years, becoming a partner (1992), then equity partner (1994). Practised both corporate law - especially acquisitions and governance - and commercial litigation. Expertise in large-scale litigation. Commenced practising as an advocate within the firm. Left the firm to concentrate on advocacy (1999).
Advocacy career spanning all levels of the superior court hierarchy, combining complex commercial work with matters of high political import. Three main centres of gravity – mining and property, challenging government action and stakeholders' disputes (partners, joint venturers, shareholders).
Highest profile case: Tampa (worldwide news coverage). Most demanding: the Cabal extradition (multi-millionaire fugitive, an innocent man who became Mexico's most wanted). Most technically complex: the de Crespigny litigation (geological data, cash-flows, accounting). Most sensitive: the US-Air Nauru case (US covert operations).
Highly focused on rigourous early evaluation and negotiated outcomes.
Dual citizen of Australia and France.
Currently on sabbatical.