On 23 December 2024 James Crowley KC passed away. He was just short of his 90th birthday.
Crowley came to the Bar in 1963 and retired in 2010. Like others of his generation of barristers, he lived to see great change in the law in Queensland and Australia. With his passing another link to those earlier times is gone.
Crowley’s career spanned the post war boom, the economic malaise of the 1970, the heady days of the 1980, the 1990s, the end of one millennia and the start of the next. But more than its historical interest, his career is an example of service to the law and the legal profession, to the collegiately of the Bar and the importance of giving back.
In 1952 Crowley graduated from that great cradle of legal minds, Gregory Terrace. He won a scholarship and enrolled in Arts/ Law at the University of Queensland. He dropped the Arts after a year and graduated with a Law degree in 1959. Law school was very different then. Classes were much smaller, so small that two of his subjects were delivered by barristers in their chambers.
In 1957, Crowley was taught by a newly minted silk, Harry Gibbs QC (later Sir Harry Gibbs Chief Justice of the High Court). Later in his degree Crowley attended lectures given by a young Gerry Brennan (later Sir Gerard Brennan, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia). Both conducted their lectures in their chambers in the old Adelaide Street Inns of Court building (next to the Criterion Hotel).
Crowley made many friends at university, several of whom would go on to be barristers. His contemporaries were Henry Weld (later Master Weld of the Supreme Court), John Gallagher (later Gallagher QC), Bill Pincus (later Justice of the Federal Court and Court of Appeal), Jim Thomas (later Justice of the Court of Appeal) and John Greenwood (later Greenwood QC).
Ahead of him at law school were Cedric Hampson (later Hampson QC, leader of the Bar) and Noel Power (later Sir Noel Power, Vice President of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong). Behind him at Law School were Tony Fitzgerald (later President of the Court of Appeal in Qld), Tony Skoien (later Senior Judge of the District Court), John Helman (later Justice of the Supreme Court), Ian Callinan (later Justice of the High Court of Australia) and David Jackson (later Jackson QC, preeminent High Court advocate). Crowley was popular with his class mates and a proud UQ Alumni. In 1979, he was asked to give the speech for his graduating class at their 20-year reunion.
Bowen Boy Barrister …
Crowley was obviously proud of coming to the Bar. He kept on his desk a small cut out from his home town newspaper. It read “Bowen Boy Barrister: Admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland recently in Brisbane was an erstwhile Bowen boy, James Geoffrey Crowley son of the Shire Clerk J. J. Crowley“.
Crowley took chambers in the Scanlan Building in Queen Street (known as the ‘Outs-of-Court’). The Scanlan Building rented space to young barrister because Jim Douglas (or “Big Jim Douglas” as many called him, and later Justice of the Supreme Court) asked his good friend, businessman Ray Scanlan if he could make space available for junior members of the Bar. Ray did so. It was there that the young barrister met Ray Scanlan’s daughter Patricia, and two years later they married.
When he came to the Bar in 1963 there were 90 barristers practising in Brisbane. The annual dinner was a BBQ at someone’s house. It was a very small profession. At the time, religious sectarianism was very much part of life in Brisbane, which is part of the reason why Crowley wore his Catholicism so strongly.
When he began, the Federal Court, Family Court and Court of Appeal did not exist. Crowley ran a trial in the High Court of Australia in front of Justice Kitto. It was a “slip and fall” in a train station. He recalled a time when the High Court judges would eat lunch in the Inns of Court during adjournments. On one occasion Justice McTiernan mentioned a relevant case he suggested Crowley might like to address the Court on after the luncheon adjournment.
His first five years at the Bar were spent appearing in the beautiful old Supreme Court building. He wrote in Hearsay about those “good old days”.[1] Unfortunately that beautiful building was burnt down by a disgruntled litigant in 1968 and Brisbane lost a magnificent example of Italian Renaissance architecture.
Crowley recalled the succession of make-shift courts rooms between then and 1976 when the first stage of the “modern” court complex was completed. In 1981 the second stage was finished and the Supreme Court moved into its “new” building in George Street (near the site of the original Supreme Court building). Crowley must have been amongst the first silks presented in that Banco Court.
