Attorney General Joe Berinson has announced the appointment of four new Queen's Counsel in Western Australia.
The appointments were recommended by Chief Justice David Malcolm, and are the first since December 1989.
The new QCs are Roger Macknay, Michael O'Sullivan, Stephen Owen-Conway, and Christopher Steytler.
Mr Macknay, a graduate of the Law School of the University of Western Australia, joined the Independent Bar in 1973. He has wide experience as a barrister and has held appointments including part-time and full-time referee at the Small Claims Tribunal, deputy chairman of the Town Planning Appeal Tribunal, chairman of the Optometrists' Registration Board, member and treasurer of the Council of the WA Bar Association, and chairman of the Robe River Provident Fund.
Mr O'Sullivan, also a graduate of the Law School of the University of Western Australia, was a partner with Corser and Corser from 1976-82 before joining the Independent Bar.
In 1983 he was Counsel Assisting the Solicitor General for the Berryman Inquiry, and in 1986 was appointed to conduct the Gnowangerup Hospital Enquiry. He is currently chairman of the Aboriginal Reserves (Entry Permits) Committee, and has also served on the Bar Council and the Law Society Courts Committee. He was also the Law Society representative on the Courts Planning Committee for 1991.
Mr Owen-Conway, a graduate of the University of Sheffield and London College of Law, practised in both Queensland and Victoria before joining the West Australian Bar in 1977.
He was a partner with Warren McDonald French & Harrison, as the firm was then called, and later with Corser and Corser, before joining the Independent Bar in 1987. He has extensive experience in commercial litigation, with most of his court work involving intellectual property and trade practices law.
Mr Steytler, a graduate of the University of Cape Town, was a partner with Parker & Parker before joining the Independent Bar in 1990. He has practised exclusively in the area of civil litigation, particularly commercial matters.
Mr Steytler has been an active member of the Law Society, and is also a member of the Supreme Court Rules Committee, the Courts Delay Reduction Committee, the Expedited Listing Monitoring Committee, the Civil Delay Reduction Consultative Committee, the Civil Management Consultative Committee, and the Corporations (Western Australia) Rules Committee. He is also a member of the Bar Council.
