William and Lonsdale - Lives in the Law

This episode we welcome Robert Miller to Lives in the Law. Robert was born in the Wimmera region, on a farm outside of Horsham in country Victoria. Through intelligence, curiosity and hard work Robert made his way to the United Nations in New York, became a senior law lecturer at Monash University, was one of the founders of The Springvale Legal Service, the Member for Prahran in the Victorian Par...

Today we welcome The Hon. Robert Redlich AM KC. Robert is known to many as the former head of IBAC, which we discuss in detail along with the many other fascinating chapters in his career, including the work that led to the formation of The National Crime Authority, his appointment to the Supreme Court of Victoria and his current role as a mediator. It was an honor and a delight to hear about Robe...

Today we welcome criminal lawyer Tania Wolff. Throughout her career Tania has enjoyed a wide variety of roles, both in and outside the law and her current portfolio continues that model; past president and ongoing director of the Law Institute of Victoria, director of First Step Legal, sessional member of the Mental Health Tribunal, treasurer and executive member of the Law Council of Australia an...

This week we welcome Mark Leibler AC. Mark is the senior partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler and one of the leading tax lawyers in the county. As well as his distinguished career in the law, Mark has made significant contributions to the cause of Reconciliation in Australia and as a leader in the Jewish Community. It is a wide ranging conversation and it was a pleasure to welcome Mark to the show to h...

This episode we welcome former police officer and current CEO of Police Veterans Victoria, Dave McGowan. Over his decades on the force, from a young constable to Detective Sergeant, Dave experienced the extremes of human behaviour. As a member of the armed robbery squad he worked on a number of major cases as they progressed through the courts, working with solicitors, barristers and importantly s...

This episode we are delighted to welcome The Hon Linda Dessau AC CVO. Linda has had enormous variety in her career; she began her law degree at the ripe old age of 16, had a successful practice at the bar, became a Magistrate working in the Children’s Court and Coroners Court; went on to serve as a Judge in the Family Court of Australia for 18 years; and of course became the first female Governor...

From everyone at Lives in the Law and all the staff at Greens List Barristers we wish you a happy and safe Festive Season.

Today we bring you the second part of our conversation with The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG. In this episode we’ll hear about Michael’s appointment to the NSW Supreme Court as President of the Court of Appeal, his ascension to The High Court of Australia and his extensive work with the United Nations on issues such as human rights violations in Cambodia and North Korea and the AIDS epidemic. www.gree...

Our guest for the next two episodes is The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG. Today, in Part 1 of our conversation we discuss Michael’s early years, schooling and university days, his work with the Council for Civil Liberties, extensive industrial relations work and becoming the inaugural Chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission. www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

Our guest today is HH Magistrate Noreen Toohey, lead magistrate of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre, an innovative court based on a community justice model. Noreen brings a wealth of experience to the role from her time at the OPP and as a magistrate in the suburbs of Melbourne and rural Victoria. It was a pleasure to have her on the show and wonderful to hear about her life in the law.  www.green...

Today we welcome 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 currently at the Youth Forensic Specialist Service with Alfred Health. All this along with a thriving private...

Our guest this episode is The Hon Anthony North KC. Tony has been involved in some of the largest cases in Australian history as both a barrister and a judge, including the pilots strike in the late 1980’s, the Patricks waterfront dispute, the Tampa Affair and multiple native title cases. He is currently the chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, working on many fascinating projects, includ...

This week we welcome His Honour, 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 many others. He became a Magistrate in 202...

Today we welcome 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 in the topic all over the world, and in the lead up to t...

This week we welcome 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 delighted to bring you Justice Cr...

Today we welcome Lauren Cruickshank to the show. Lauren is 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 she hasn’t looked back.  www.greenslist.com.au/po...

Our guest Glenn Broome has spent most of his career as a community worker, supporting boys and later men caught up in the criminal justice system. Glenn is incredibly good at what he does and that’s no doubt due in part to his own lived experience as a boy and young man doing time in juvenile detention and Pentridge prison.  www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

This week your host Michael Green speaks with Ali Besiroglu, principal lawyer at Robinson Gill and head of their Crime and Advocacy department.  In recent years Ali has been involved in some incredibly significant and high profile cases, not least of which is the recent coronial inquest into the death in custody of Veronica Nelson. www.greenslist.com.au/podcast

Our guest this episode is His Honour Justice Paul Coghlan AO. His life in the law has taken him from the Deputy Crown Solicitors Office to the bar, from Director of Public Prosecutions to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria - and somewhere along the way he was also Mayor of Fitzroy! He is a wealth of knowledge and among other things, shares with us his approach to prosecuting, to witnesses...

Throughout her life in the law The Hon Jennifer Coate has been a Magistrate, the Head of the Children’s Court, a County Court Judge, Victorian State Coroner, one of the commissioners in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and most recently, Chair of the COVID 19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry. She has had an extraordinary career and made an enormous contribution to th...

From everyone at Lives in the Law and all the staff at Greens List we wish you a happy and safe Festive Season. 

Our guest this week is 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 in a wide variety of areas i...

Today, your host Michael Green speaks with Her Honour Nola Karapanagiotidis. Before becoming a Country Court Judge in 2021, Nola had a variety of experiences 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 migrated f...

This week we welcome Peter Ward OAM, one of Victoria’s leading criminal law practitioners for over 40 years. Peter has 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 himself at the start of his...

This week your host Michael Green speaks with Sally Nicholes, founder and managing partner at Nicholes family lawyers. Sally has worked on some extraordinary cases throughout her career, including a groundbreaking matter involving sperm donor rights and an international kidnapping case that she led as an articled clerk and first year solicitor! www.greenslist.com.au/podcast