10 Minutes with…the Honourable Philip Morrison KC

Thank you for accepting my invitation to speak to Hearsay.

It is always a pleasure to talk with you.

You grew up and were schooled on the Gold Coast. Did you spend more time on the beach or on the books?

It was probably a split, both in time and desire. There is no doubt that I spent much of my time surfing at Main Beach, and later Duranbah, Snapper Rocks and Greenmount. And for a long time I would not have thought there was a better thing to do – unless it was to watch the famous surf movies, like Morning of the Earth. But I spent plenty of time on “books”, though not just text books. You must understand both of my parents were teachers, and Dad was a teacher at my High School, so it would have been impossible to ignore the scholastic side of things. But it wasn’t just text books – I read widely, and almost certainly pretentiously – my Senior year books were “The Lord of the Rings” and Homer’s “Iliad and Odyssey”. Was I a pretentious little sh*t? Probably. Did I ever mature? Others will answer!

Many of us say our undergraduate years at university were the “best years of our lives”. Was that your experience?

I am not sure could say that for me. I lived in Union College, renowned for its free-wheeling egalitarianism and lack of things, like rules, and locks. I was a pretty ordinary and inexperienced Gold Coast boy in a new world. And many would say, out of my depth. It was a time when tutors exposed my views as being depressingly similar to my parents’ views, and my social skills as small-town awkward youngster. My greatest education came from James Bell (now KC) who was my next room neighbour for two years – you’ll have to ask James! But I studied away and got through the course, which is more than can be said of some of my first year friends. And my marks survived meeting my wife, Fran, in third year!

By my calculations, you were in practice as a barrister when aged 23, when many of your contemporaries – later barristers – were working for firms of solicitors. How did that ensue?

I wanted to go to the Bar, though to tell the truth I had no real idea what that involved. Coming from the Gold Coast, and a High School background, I knew no-one in the law. And I had no monetary backup – I was not from a wealthy family. So, I decided to try and get some experience as a law clerk (not articled). I spent 10 months at each of two small firms. At the first I did nothing but prepare cases for trial then instruct the barristers in court. That way I got to see barristers and judges in action. At the second firm I had a far wider responsibility, acting more as a solicitor, managing files in everything from conveyancing to wills, to litigation in the Magistrates Court to the High Court, and advice generally. So, about 5 months after being admitted, I started out in practice. I spent a long time terrified that I would not make the rent, and a much longer time terrified I would make a fool of myself. But I survived.

You had the good fortune to go into chambers with three of the then lions of the commercial Bar: Ted Lennon QC, John Byrne QC and John Dowsett QC – all now King’s Counsel, and two of whom served as judges. I am alive to the fact that you performed well academically at university, but how did that opportunity arise?

It still baffles me to this day. Ted, and the two Johns and I had a lunch recently – about 47 years after the first one! We discussed what happened at that lunch and how it came about. I was working for Nicholas Zapulla & Co, when I found out a group of 8 barristers was being put together by Charles Brabazon. I went to see him and put my name in the ring. He was polite but underwhelmed. On the way down the lift in the old Ansett Centre I decided on a whim to drop in to the chambers of Ted Lennon, John Byrne and John Dowsett – all of whom were in the group of eight. But I didn’t know any of them at all. John Byrne was kind enough to come out of a conference and give me 2 minutes, during which I stammered out my interest. The next day I got a call asking me to lunch – and the chambers deal was done over lunch!! I was asked three questions: do I drink, do I lunch, and did I have any idea what this was going to cost! I lied about the last one. I remain eternally grateful for their trust, and still bewildered at how it happened.

You practised across a wide area of civil law but I recall in particular your forensic forays in the mining inquiries. Did you enjoy – or endure – that part of your practice, and if so why?

The mining work was both exhilarating and arduous. Usually I acted for the mining company, and usually someone had died or been severely injured. Emotions ran strong, and opponents of my clients were very vocal. I was in the first Moura Mine enquiry when 12 men were killed. I was in the second one when another 12 men were killed, but this time they could not extract the bodies. Each time I spent endless, gruelling hours trying to work out what happened. The second Inquiry was different in one way – BHP was the mine owner, and I received instructions, personally, from the very top of BHP, that I was to look under every rock and let no truth go untold in trying to find out what happened – and I was told that the chips were to fall where they would, if BHP was in the wrong I was not to try and hide that but let the truth out. It is not often that happens. It was extraordinarily refreshing.

