The Hon Carmel McLure, AC, QC

The first female president of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia

The Hon McLure obtained a Bachelor of Jurisprudence with Honours in 1976, followed by a Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 1979, both from the University of Western Australia. The Hon McLure also studied at Oxford University and attained her post-graduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law.

The Hon McLure returned to WA in 1984 and took employment as a solicitor at the law firm then known as Keall Brinsden, now Corrs Chambers Westgarth. She became partner in 1987 and head of the firm’s litigation division from 1993-1995. In 1995, the Hon McLure joined the Independent Bar practising out of Francis Burt Chambers and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in December 1997.

In 2001, the Supreme Court welcomed Her Honour to the Bench. She became a member of the Court of Appeal upon its inception in 2005 and was appointed as President of the Court of Appeal in November 2009.

The Hon McLure is a Life Member of the Law Society, having joined back in 1980.

Why did your Honour choose law?

As a secondary school student in the early 1970s, my aim was to go to University and qualify to join a ‘profession’, but not a female dominated one that the nuns thought suitable in the interregnum between leaving school and marriage and motherhood. I vaguely understood that the law was not a transitional option. However, no one in my extended family or our social network was a lawyer, so my decision to enter law school in 1974 was a step into the unknown. I certainly did not know at the time that there were no women in the upper echelons of the profession. No female silks, judges, or partners of top tier firms.

What is the proudest achievement of your Honour’s legal career?

One of the proudest achievements in my legal career was my appointment as Queen’s Counsel in 1997. I was the second woman appointed silk in WA. Chris Wheeler was the first. I was reluctant to lodge an application but did so after being badgered by my former long-time secretary, Pam Rabbidge. She helped in the preparation of my application and was on hand to celebrate when it was successful. A photograph of Pam and I drinking champagne on the night of the announcement has been in a prominent position on my fridge since 1997. What are the challenges of being a judge that the public doesn’t necessarily see?

I am not sure the general public fully appreciates the solitary nature of the judicial decision making process (think ‘the loneliness of the long distance runner’), the work load and time pressures that are now commonplace throughout the judicial system and the constraints on the social life of a judicial officer.

Does your Honour have any humorous anecdotes about colleagues in the profession?

In my early days in the judiciary I was amused at the propensity of senior members of the bench to talk about themselves even when it was completely off topic, such as when welcoming new, or farewelling retiring, members of the bench. I lost my sense of humour after a few years.

Are there any memorable cases that your Honour decided?

I wrote judgements in three cases that are particularly memorable for me. The facts of each case involved significant events and relationships in this State’s history and raised some interesting and complex questions of law. They are Beamish v The Queen (2005) WASCA 62, Tipperary Developments v The State of Western Australia (2009) WASCA 126 and Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2012) WASCA 216.

Has much progress been made for women having equal opportunities?

Over the arc of my time in the legal profession there has been a dramatic increase in the number of women in senior positions in the profession including in law firms, at the bar and in the judiciary. That is not quite as impressive when you know the starting point was zero. And of course, there remains much room for improvement.

How has legislation in WA developed over the years in comparison with other states and territories? If your Honour could now change one law in WA, what would it be?

It is a toss up between the Iron Ore Processing (Mineralogy Pty Ltd) Agreement Amendment Act 2020, which is inconsistent with good government and the Rule of Law in many and varied ways and the Criminal Property Confiscation Act 2000 which applies generally and would benefit from increased judicial discretion to avoid disproportionate or arbitrary outcomes.

Advice to junior legal professionals

As a young lawyer I was permitted by my employer to ferret away and ponder until I was satisfied with my work. If that meant writing off my time, so be it. I learned at my firm’s expense, not the client’s. My firm recognised that young lawyers face a steep learning curve and lack the X-factor of ‘judgement’ that is hard won over time. Young lawyers faced with pressure to achieve unreasonable financial targets or compromise on quality should be on the lookout for a new firm.

Advice to senior legal professionals

When appearing before an appellate court that has prepared for the hearing, the bench can pretty quickly spot whether the advocate is winging it, either because of lack of proper preparation or contemplation, or is out of their depth. It should not happen.

Insofar as parliamentary drafting techniques go, if the competition was between WA and the Commonwealth, WA would win by a very large measure. For some time, Commonwealth statutes have been unnecessarily long, complex, unwieldy and maze-like. They attempt to expressly address the range of facts and circumstances that are likely to arise (an impossibility of course), rather than state general propositions and leave it to the courts to incrementally fill in the detail consistently with the statute’s text and purpose. The Commonwealth’s approach is consistent with a distrust in the judgement of the judiciary. Whatever the motive for the change in approach, for me it took much of the joy out of the task of judging.

What top three books can your Honour recommend?

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk; The People vs Democracy by Yascha Mounk; The Tyranny of Merit by Michael J. Sander.

Are there any life lessons your Honour would like to share with our readers?

There is much to be said for leaving the law behind after retirement from the bench. There is plenty going on in the wider world to occupy your time and attention.