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 was always the stories and not the law that captivated him. So after almost two decades in the law, he let his practising certificate expire and made the leap to full-time writer. Jock has written seven novels, including Quota, which won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel, and his most recent work, Cherrywood, whose protagonist, Martha, is a lawyer in a large firm in Melbourne. It is a fantastic conversation and a pleasure to welcome Jock to the show.

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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 solicitor and at the bar, Mal took a risk and opened a consulting business in sports administration, back when many sporting bodies were semi-professional at best. Ultimately, the risk paid off and led to the roles that many listeners will know him for; CEO of the Australian Cricket Board and later the International Cricket Council. Mal’s is a unique life in the law, and it was a delight to hear about it in this conversation. 

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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.

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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 on finding out his former junior, Nicola Gobbo, was illegally sharing information with the police from privileged conferences with their client Tony Mokbel.

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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 migrated from Greece in the 1960s with no English and limited education. From those humble beginnings, Nola and her brother Kon have had a huge impact on our legal system and it was a pleasure to explore that journey in our conversation. 

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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 in a wide variety of areas including crimes compensation and on behalf of victims of clergy abuse. But the pull of the country was too strong for Jim, and eventually he had to get out of the city, taking over a firm in Echuca over 25 years ago, and he hasn’t looked back.

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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 himself at the start of his career. He knew no one in the law and had no real connections, but Peter faced an additional challenge: being legally blind. It was a privilege and a pleasure to hear about Peter’s Life in the Law. 

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Today, we revisit our 2022 conversation with former Federal Court Justice Iain Ross AO. From ACTU Assistant Secretary to Vice President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission; from County Court Judge to the president of VCAT; Iain has had a dynamic and impactful career, and we were thrilled to hear about his Life in the Law.

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This week, we revisit our 2022 conversation 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! 

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This week we revisit our conversation with the former Chief Judge of the County Court of Victoria, The Hon. Peter Kidd. During his first few years in a commercial firm, Peter was unsure if law was for him, but a decision to move to crime ignited his passion for the profession. After his time at the Commonwealth DPP, he went to the bar and was quickly working on very large and often high profile cases, honing his skills and advocacy style, often under immense pressure. Peter also managed to combine his love of travel with his love of the law, working as a prosecutor at the War Crimes Tribunal in Bosnia; another challenging, enriching and fascinating chapter of his career. Our episode covers all of this and of course his role as The Chief, and is an enlightening and fascinating conversation.

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