LAW Biography –

For more than thirty years, Tom Hughes, a scion of a notable Sydney family of high achievers, was one of Australia’s top barristers, renowned, respected and sometimes feared for his dominating presence in the courtroom. Equally at home in all jurisdictions, his theatrical style, command of language and forensic skills filled public galleries, exposed witnesses, persuaded juries and ensured that judges paid attention. An icon of the Sydney and Australian Bar, he appeared in a raft of celebrated cases, became the subject of many media profiles and was, from the 1970s to the 1990s, the country’s most expensive advocate. In addition to published material, the book draws on a huge trove of personal records, including fee books, intimate diaries, autobiographical jottings and private correspondence, supplemented by interviews with Hughes, his family, friends and colleagues. Using these sources, the book provides insights into a many-sided character — telling the story of how Hughes and his immediate forebears embraced more of their English than their Irish heritage while becoming distinctively Australian. It also offers a personal perspective on several decades of Australian political, social and legal history.

Full contents:

• The inheritance
• Childhood and education
• ‘It’s great flying all day, morning and afternoon’
• ‘A relatively lucky and safe war’
• ‘A mixture of frustration and hope … followed by disappointment’
• ‘With optimism as one’s guiding star’
• ‘Right out of national security central casting’
• ‘I felt as if I was walking a tight-rope’
• An ‘insider’ and an ‘outsider’
• ‘The Queen’s Agent administering the law for her’
• Public order: ‘exercising causation, moderation and restraint’
• Testing the extent of Commonwealth power
• ‘You change the course with no regrets for the past’
• President of the NSW Bar Association
• ‘The best of times’ and ‘the worst of times’
• The Robinson Royal Commission
• ‘From silk to riches’
• Two ‘happy & auspicious’ events
• An ‘exquisitely difficult case’ and a ‘difficult’ client
• Four defamation cases
• ‘The venerable lion of the Sydney bar’
• ‘I am still enjoying practice’
• ‘The profession has every reason to be grateful to you’.
• First Edition.

  • xii, 402 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), portraits, 1 genealogical table ; 25 cm
  • (Fine in Dustjacket with corner scuff.)
  • #010826