Jim Douglas featured again in Crowley’s life. Crowley was a great admirer of his and asked Douglas if he could have his chambers should Douglas be appointed. Jim Douglas, with apparently no immediate desire to become a judge, readily agreed believing (Crowley thought) that he would not have to honour the bargain anytime soon. But apparently the next appointment to the Supreme Court was Jim Douglas so Crowley secured a large set of chambers in the “boot factory” Inns of Court in Turbot Street. Years later when Crowley was the Charmain of the Bar Practice Course, he enjoyed giving out the “James Archibald Douglas” Memorial prize for the top student and he would speak fondly of Douglas Snr explaining his significance to the Bar.
In the “boot factory” Inns of Court (on the site of the current Inns), Crowley was known for his flashy cars. In the late 60’s and 1970’s Crowley had a succession of European automobiles; a black Mercedes Benz, a red Audi and a navy-blue Fiat. However, in 1979 the necessities of a large family (5 children) saw him buy a Peugeot 504 station wagon and the days of beautiful European machines was over.
He (like those of his generation) was a generalist. He was involved in reported cases in a variety of areas including Planning & Environment, General Commercial, Personal Injuries and Crime. Crowley travelled throughout Queensland and was regularly briefed by solicitors in Rockhampton and Cairns. He also had a practice in inquiries. He appeared for the Unions in two Moura Mine disaster inquiries for which the Union gave him an engraved statue thanking him for his work.
From left – Sir Jim Killen AC KCMG, Joe Crowley, James Crowley RFD KC.
His last inquiry was for a firm of engineers in the Thredbo Disaster Inquiry in the late nineties.
He was the founding editor of what was then known as “The Bar News” …
Crowley was an active member of the Bar Association. He was on the Bar Committee both as a junior and as a silk. He was the founding editor of what was then known as “The Bar News”, a glossy publication that came out four times a year containing legal updates, social events and Bar gossip. For that work he was made a life member of the Bar Association in 1989. Such publication was the immediate predecessor of the electronic Hearsay.
Crowley loved cricket and played when in practice. He was central to Bar cricket in the 1970s and 1980s very much a part of organising matches for solicitors and barristers, and championing the Qld Bar Associations annual inter-bar game “Crowley’s Clowns vs Callinan’s Clones”. I remember as a lad going out to watch these matches.
That was not the end of his work for the Association. He (as many silks do) did sundry work as it arose, such as being on the panel to approve the Bond University Law School when it was first created. He was also active in legal education. Crowley was on the Barristers Board; a body that no longer exists but was of ancient origin and ran exams for those wanting go to the Bar but who didn’t have a law degree. The Honourable Susan Kiefel AC is its most distinguished graduate.
In the 1990’s Crowley became Chair of the Bar Practice Course Management committee and was active in the running of that course. He used to regularly give the lecture on ethics and professionalism. When he stood down from that position the final dinner was renamed “The Crowley” in honour of his service, and he continued to attend to award out the James Archibald Douglas Prize on conclusion of the Course.
Crowley continued his association with QUT Legal Practice Course, delivering the Ethics and Professional Conduct lecture every year and served as a trustee of the Rod Grant and Peter Wilson Prize. It was for an essay giving the best legal solution to a set problem.
He also moved many admissions. He became the go-to barrister for difficult admissions. His final appearance in Court was on an admission and the Chief Justice De Jersey allowed him to continue to appear on admissions after his retirement, though, he never did.
Crowley had a penchant for practical jokes. He had fun teasing colleagues and junior barristers with “the dribble glass”. It was a lovely crystal glass where at several points just below the lip the engravings had a tiny pinhole. The effect was to produce an unintended dribble of water when drinking. He used it on everyone from, solicitors, junior barristers, senior colleagues and on one occasion, Br White, the Headmaster of Gregory Terrace.
