Greens List Readers sign the Bar Roll - 6 May 2021

Greens List congratulates our newest Barristers, who last night signed the Bar Roll.

We welcome to the list:

Nick Boyd-Caine

Nick comes to the Bar with a broad range of experiences in both public and commercial law. Nick commenced his career in the graduate program at Allens, where he worked in both the commercial litigation and intellectual property teams. Nick then moved to a role in strategic litigation at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Nick instructed in matters before the Victorian Supreme Court, including novel questions as to the content of Aboriginal cultural rights under the Victorian Charter, and represented the family in the early stages of the coronial inquest into the death in custody of Ms Tanya Day. Nick then undertook a Master of Laws at Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fisk Stone Scholar, and awarded a recognition of achievement by the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law. Returning to Australia, Nick acted as a court legal advisor for the Magistrates' Court of Victoria, before spending 2020 working for the Dean of the Melbourne Law School.

David De Witt

David accepts briefs in criminal and quasi-criminal matters, including regulatory and professional disciplinary matters.

Prior to coming to the Bar, David worked as an advocate for over five years, most recently as a senior lawyer at Greg Thomas and previously at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Victoria Legal Aid. David comes to the Bar with extensive advocacy experience, regularly appearing across all jurisdictions. As a solicitor, David had conduct of a wide range of complex indictable matters including murder, serious sexual offences and Commonwealth offences.

Conor O’Bryan

Prior to joining the bar, Conor was a solicitor at Arnold Bloch Leibler practicing predominantly in white collar crime, commissions of inquiry and regulatory investigations. Between September 2019 and March 2021, Conor was the Head of Legal and Executive Operations at a Northern Territory Land Council, based on Groote Eylandt. During this time, Conor worked on native title, land rights and mining and environmental matters.

Michael O’Haire

Michael is an experienced commercial litigator, with a broad commercial and administrative law practice. Before coming to the bar he was Counsel in the Dispute Resolution team at Ashurst, where he worked for over 10 years. At Ashurst, Michael specialised in complex commercial disputes, with a particular focus on financial service regulatory matters and class actions.

Luke Perilli

Prior to commencing the readers' course, Luke spent over three years working as an Associate at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers specialising in asbestos and dust diseases litigation. During this time, he also acted for workers who suffered occupational diseases through pursuing and litigating claims under the Victorian WorkCover Scheme, with a particular interest in silicosis matters. Luke served on the Victorian Committee of the Australian Lawyers Alliance between 2018 and 2021, and previously worked at Shine Lawyers between 2016 and 2018, practising in Public Liability, WorkCover and Motor Vehicle Accident matters, having completed his traineeship in 2015 across all areas of personal injuries at a Victorian personal injury law firm.

Georgina Rhodes

Georgina has worked for government departments or statutory authorities for over 11 years. Having worked with Tasmanian Legal Aid Commission, Victorian Legal Aid, Department of Justice and Regulations, Department of Health and Human Services and WorkSafe Victoria. Georgina has a background in criminal law, administrative law, child protection and occupational health and safety law. Georgina has a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Laws, and Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Tasmania. She majored in finance and graduate with first class honours for her research thesis titled "Is Insider Trading Profitable?". She has also completed her Masters of Laws from the University of Melbourne. Georgina is interested in a number of areas of law but wish to focus on public law, administrative law, regulatory crime and inquest and inquiries.

Andrew Sprague

Andrew is an experienced advocate who has practiced across State and Federal criminal law for 14 years - most recently as a Principal Solicitor Advocate for the Office of Public Prosecutions Victoria, and before that as a Principal Federal Prosecutor with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. In those roles he appeared regularly in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts, including in plea hearings, contested committal hearings, bail applications, appeals and summary hearings.

His experience covers a very broad range of State and Federal crimes, with particular expertise in complex matters including organised crime, terrorism and other national security cases, white-collar crime, and related legal issues. Andrew also accepts briefs in litigation connected to criminal proceedings, quasi-criminal, enforcement and regulatory matters, as well as inquests and inquiries.

Christin Tom

Immediately prior to coming to the Bar, Christin practised as a Senior Solicitor at the VGSO in the Police Branch. His practice primarily involved advising the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police on proceedings in the Court of Appeal arising from the use of Nicola Gobbo as a police informer. He advised on claims of public interest immunity, suppression orders and statutory prohibitions on disclosure in these matters. Prior to his position at the VGSO, Christin was a Senior Lawyer at Victoria Legal Aid. Christin has experience in a broad range of indictable criminal matters, including sexual offences, drug matters and violence offences. As a solicitor advocate Christin regularly appeared in the Magistrates’, Children’s and County Court jurisdictions.