Was there any vicissitude of practice as a barrister which you had not appreciated – fully or at all – before entry into the profession?

I think that we all say that we understand that the work as a barrister requires long hours of intense concentration and attention, but I suspect none of us knows what that will actually be like when it happens – nor the effect on our families. So, the tyranny of long hours driving to win for the client can be deceptively hidden and seductively attractive, and quite destructive of family harmony.

What were the best bits, and worst bits, of being counsel?

The best bit is working for yourself with no one to answer to – the worst bit is working for yourself with no one to answer to. You will never have a boss harder than yourself!

You have always worn your heart on your sleeve when it comes to your family. What role does family play in the life of a successful barrister?

It should be the bedrock of what you do, your moral compass, the sanctuary to which you can retreat when bruised, the understanding arbiter of your indiscretions. Nothing in the law will sustain you like your family – they love you despite the arse that you are, and forgive you long after your opponents have disclaimed you. They see through you and are not dissuaded by your grand ideas of yourself nor the cross-examination to which you subject them, and they are tolerant of your war stories, no matter how pathetic.

Your appointment to the Court of Appeal was rightly applauded, but I had always pictured you as a person who would practice as a barrister until retirement. What are the good bits, and bad bits, of judicial life?

The obvious good bit is the change in working hours – quite suddenly you don’t have to be at work so early, or so late! Your family adore that part. And the pressure from needing to be fair to both sides – not a trait of barristers – is exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. The bad bit? Harder to say. I suppose it’s being institutionalised to one degree or another. The need to be more publicly circumspect, especially in the face of loud argument, is a practised art.

Much of the work on the Court of Appeal is in crime. Did you find that a challenge after a career as a barrister practising in the civil sphere?

There is no doubt about that. And it was much more pointed given I was appointed straight from the Bar to the Court of Appeal. On day one I was sitting with senior judges with criminal experience! And there was nowhere to hide as I had my allocations of cases where I was to do the first judgment. It was quite a challenge but like all disciplines, the answer lies in hard work and application.

Do you see yourself remaining engaged in the legal space, or do other avenues beckon?

This is hard to answer. I am on the Court of Appeal in Tonga so I hope that continues. I don’t intend returning to the Bar. But I would be open to something that assists young lawyers or the community. There are some areas of personal interest that I have put aside for many years now, and I would like to take them up again. My wife, Fran, has been secretly learning to ride horses – her gift to me when I turned 70 – and all the more astonishing as she has never liked horses. So, there may well be some trail rides and sore backsides coming up! And the sad truth is that I have not read for pleasure much at all since I was appointed, so I would like to regain that.

What are your recreational interests?

Definitely skiing – it’s unquestionably the best fun you can have standing up! And, travel, wine, and theatre!!

Do you follow the Gold Coast Titans?

No, but that is because I do not follow anyone in rugby league, or rugby union for that matter!

Who do you think will win the NRL grand final this year?

I have absolutely no idea! I belong to a tipping comp but the sad truth is that I do better when I forget to enter my tips!

What are the challenges which barristers in Queensland confront in the next 10 years?

This is a hard question for a judge to answer because their inevitable focus has been on the daily work of the court – in my case the Court of Appeal. But, I suspect some of the challenges can be seen in a series of compartments related to the type of work done. For example, criminal work will remain in its variety and intensity simply because most offences are State related. On the other hand, those doing top flight commercial work will, I suspect, continue to see the movement of work south to Sydney or Melbourne. The lack of trial and applications work for those starting out at the Bar seems to continue to be a challenge, and one which impacts on the Bar overall, and on the courts as a result. The challenges of adapting to new ways of practice remain – such as the way chambers are being reorganised, the ability to work with less by way of physical support, working from home. Inevitably the impact of AI will be something that needs a whole of profession response as well as an individual one. And, I think the main challenge remains as it always was, the imperative to maintain the trust of the judges before whom you appear – apart from mastery of your brief, nothing is as critical to one’s practice as that.

What advice would you give to a barrister intending to commence practice in 2025, in particular as to gaining early good repute with briefing solicitors?

There really is no substitute for hard work, accurate work, and timely work. Read the brief – by which I mean, really read it all, and understand where the pressure points are. And when you deal with your instructing solicitor, don’t assume you know it all – ask for their advice and their take on where the case should/will go. If you do so you will both own the outcome, and that’s a damn fine thing.

Thanks for speaking to Hearsay. Enjoy your retirement and thanks for your service to the community.