Another prank he was particularly proud of was against a young and dynamic barrister in his chambers Cate Holmes. Holmes accepted a brief to prosecute a Malaysian Prince who had bought into the country a substantial amount of cash without declaring it. The accused retained Geoffrey Robertson QC who flew out from London for the trial. Whether it was Robertson’s eloquence or a flight of fancy of the trial judge Eric Pratt QC, the jury were invited to find that the Malaysian Prince has unintentionally brought the money into Australia. Unfortunately, intention was not an element of the offence, but the jury duly acquitted the Prince. Holmes returned to chambers at lunchtime fuming at the verdict.
… an invitation … to visit the Prince in Malaysia and stay in his palace.
Crowley and Kerry Boulton immediately contacted a local florist and ordered a very elaborate bunch of flowers delivered with a note, purportedly from the Malaysian prince. The note said how much the Prince respected Australian law and congratulated the young prosecutor on how she ran her case. It ended with an invitation for Holmes to visit the Prince in Malaysia and stay in his palace.
Crowley and Kerry Boulton watched the florist deliver the flowers to Holmes chambers. She came bursting out swearing about the Prince only to find Crowley and Boulton falling about laughing. Apparently, all she responded was “You bastards!” before returning to her room.
Crowley attained the rank of Colonel in the Australian Army Legal Corp. He had been in the Army reserve since his university days when he had joined the Queensland University Regiment where he (not entirely fondly) recalled doing guard duty in the guard house at the Governors House on Fernberg Road in Bardon.
In the Legal Corp he acted as a Judge Advocate. The most stories he told about his time in the Reserves concerned the Mess Dinners which he thoroughly enjoyed. He was not a big drinker but despite this threw himself into the dinner and “Mess Rugby” (which is full contact rugby, played in the Mess Hall after dinner. The “ball” was a frozen chicken and the game continued until the chicken completely disintegrated).
He loved the uniform but particularly the khakis. Crowley wore his khaki army shirts on his farm until they were threadbare and he still had a pair of his khaki trousers which were regularly worn until the day he died.
He had his [Supreme Court] rules leather bound.
In 1999 after Crowley had been at the Bar for 36 years and a silk for 18, the Supreme Court Rule were repealed and the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules enacted. Though Crowley never said it, I think he lost a lot of enthusiasm for the law after this. He had loved the Supreme Court Rules and liked nothing more than a procedural fight in “chambers” as the Applications Court was then called. He had his rules leather bound. All the changes noted in pen in the margin, important cases scribbled in. That book, which he took to Court, was now redundant.
In 2003 he sold his chambers in the Inns of Court. He had been one of the original shareholders and had a large impressive room looking out over south Brisbane. He had a spectacular view of Expo 88 he had some professional photos taken and framed which hung on his wall at home. But the building of Quay Central took half his view.
He had a bathroom behind a bookshelf and the cupboard folded down into a bed. But in 2003 he sold to Greg Egan (now Judge Egan). He also sold two of his three car parks downstairs in the building. I think he would have retired then but I had just come to the Bar. So he took a smaller set of chambers on Level 17 which he let me use while he rented a room on Level 7.
He finally retired in 2010 after 47 years as a barrister.
Crowley loved the Bar and its collegiately. He is remembered for his bow ties and his generosity to younger practitioners many of whom he mentored. At his funeral in January this year there was a wonderful testament to his support for young lawyers, no matter what their background.
An older couple, simply dressed, sat quietly together in the pews of St Stephen’s Cathedral. They had caught the train in from Caboolture to pay their respects to Crowley. Years before Crowley had taken their daughter under his wing, given her research work and later helped her secure a position as an associate with a Supreme Court Judge. This old couple from out of Brisbane were so grateful that Crowley had taken the time to encourage their daughter and given her a start in the law. In her condolence card, sent from New York where she now worked as a lawyer the same daughter wrote “James was such a wonderful and kind mentor to me. He really was the first person to think that I could be a lawyer and his encouragement always warmed my heart and kept me focused on my career.” This card and the old couple’s attendance at his funeral was a tribute to Crowley’s career of service to the legal profession.
[1] In the December 2007 edition “Buying Judges” https://hearsay.org.au/buying-judges/
