Fullagar Chambers was established in 1975 and was named in honour of Sir Wilfred Fullagar. Since its founding, Fullagar Chambers has been one of Queensland’s pre-eminent criminal law barristers’ chambers.
In more recent years, Fullagar Chambers has diversified its members and practice areas. At present, in addition to criminal law, the barristers at Fullagar Chambers practice in a broad range of areas including family law, employment and industrial law, commercial litigation, personal injury law, administrative law, wills and estates law, and tax law.
The members of Fullagar Chambers are skilled and experienced advocates who have specialised expertise in their practice areas. Members also provide prompt and high quality advice on a variety of legal issues. The barristers of Fullagar Chambers pride themselves on being approachable to both solicitors and their clients.
Sir Wilfred Kelsham Fullagar KBE KC
Sir Wilfred Kelsham Fullagar (1892-1961), was a judge of the High Court of Australia between 1950 and 1961.
While articled to the Melbourne solicitor J. W. McComas, Fullagar enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 October 1916. He served in France with the 7th Field Artillery Brigade from May 1918, rose to sergeant and in 1919 was granted six months leave in England to study law. He returned to Melbourne in January 1920 and was discharged from the AIF on 8 February.
Fullagar was admitted to practice on 1 October 1920. He worked initially for the Department of Repatriation and for the Commonwealth Immigration Service. In 1922, Fullagar signed the Bar roll and read with Sir Charles Lowe. Fullagar was rapidly successful and soon developed a formidable reputation, especially in the fields of Equity and constitutional law.
Between 1928-45 Fullagar served on the Bar committee and between 1940-45 as a vice-president of the Law Council of Australia, giving generously of his time to the development of the profession. An inspiring teacher, he lectured at the University of Melbourne in the law of wrongs and the law of procedure (1923-28), and in constitutional law (1943-45), Between 1945 and 1951 he was a member of the university council.
After eleven years at the Bar, in September 1933, Fullagar had been appointed King's Counsel. In July 1945 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria. On 8 February 1950 he was made a justice of the High Court of Australia, a position he was to retain until his death. His judicial work was of the highest quality, but he sat on the bench in a period when there was relative stability in doctrine and principle in both public and private law, and his views on some matters were to be overtaken by later High Court opinion. In 1955 he was appointed K.B.E.
On Fullagar's death, Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies acknowledged 'his mastery of the law'. To Dixon, Fullagar 'had combined, with a remarkable legal erudition, great resources of scholarship. His judgments commanded the admiration of lawyers, not only for their penetration, their soundness and their correctness, but for the exposition of legal principles in an almost unequalled English style'.