Prominent Sydney barrister Dr Andrew Bell SC will be elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court and will replace Governor-designate Justice Margaret Beazley AO QC as President of the Court of Appeal, Attorney General Mark Speakman announced today.
“Dr Bell is one of the Sydney’s leading barristers, with 24 years at the bar. He 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,” Mr Speakman said.
“Among the many accolades won by Dr Bell during his stellar career are his dual University Medals at Sydney University, his Rhodes Scholarship in 1990, his first place in the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford University and his doctorate from Oxford. He took silk in 2006.”
He is the Senior Vice President of the NSW Bar Association and a past Chairman of a Professional Conduct Committee. For the past decade, Dr Bell has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Sydney University.
He was twice chairman of Eleven Wentworth, one of Australia’s leading chambers in commercial and constitutional law. In 1990- 1991, he was the Associate to Sir Anthony Mason AC KBE QC, the ninth Chief Justice of Australia.
Dr Bell’s notable cases include Qantas v Rolls Royce, involving an engine explosion in an Airbus A380. He represented Gina Rinehart’s children in their litigation against her and appeared for the Seven Network in various cases arising from Australian Federal Police raids. Outside of the law, from 2009 to 2016 he was the chairman of Sculpture by the Sea Inc.
Mr Speakman paid tribute to Justice Beazley, who will become the 39th Governor of NSW in May this year.
“Justice Beazley is a highly decorated Federal Court of Australia and NSW Court of Appeal judge whose legal career crosses four decades,” Mr Speakman said.
“She has been a trailblazer for female lawyers across the state as 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.
“I thank Justice Beazley for her outstanding contributions to the judiciary and congratulate her on becoming the new Governor of NSW.”
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.
NOTE: Dr Bell’s CV is available here: https://elevenwentworth.com/portfolio/andrew-s-bell-sc/
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