Ceremonial Sitting of the Full Court
To receive announcement of the appointment of Senior Counsel in and for the State of New South Wales
Transcript of proceedings
RTF version 202 KBTHE HONOURABLE DEBRA MORTIMER, Chief Justice
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE PERRAM
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE PERRY
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE MARKOVIC
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE BURLEY
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE THAWLEY
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE STEWART
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE ABRAHAM
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE HALLEY
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE GOODMAN
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE RAPER
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE KENNETT
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE SHARIFF
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE NEEDHAM
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE OWENS
THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE YOUNAN
SYDNEY
9.45 AM, TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2025
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MORTIMER CJ: Mr Toomey, do you move?
MR D. TOOMEY SC: If the Court pleases, I appear on behalf of the New South Wales Bar. The Bar takes pride in those of its members who have recently been appointed Senior Counsel in and for the State of New South Wales. May it please the Court.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Toomey. Mr Weinberger, do you move?
MR D.S. WEINBERGER SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed a Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Brendan George Campbell.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Weinberger. Mr Lange, do you move?
MR P.D. LANGE SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next up my learned friend, Eric Balodis.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Lange. Mr To, do you move?
MR T.T. TO SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Peter David Lange.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr To. Mr Maybury, do you move?
MR S.J. MAYBURY SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Mr Turvey Tak-Wai To.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Maybury. Mr Hyde, do you move?
MR E.A.J. HYDE SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed a Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Scott Jay Maybury.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you. Ms Shepard, do you move?
MS J. SHEPARD SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed a Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Elliot Alexander James Hyde.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Shepard. Mr Tynan, do you move?
MR D.J. TYNAN SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Joanne Shepard.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Tynan. Mr Neggo, do you move?
MR D.A. NEGGO SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Daniel Joseph Tynan.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Neggo. Mr Klineberg, do you move?
MR D. KLINEBERG SC: May it please the court, I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Daniel Alexander Nego.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Klineberg. Mr Fraser, do you move?
MR S.A. FRASER SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Daniel Klineberg.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Fraser. Ms Barnett, do you move?
MS L.E. BARNETT SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Scott Andrew Fraser.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Barnett. Mr Hughes, do you move?
MR D.A. HUGHES SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Lyndelle Elizabeth Barnett.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Hughes. Ms Brigden, do you move?
MS V.R. BRIGDEN SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, David Alexander Hughes.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Brigden. Mr Kaplan, do you move?
MR B.D. KAPLAN SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Victoria Rosemarie Brigden.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Kaplan. Ms Davidson, do you move?
MS J.E. DAVIDSON SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Bora Dogu Kaplan.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Davidson. Mr Hochroth, do you move?
MR A.M. HOCHROTH SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Joanna Elizabeth Davidson.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Hochroth. Ms Roy, do you move?
MS J.L. ROY SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Adam Michael Hochroth.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Roy. Ms Nicholson, do you move?
MS E.R. NICHOLSON SC: I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Julia Lilian Roy.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Ms Nicholson. Mr Quilter, do you move?
MR T. QUILTER SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend, Elizabeth Rose Nicholson.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Quilter. Mr Lim, do you move?
MR B. LIM SC: I have the honour to announce that I've been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend David Paul Hume.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Lim. Mr Jones, do you move?
MR O.R. JONES SC: I have the honour to announce I've been appointed to Senior Counsel in and for the state of New South Wales, taking rank and precedence next after my learned friend Brendan Lim.
MORTIMER CJ: Thank you, Mr Jones. Well, a warm welcome to you all, and a special welcome to all those families, colleagues and friends of those Senior Counsel announcing their appointment today. It is indeed a very special day. Today's ceremony is taking place on Gadigal country and I offer our respects to the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, to their ancestors and their elders. I acknowledge the stewardship of the Gadigal people and what they've shown over their country long before colonisation, and the stewardship they continue to practise despite colonisation. Now, this morning's ritual - not the first that you're doing this morning, I know - has several purposes, I think, from the court's perspective.
The first is that it provides an opportunity for the Federal Court as a national institution to acknowledge and congratulate those who have been appointed in this state as we do in other states. Secondly, the ceremony takes place in public, being the way that the court generally conducts all its business, and that reinforces the significance - the public significance - of each of you joining the ranks of the senior Bar and holding a special position as officers of the court and as participants in the administration of justice. Thirdly, the ceremony is a chance for you to celebrate an important milestone in your practise of the law as a group with each other, because you now are a cohort together, and also to celebrate with your friends, your colleagues and your families, all those people who have supported and encouraged you to reach this point.
Appointment as Senior Counsel recognises that you have each been assessed as having the necessary personal and professional qualities, and the expertise and experience to be marked out from other members of the Bar and to become members of the senior Bar. So with the feelings of pride and achievement that I know you will have today comes considerable responsibility. Courts and their judges and all participants in the legal system expect and are entitled to expect that Senior Counsel will observe the high standards of integrity, respect and professional behaviour. All those within the justice system and who engage with it are entitled to expect that you will know your craft and that you will strive to be of assistance to the court in not only representing your clients’ interests, but in serving the administration of justice.
You will each now model those values and qualities to the juniors that you lead, to the juniors that you mentor and to the counsel that you appear against. So on behalf of my judicial colleagues in the Federal Court, the Court's Registrars and all the court staff, I congratulate each of you on your appointments. Bask in the glory today, because now the hard work starts. Thank you for your attendance, and thank you especially to all the members of the profession, all those family members who have come to share today, and all the friends who have supported each of the people announcing their appearance today to get where they've got. Thank you. Please adjourn the court.
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