9th floor, Selborne Chambers
174 Phillip Street
Sydney NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA
DX 376 Sydney
Clerk: Karen Cook
Tel: (02) 9233 5188
Fax: (02) 9233 1137

Welcome to my webpage. I am a barrister at 9 Selborne Chambers in Sydney. I was admitted to the Bar in 1998, having been admitted to practice as a solicitor in 1984.

My Practice

I have a strong commitment to first-class service and to cost-effective dispute resolution, recognising that solicitors are responsible to their clients for the delivery of outcomes at reasonable cost.

I have served as Secretary of the NSW Bar Association Constitutional Law Section and on the NSW Bar Association Mediation and Human Rights Committees.

Commitment to Plain Language

I bring to the Bar experience not only as a solicitor, but also in management roles in the financial and energy sectors. I led the development of Australia's first plain English export insurance products, and remain committed to the use of plain English in my practice at the Bar. I have written on the importance of plain language to good corporate governance.

Law School Teaching

I am a Visiting Fellow in Law at the University of NSW, teaching Commercial Law and Litigation, and in earlier years lectured in Contract Law and International Law subjects. I led the establishment of the Julius Stone Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Postgraduate Scholarship in Law, University of New South Wales.

Published Legal Papers

A number of my papers have been published in law journals. These include:

• A blot on Bolt, a commentary on Eatock v Bolt [2011] FCA 1103 ( Bar Review Dec. 2011)
• Greenfields could turn into quagmires (2006)
• Discovery before or after mediation? (2003)
• Race hatred offence: Full Federal Court upholds rejection of racial hatred on the internet (2003)
• Assessing Commercial Losses in Private Trade Practices Litigation (2002)
• Protection against unconscionable business conduct (1999)
• Insuring against insolvency risk (1999)
• Anti-Vilification Laws. Some Recent Developments in the United States and their Implications for Australia (1994)

Engagement in Public Life

In 2011, I was chosen as one of “40 Inspirational Alumni” featured for the 40th Anniversary of the UNSW Law School, and in 2010 I was made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for service to the Jewish community through a range of peak, religious and educational organisations, and to the promotion of interfaith relations.

On 31 March 2009 I appeared in the St James Ethics Centre IQ2 public debate on the topic: "Freedom of expression must include the license to offend". The debate can be viewed online here.

An opinion piece entitled: "Race hate is so much more than words can say" was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 29 April 2009, and can be viewed here.

My essay on Faith Conflict and Society was published in the 50th Anniversary edition of Quadrant Magazine (October 2006). Â More recent papers on fundamentalism and abuses of human rights include:

• Orwell Invented Human Rights (presented to: Emanuel Synagogue, 18 May 2010; Capital Jewish Forum and Australasian Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, 13 February 2011)
• Faith, Fundamentalism and 21st Century Terrorism (presented to the St James Institute, Sydney, 9 February 2010)

Leadership of the Jewish community

From August 2004 to August 2008 I served the maximum term as President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the peak body of the NSW Jewish community. I also served as a Vice-President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and as a member of the Executive of the Jewish Communal Appeal.