William and Lonsdale - Lives in the Law

This week we welcome recently retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, The Honourable Christopher Beale - and, for the first time on Lives in the Law, we welcome a second guest later in the episode: Chris’s eldest son, Max, a well-known and much-loved member of Melbourne’s legal community. Chris became known around the world as the presiding judge in the case of Erin Patterson, the so-cal...

This week, we welcome migration lawyer, principal and founder of Mason Chen Lawyers, Traci Chen. As you’ll hear today, Traci is a natural entrepreneur. While studying law, she built and sold a successful solar panel business, purchased her first home at just 19, and over the past five years has grown Mason Chen Lawyers from a sole practice operating out of her home office into a firm with more tha...

This week, we welcome former Deputy Commissioner of Victoria Police, Ross Guenther APM. Across a 40-year career with Victoria Police, Ross held a wide range of roles, from frontline policing and training, to establishing the newly formed Counter Terrorism Command in 2015, and ultimately serving as Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety and Security. But before entering the police academy, Ross had a...

This week, we are delighted to welcome The Hon. Lex Lasry AM KC, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and current Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. Lex is one of Australia’s most recognisable criminal lawyers, a leading barrister at the Victorian Bar prior to his appointment to the bench, and a long-time opponent of the death penalty.  He is also known for his purs...

Today we revisit our conversation with Forensic & Child Psychiatrist Dr Adam Deacon. Throughout his career Adam has worked in many areas of the justice system including with adult inmates in prison, youth in the juvenile justice system, writing psychiatric court reports for both defence and prosecution and when we recorded with him in 2023, working at the Youth Forensic Specialist Service with...

This week we revisit our wonderful conversation with lawyer and former Magistrate, Rob Stary. Rob grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne and has remained strongly connected to the area throughout his life and career. Rob is probably best known for his long and often highly publicised work as a criminal defence lawyer, having been engaged by the likes of Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams among man...

Today, we revisit our conversation with Dan Meagher, Professor and Chair of Law at Deakin University. As we’ll hear, despite studying law and doing his articles, Dan initially tried fairly hard to avoid a life in the law, until he found academia or perhaps more accurately, until it found him. Dan specialises in constitutional law; lecturing, studying and publishing on the topic all over the world....

This week we revisit our conversation with lawyer  Lauren Cruickshank. At the time of recording, Lauren was an associate at Pinsent Masons, specialising in Construction Law. In her teens Lauren had two big goals; to be a teacher and to go to the Paralympics for discus - neither of which eventuated. But as we’ll hear, after a chance work experience placement in year 10 Lauren found her passion and...

This week we revisit our wonderful conversation with The Hon Justice Michael Croucher KC. Amazingly, His Honour dropped out of school in year 10, at the ripe old age of 15, to pursue his dream of becoming a professional motocross rider. Fortunately for us that didn’t work out and he made his way to the law, ultimately becoming a Victorian Supreme Court Justice. It’s a fascinating tale, and we’re d...

This week, we revisit our wonderful conversation with Ali Besiroglu. At the time we spoke, Ali was principal lawyer at Robinson Gill and head of their Crime and Advocacy department. Over the course of his career, Ali has been involved in some incredibly significant and high-profile cases, not least of which is the coronial inquest into the death in custody of Veronica Nelson. Please note, since ou...

This week, we revisit our wonderful conversation with The Hon. Jennifer Coate AO. Throughout her life in the law, Jennifer has served as a Magistrate, Head of the Children’s Court, a Judge of the County Court, Victorian State Coroner, a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and most recently as Chair of the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry. Her c...

This week, we revisit our 2023 conversation with His Honour Justice Paul Coghlan AO. Paul’s life in the law has taken him from the Deputy Crown Solicitor’s Office to the Bar, from Director of Public Prosecutions to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria - and somewhere along the way, he also managed to serve as Mayor of Fitzroy. A wealth of knowledge, Paul reflects on his approach to prosecuti...

From all the team who work on William & Lonsdale - Lives in the Law, and everyone at Greens List, we would like to wish you a happy and safe festive season. We’ll be kicking off 2026 with more exceptional guests, including former Deputy Commissioner of Victoria Police and professional musician, Ross Gunther, migration lawyer Traci Chen, who has over 250 thousand TikTok followers and used the p...

