A career in the law can be rich and rewarding. Here, members of the MLS alumni community share a defining moment in their distinguished careers.
Ms Victoria F Marles
BA 1974, GDipEd 1974, Dip Dramatic Arts 1963, LLB(Hons) 1986, LLM 2005
My defining moment
"My career has focusded on using legal protections to solve human problems - the eye of the law being mainly on humans. Thirty years have taught me that the law is critical to our world as we knonw it and as we wish to shape it for the future. I am now working at the cutting edge of where the law needs to go - justice for our planet and bringing the human and natural world into balance."
Dr Marles is the CEO of Trust for Nature. Formerly she was the Legal Services Commissioner and CEO of the Legal Services Board of Victoria. Prior to this position she was the Deputy Ombudsman for the Telecommunications Industry and a Deputy Director of the Communications Law Centre. She is a past trustee of, the Victorian Arts Centre Trust, the Victorian Women's Trust, and a post Chair of Circus Oz.
Ms Gail B Furness SC
LLB(Hons) 1984, LLM 1990
My defining moment
“The most defining moment so far has been being involved in establishing the procedures which the Royal Commission has followed. We have created a process by which survivors of child sexual abuse can tell their story in public in a safe environment. That all evidence is streamed live enables all with an interest to watch the hearings. Counsel assisting the Royal Commission all adopt a process in which witnesses from institutions have been treated with respect while nevertheless being closely examined about their knowledge of the conduct of their institution.”
Ms Gail Furness, SC is a Senior Counsel at St James Hall Chambers in NSW and has been counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse since it was established in 2012. Previously, she has also served as Solicitor assisting NSW’s Independent Commission against Corruption.
Mrs Ada Moshinsky QC
LLB 1964, LLM 1976, QC 1989
Combining Law and Art
“My family used to say that it cost us twice when I was out of court – I was writing no fees and instead I was out buying art. This passion for art opened up a second career for me after I retired from law leading to my involvement in the TenCubed project.”
Mrs Ada Moshinsky practised law for 35 years, first as a solicitor, then as a junior barrister and finally as Queen's Counsel at the Victorian Bar. She specialised in Company Law and Taxation with a particular interest in Trust Law. Ada was the author of the book “Introduction to Trusts” in addition to many articles on the subject. She is a past Chairman of the Tax Revenue Committee of the Victorian Commercial Bar Association and of the Advisory Committee on Trusts at the Leo Cussen Institute for Continuing Legal Education. During these years Ada collected art. She was for a time the President of the Wesley College Society for the Arts and on the Board of the Michael Buxton Collection. She is now the Curator and conceptual architect of the TenCubed art project.
A phone call
Ada received a phone call from the eminent Barrister, Neil Forsyth. At that time she already had children and was stirring the soup when the call came through. He said “I could take one more reader – would you like to come to the Bar?” – She stopped cooking.
Mr Sumasy Singin OBE
LLM 1997
My defining moment
“I was employed as the Prime Minister’s Principal Legal Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to Founding Father of Nation (PNG) Grand Chief Sir Michael (Thomas) Somare in 2002. I represented him in all legal cases in the National/Supreme Courts of PNG that the Prime Minister was party to.”
Current: Consulate-General of Papua New Guinea in NSW
Former: Legal Counsel & Deputy Chief of Staff Prime Minister’s Office, Papua New Guinea
Mr. Sumasy Singin is a former State Solicitor and served as Principal Legal Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister in Papua New Guinea, under Sir Michael Somare, Sam Abal and Peter O’Neill from 2002-2011. He has also served as Director of the Law Reform Commission, 2nd Parliamentary Legal Counsel to the National Parliament, First Assistant Secretary Policy and Legal, East Sepik Provincial Government and Director of PNG Dams Ltd.
Mr Hamish J Purdey
BA 2000, LLB 2000, LLM 2003
My defining moment
“Law is a terrific basis for a career in business. It allows you a fundamental understanding of how structures work from so many perspectives and has definitely been a key enabler for my career.”
CEO, Intelliflo Limited
Mr Purdey is a financial technology executive. He has been the Chief Executive Officer of London-based company Intelliflo Limited since November 2014. Previously he was a non-executive director of Gresham Computing plc and the CEO of FFastFill plc, an SaaS (Software as a Service) provider to the global listed derivatives community. He has also worked in Melbourne as an analyst at Transfield Services, a network manager at Amrad Pharmaceuticals, and a consultant at Addease.
Mr Kevin P O’Connor AM
LLB(Hons) 1968, LLM 1973
My defining moment
“The three years I spent at the Australian Law Reform Commission under Michael Kirby in the late 1970s. At close quarters, I saw lawyers of eminence working together in interdisciplinary teams to shape laws in aid of positive social changes. Later I had the opportunity to practise those lessons in two environments: the management of the Victorian Attorney-General’s legislative program in the mid-1980s, and as founding Australian Privacy Commissioner in the roll-out of that important national office. The many NSW Tribunals I later headed were marked by the same interdisciplinary flavour.”
Judge O’Connor is now a part-time Deputy President of the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). From 1998 to 2013, he was the President of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, an NCAT predecessor; and a Judge of the NSW District Court. He has also headed the NSW Fair Trading and Commercial Tribunals. He served as the inaugural Australian Privacy Commissioner from 1988 to 1996, after being Deputy Secretary, Policy at the Victorian Attorney-General’s department. He also taught at Melbourne Law School for several years. In 1999 Judge O’Connor was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the community and the law.
