Australian Defence Lawyer's Alliance
National law firms have long known the benefits of maintaining a presence in each of the States and Territories across Australia. These benefits include an established referral base, diversified skills and an intimate knowledge of the local jurisdiction. Traditionally, criminal practitioners, particularly in Western Australia, have conducted their business mainly as independent, one person practices or as part of a small to medium size firm, without a strong focus on criminal law. A new concept in the practice of criminal law has recently evolved with the nationalisation of the Australian Defence Lawyer's Alliance ('ADLA').
ADLA is a unique alliance of leading criminal law firms and Talbot Olivier Lawyers is the most recent addition to ADLA; the alliance now having a representative within each jurisdiction in Australia. Each member of the association has been selected due to their specialised knowledge, experience and expertise in criminal law.
With the development of transnational investigations and prosecutions by both State and Commonwealth authorities, ADLA is uniquely positioned to be able to provide coordinated legal representation nationally across various jurisdictions. The breadth of experience within each of the members ensures that the alliance as a whole can deal with any situation which may confront a client. By having members in all of the States and Territories, ADLA members, has developed relationships with the best counsel and experts in each jurisdiction, including forensic accountants, advocacy experts and corporate investigators and are therefore able to use these relationships to provide the best representation for their clients.
In March 2011, ADLA held their first national conference, at the Sofitel Hotel on the Gold Coast, with members of the Talbot Olivier Criminal Practice team attending. The conference brought together ADLA members from every state and territory across Australia and covered an array of discussion subjects including; corporate investigations, the do's and don'ts of commission hearings and criminal confiscation applications. There were some interesting discussions amongst the participants on the way similar issues were tackled by different governments in each State and Territory.
The key note address was given by Professor Geraldine MacKenzie, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University. Professor MacKenzie gave an enlightening talk on the results of a major national study on the public confidence in sentencing and the Courts. Professor MacKenzie was also supported by his Honour, Judge Ian Dearden of the Queensland District Court, who was the guest speaker at the conference dinner. Judge Dearden regaled his audience with anecdotal stories of his time in the District Court, ending his speech with a hearty rendition of an amusing folk ditty.
This inaugural conference marks the first time such a large number of criminal defence practitioners have come to one location to network and discuss issues common across all jurisdictions. The greatest advantage of the conference was the individual relationships that were developed between ADLA members across various jurisdictions, at all levels of each practice. The result of these relationships will be a greater level of cooperation between defence teams in different jurisdictions and a better coordinated defence for clients.