This week we welcome Her Honour Magistrate Urfa Masood, former criminal barrister, and the first Muslim woman to sit on any bench in Victoria. Urfa left Sri Lanka and moved to Australia with her immediate family at the age of 11, leaving behind a civil war and a large, deeply connected extended family. After adjusting quickly to life in Australia and excelling at school, Urfa began her law degree...

This week we welcome The Hon. John Coldrey AM KC to Lives in the Law.  When reflecting on John’s work and contribution to the criminal bar in Victoria, the words legendary and iconic are entirely appropriate. Along with his decades defending in criminal cases, John was a founding member of the Criminal Bar Association and even wrote and performed songs and skits at Bar Review nights with his close...

This week, we welcome renowned Australian investigative journalist Nick McKenzie to the show. Although Nick doesn’t work directly in the law, his work intersects with it almost daily. Some of his greatest collaborators have been lawyers - as have some of his greatest foes. Nick has enormous respect for the law, yet he also sees its limits, and believes journalism can bring justice where the law ca...

This week, we welcome Her Honour Magistrate Michelle Hodgson, head of the family violence division of the Magistrate’s Court, to Lives in the Law. Michelle was admitted in 1993 and worked as a Solicitor Advocate at Victoria Legal Aid, the Fitzroy Legal Service, and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, all of which crystallised her desire to go to the bar. As a barrister, Michelle worked on many...

This week, we welcome Fiona McLeay, the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner and CEO of the Victorian Legal Services Board. The VLSB+C is the independent statutory authority responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in Victoria. Long before her fascinating life in the law, Fiona grew up in the country, and was the first person on either side of her family to go to University.  She is...

This week, we welcome multi-award-winning writer and former barrister, Jock Serong. For as long as he can remember, Jock wanted to be a writer, but after a better-than-expected mark in year 12, a law degree seemed to be a safer bet than journalism. Despite doing some truly fascinating cases, including early Native Title work in Western Australia, and junioring in the Silk Miller murder trials, it...

Today, we welcome Malcolm Speed, former lawyer and sports administrator. As a sports mad kid, Mal’s focus was primarily basketball and cricket with a bit of study on the side. But after some focus in the final years of high school, Mal found himself studying law at Melbourne University, with very little idea of what a career in the law could actually look like. After 25 successful years as a solic...

This week, we welcome Sara Kowal, Director of Eleos Justice at Monash Law. Sara believes her role is one of the best positions going in the law. She relishes working with incredible people who share her mission to end the death penalty - be it human rights defenders from around the globe or the impressive students in her anti-death penalty clinic at Monash Law. www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

Today we are delighted to welcome The Hon. Phillip Priest, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Phil has had a rich and storied life in the law. The depth and breadth of his experience is vast, and in this conversation he shares his valuable insights on the skills needed to be a good advocate and qualities of a good judge, the impact of social media on jury trials, and his personal response o...

Today, we revisit our conversation with Her Honour Nola Karapanagiotidis.  Before becoming a Country Court Judge in 2021, Nola had a variety of experiences in the law, beginning as an articled clerk at Victoria Legal Aid all the way to the bar, with a large amount of pro bono work along the way. Interestingly, Nola is the first female Greek / Australian County Court Judge in Victoria. Her parents...

This week, we revisit our 2022 conversation with Jim Cosgriff, founder and partner at Cosgriff Lawyers in Echuca, country Victoria. Jim’s Life in the Law began as a boy, sitting in the back of country courtrooms watching his dad, Magistrate Bryan Cosgriff, in action. After high school, Jim moved to the big smoke to study law and went on to become a partner at William, Winter & Higgs, working i...

This week, we revisit our 2022 conversation with Peter Ward OAM, one of Victoria’s leading criminal law practitioners for over 40 years. Peter spent his entire career at the firm of Galbally & O’Bryan and worked on some of the most high-profile cases in Victorian history, including the Walsh Street police killings in 1988. Like most practitioners, Peter had to work incredibly hard to prove him...