Meet our Alumni

The Hon Chris Maxwell is a highly respected Justice especially known for his advocacy for individual rights. Maxwell initially studied at The University of Melbourne, where he was a member of the Australian Rules 1971 Premiership team and the All-Australian University side.

After receiving a Rhodes Scholarship Maxwell went to the University of Oxford and then graduated in law. He was admitted to the Bar as a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1978. Maxwell returned to Melbourne the following year and was admitted to the Victorian Bar.

In 1981 he interrupted his legal career to take up an appointment as Principal Private Secretary to Senator Gareth Evans, then Commonwealth Attorney-General. As a Barrister he appeared in High Court cases relating to environmental law, industrial law, copyright and taxation.

He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1988. A champion for the rights of the individual, Maxwell was Legal Aid Commissioner for seven years. He was President of Liberty Victoria, for which he appeared pro bono as Counsel in the Tampa case to argue that the Commonwealth had unlawfully detained those rescued on the Norwegian container ship.

The Commonwealth later sought costs against Liberty Victoria and its Board members, including Maxwell. This was rejected by the Full Court, with Justice Beaumont saying of the Counsel and Solicitors: "They have acted according to the highest ideals of the law. They have sought to give voices to those who are voiceless and, on their behalf, to hold the Executive accountable for the lawfulness of its actions. In so doing they have served the rule of law and so the whole community."

In 2005 Maxwell was appointed the second President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria.