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Former BigLaw equity partner named WA’s 1st Aboriginal Supreme Court judge
West Australian Attorney-General John Quigley has appointed Michael Lundberg — a son of a member of the stolen generations — the Wildflower State’s first Aboriginal judge on the Supreme Court.
Jerome Doraisamy
Mr Lundberg will join the bench of the West Australian Supreme Court on 28 November 2022.
Mr Lundberg started his career as a solicitor in 1994. He served as assistant Crown counsel at what was then Western Australia’s Crown Solicitors Office before entering private practice in 2000 at what is now King & Wood Mallesons, where he served for 18 years, including as a partner-in-charge of the firm’s Perth office. Following this, he was a partner at multinational firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Jones Day.
He is also a member of Curtin University’s governing authority the University Council and acted for Aboriginal man Gene Gibson, whose wrongful conviction for manslaughter was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2017.
Speaking about the appointment, A-G Quigley said that he has great pleasure in appointing Mr Lundberg to the role.
“This is a landmark appointment for the state’s justice system and another step towards closing the gap with First Nations people,” he said.
“The son of a member of the stolen generation, Mr Lundberg grew up in Port Hedland and obtained law and commerce degrees from the University of Western Australia.”
“He is recognised as one of Australia’s best lawyers in his areas of expertise, which include dispute resolution in the energy and resources sectors, intellectual property law, industrial relations and defamation matters,” the A-G continued.
“Mr Lundberg played an integral pro bono role in obtaining the freedom of Gene Gibson, who spent nearly five years in prison for a crime he did not commit because of a miscarriage of justice and police misconduct.
“I congratulate Mr Lundberg on this well-deserved appointment and wish him well in his new role.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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