Sydney Law School alumni named among NSW highest legal counsel
Dr Andrew Bell SC
The NSW Government recently confirmed that Sydney barrister Dr Andrew Bell SC will be elevated to the NSW Supreme Court and become the new President of the Court of Appeal.
The announcement follows the appointment of the Honourable Justice Margaret Beazley QC AO to the Governor of NSW, revealed earlier this year by Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Dr Bell and Justice Beazley are among the University of Sydney Law School’s illustrious graduates, completing the Bachelor of Laws with honours in 1989 and 1974, respectively. Dr Bell is an Adjunct Professor at the Sydney Law School, while Justice Beazley presides on the scholarship board for the Sydney Law School’s prestigious Peter Cameron Sydney Oxford Scholarship.
“We are thrilled at the news of the appointments of Dr Bell and Justice Beazley. It is a great honour for two of our nation’s most prominent experts of the law, and reflects the outstanding contribution they have made to the legal sector."
“As Acting Dean and Acting Head of the Sydney Law School, I am extremely proud of their achievements, and its testament to the impact of our graduates among our state’s highest levels of leadership,” he continued.
Margaret Beazley QC AO
Justice Beazely will become 39th governor and the second female to hold the position. Among her list of many achievements and accolades, Justice Beazley has served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, is the current President of the NSW Court of Appeal and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1989.
In 2006, Justice Beazley was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for service to the judiciary and the law, particularly through contributions to professional and ethical standards and to the advancement of women in the legal profession and the community. In 2012, she was named as one of the inaugural Australian Financial Review/Westpac 100 Women of Influence.
Notably, she was the first woman appointed to the bench of the Federal Court in 1993 and then to the Court of Appeal in 1996, where she continued to break records by becoming the first female President in 2013. She was the third woman to join the Supreme Court judiciary.
Justice Beazley will commence in her role as Governor from May 2019.
Dr Bell has also had a long and esteemed career. He has regularly been named in the “Litigation”, “Alternative Dispute Resolution” and “Betthe-Company Litigation” categories in the annual AFR survey of top Australian lawyers, and has been ranked in Band 1 of all Australian barristers by Chambers Asia Pacific for a number of years.
One of Sydney’s leading barristers, he has accumulated 24 years at the bar. Dr Bell has appeared in 30 High Court appeals, more than 80 appeals in the NSW and Western Australia Courts of Appeal, as well as appearances in the Full Court of the Federal Court.
Completing his doctorate at Oxford, Dr Bell’s numerous accolades also include his dual University Medals from the University of Sydney for the Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, a Rhodes Scholarship in 1990 and first place in the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford University.
Dr Bell will be sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 28 February 2019 when his appointment of President of the Court of Appeal also begins.
