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Two veteran barristers were reprimanded and will donate $5,000 each to charity for writing and posting a homophobic notice in the lifts at one of Victoria’s biggest chambers.
Robert Squirrell and John Perry, who have both practised since 1979, admitted to posting an offensive and homophobic notice in the lifts at Owen Dixon Chambers East in early August 2022.
On a document that bore a logo similar to the Victorian Bar’s, the notice claimed members of the “LGBTQMS” were concerned briefs from government and private litigators “have not been disproportionately directed to them” and sought to “investigate” this.
The latter initials were a crude reference to “mud screwers”, a term attributed to a comedian who they claimed had said: “Some guys would screw mud”. The letter also noted that “white, male heterosexuals” would not be eligible to join a sub-committee.
In the disciplinary decision, the vice president of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Judge Caitlin English, said it has the “hall marks of a university prank, were it not for the age of the protagonists and the offensive nature of the notice”.
“Both messages, of sexual deviancy and undeserved briefs, convey an impermissible attitude to the LGBTQI community and are antithetical to the inherent principles relevant to the uniform and consistent application of the law and general principles of equality, fairness, diversity and inclusion,” Judge English said.
In a November 2022 letter, a member of the Victorian Bar, Christopher McDermott, wrote in his personal capacity that the offensive notice was a “direct harking back to a bygone era of the view that sexual conduct outside of a particular construct – heterosexuality – being something to be publicly condemned, sneered at and ridiculed”.
According to the tribunal decision, Perry said that as the “sole author and creator of the notice”, he had intended to “poke fun at political correctness and wokeism rather than cast aspersions at minority groups”. Perry went on to accept the notice “was offensive”.
Perry added he was not homophobic because he was a lay deacon and worked alongside Vicar Nigel Wright, the first Melbourne Anglican priest to identify as part of the LGBTI community.
While Squirrell originally said he did not consider the notice to be harmful or offensive to the LGBTI community, he said he had taken a “long, hard look at myself” after McDermott’s letter.
Squirrell added he was not trying to excuse his “unforgivable” behaviour, that he had carried the shame for over two years, and the donation to an LGBTI community legal centre would “go some small way to assist the people who I have hurt by my conduct”.
In addition to the reprimand and donation, both barristers were ordered to complete five additional continuing professional development units and pay the costs of the proceedings.
Perry’s case is Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Perry (Legal Practice) [2025] VCAT 343 (17 April 2025).
Squirrell’s case is Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Squirrell (Legal Practice) [2025] VCAT 344 (17 April 2025).
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Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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