List G Barristers are known in the Victoria market for its broad commercial practice, with members involved in various complex and high value litigation in areas including banking, employment, professional negligence and dispute resolution. The set is unique due to its combination of having a member-owned structure while enjoying the benefits of a strong clerking and administrative team led by Jane King, the senior clerk and CEO. Hamish Austin KC is noted by one client as ‘extremely thorough, and has the ability to get straight to the heart of an issue,’ while employment specialist Jenny Firkin KC is the Vice President of the Victorian Bar’s Industrial Barristers Association. Natalie Hickey is noted for her involvement in the case of Directed OE Pty Ltd v OE Solution Pty Ltd where she was junior counsel for the successful applicant and was led by Michael Wise KC (as was, prior to his January 2024 judicial appointment) in a case which arose after the applicant discovered that its general manager had engaged in a conspiracy with its Korean supplier.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Generally deep and high-quality in the areas in commercial litigation and contentious insolvency.'
- 'They are a good set with some excellent juniors joining in recent years.'
- 'List G is a highly regarded commercial litigation list.'
- 'Excellent depth in IP and commercial disputes.'
- 'A go to set for all of our complex commercial disputes matters.'
Silks
Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
1
Hamish Austin KC
List G Barristers ‘Hamish is one of a handful of leading insolvency and restructuring silks in Victoria. He is formidable when cross-examining witnesses, both expert and lay. He is respected by the bench. He is extremely hard-working and does not rely on juniors to cover for him.’
1
Jeremy Slattery KC
List G Barristers ‘A very capable advocate, across detail of evidence. Engages well with witnesses, strategic and a source of strong team leadership.’
2
Philip Corbett KC
List G Barristers 'Phil's ability to distil the issues and the risks associated with them is fantastic. He is a highly skilled negotiator and advocate.'
2022 Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
William Edwards KC
List G Barristers ‘William is an expert in class actions and a passionate advocate for his clients. He also is very commercial and strategic which is an asset to his clients which include class action applicants and litigation funders.’
2023 Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Juniors
Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
1
Nico Burmeister
List G Barristers 'Excellent written and oral advocacy skills on industrial relations matters. Highly responsive. A pleasure to work with.'
1
Andrew Pollock
List G Barristers 'Andrew is a highly accomplished counsel that has either run or been involved in all the leading cases.'
1
Leigh Howard
List G Barristers 'Leigh is an extremely smart and pragmatic operator. He is involved in the leading cases across Australia working with some of the most experienced senior counsel. You have great trust and confidence putting Leigh before the most sophisticated clients to run their most sensitive and important matters.'
2
Tom Clarke
List G Barristers 'Tom is considered and practical. He brings complex issues back to the discipline of the pleadings and relevant source material and cuts through the noise. Tom is a persuasive advocate but never puts propositions too highly. He is a market leader in the energy sector.'
2
Rebecca Davern
List G Barristers 'Her strengths are her work ethic, attention to detail in case preparation, and a superb sense of pragmatism. I cannot identify any weaknesses. Above all, she is a nice human who is so easy to work with and understands and has empathy for her instructing solicitors and their workload.'
2
Laura Hilly
List G Barristers 'Laura is an exceptional junior who brings unique regulatory experience and background to complex commercial disputes matters.'
2
Benjamin Ryde
List G Barristers ‘Ben is clever, analytical, measured and considered. He relates easily to all, and inspires trust and confidence. He is excellent given his intelligence, efficiency and the quality of his written and oral work. As an advocate, he is calm, reasoned and able to make complex issues seem simple. He quickly earns a judge’s confidence by limiting himself to ordered and well reasoned propositions without pressing weaker points.’
2
Dion Fahey
List G Barristers ‘Dion is super smart, hard working, knowledgeable across all areas of class action work and on the rise. He has appeared in a diverse range of interlocutory issues in three high profile class actions over the last year on which he has led the full spread of the work for the barristers’ team including the advocacy – and against leading silks instructed by the banks. Dion has more than held his own. His written work is outstanding and has the distillation and focus of the best barristers.’
2
Adam Segal
List G Barristers ‘Adam is very easy to work with. He is very attentive – responds quickly to enquiries and turns work around promptly. Adam is a very capable advocate and strategist. He has a confident assured manner, is very organised in court, reads the room well and has a good rapport with the judiciary.’
3
Kane Loxley
List G Barristers 'Very practical and commercial. Able to explain complex issues in a digestable manner. Great team player.'