County Court of Victoria’s Judge Gucciardo recalled a moment early in his judicial career when the details of an “abhorrent” child sexual abuse case caused him to lose his breath. Partway through reading victim statements, he stood up and quickly left the courtroom.

Speaking on a panel at the 2024 Minds Count Lecture, following the keynote delivered by Justice Jacqueline Gleeson of the High Court of Australia, Judge Gucciardo said he chided himself for “pretending to be a judge in a way that is shameful”, having then been convinced he needed to take a “rational, technical approach” to sentencing no matter its impact on him.

“When I sat back there, I realised there was nothing to be ashamed about because that deep, profound effect of analysing the hurt of these [victims] was really most relevant in what I was doing.

“The impact of feeling incompetent and somehow letting myself down generally was really placed in a context of saying, ‘maybe this job requires more than technical competence’. It required me to have an understanding of what grief and brokenness is,” Judge Gucciardo said.

Reflecting on this experience years later, Judge Gucciardo said it is important that lawyers “are not just technicians”.

“If you want to be an advocate, learn to tell the story of your client with passion, and that will hold you in good stead. It can be a very positive thing to experience both stress and some measure of that impostor feeling. Don’t be afraid to open up,” Judge Gucciardo said.

Judge Gucciardo said the best advice he ever received was to endeavour to become a “well-rounded person, to travel, to speak to as many different people as you can, to be curious about people, and to learn to tell stories and care about clients”.

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“The thing that appals me the most now in court is when an advocate clearly doesn’t give a s--t about the client at the back of the room, and that just kills me because that’s what I learned being at the Bar, that’s how you tell the story, and they’ve all got one.

“I would have told him to learn to listen to people, learn to have a breadth of experience in life that enables you to tell a story,” he said.

Not only did the early experiences shape how he operates as a judge, but he added they also helped to model his behaviour towards new advocates.

At the beginning of his career, Judge Gucciardo said he practised with advocates who would “ritually throw up” before they went to court.

Judge Gucciardo also recalled moments as a barrister where he and colleagues crossed between the County Court and Supreme Court, only to “expect to be mauled” by the judges they encountered.

“If I could speak for my colleagues just this time, I would say that the vast majority of judges today would be perfectly understanding of those nerves and that sense of both excitement and terror.

“I’m hoping that young advocates who cross the same street tomorrow do not expect to be mauled, but expect to be respected, assisted, and also told their assistance is important to the bench,” he said.

Note: The editor of Lawyers Weekly is a board director for the Minds Count Foundation.