The Art of Advocacy and the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference 2025

The article The Art of Advocacy and the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference 2025 is written by Sophie Parsons and Edward Kline-Marantelli of Doogue + George Defence Lawyers.

Sophie is a Partner, In-House Counsel and Accredited Criminal Law Specialist. She provides advice and representation at the charge and pre-charge stages of proceedings and assists with disciplinary investigations related to criminal offences.

Edward is an Associate with a primary focus on both criminal and commercial litigation. He was previously a Judge’s Associate at the Supreme Court of Victoria and has a particular interest in white-collar crime and regulatory disputes.

Doogue + George Defence Lawyers hosted the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference 2025 in the John Halbert Room at the Adelaide Oval on Friday 21 March 2025.

We were joined by lawyers and barristers from all over Australia to connect with new and old friends and share criminal law tips on topics as broad as ethics, proceeds of crime, Commonwealth prosecutions, and advocacy.

It was the first occasion our conference commenced with the Josh Taaffe Advocacy Keynote. Josh Taaffe, formerly a Director of our firm, who sadly passed away in November 2023, proudly championed advocacy for solicitor advocates and enjoyed a busy practice working with and supporting many barristers at the Victorian Bar, including those who were formerly lawyers with our firm. Josh was also a skilled and dedicated advocate himself, and so our conference provided a fitting opportunity to listen to talented barristers speak on the topic of advocacy in remembrance of him.

Colin Mandy SC of Stawell Chambers in Melbourne, and current Vice-Present of the Victorian Bar and Chair of Parnell’s Barristers, presented the Josh Taaffe Advocacy keynote on ‘Trial Advocacy: A picture’s worth a thousand words’.

Colin spoke about jury trial advocacy and the power of images as opposed to words, observing that “diagrams on whiteboards and images last when words fade”. Colin reflected on the opportunity to give our clients humanity by using photos as a counterweight to those relied on by prosecution, and that photos can cut through the dry and mundane aspect of trials for the jurors who will ultimately have to decide the outcome of a trial.

Colin regaled us with entertaining stories about several jury trials, and appeals, trial wins (and some losses), providing examples of where images, photos, videos had assisted him in persuading the jury to understand the contextual framework of a defence case. Colin explained how juries can connect with an accused person over photos and what the photo depicts, in a simple way that has nothing to do with words and empathy. He emphasised how images can cut through and establish a connection in circumstances where there can be a distance, and a disconnect, between an accused person and jurors, as sympathy and prejudice are often deeply engrained in people, and juries are not necessarily representative of a cross-section of society and not representative of those on trial and charged with criminal offence.

Colin provided some practical tips for us to incorporate into our practice:

• Seeking disclosure of videos, images, is an important part of the pre-trial process and introducing this form of evidence as part of the defence case, in circumstances where disclosure has not been made, can form to be compelling evidence in a jury trial.
• It is possible to tell a story of someone’s life through photographs, and an accused person’s phone and the photos they take – it is important to make this part of trial preparation as counsel and solicitors.
• Instructing solicitors not only provide crucial assistance to counsel and support for clients but are ‘part of the show’ in jury trials.

Veronika Drago, a criminal defence barrister of Niagara Lane Chambers in Melbourne and 8 Petrie Terrace Chambers in Brisbane, and previously a solicitor advocate of our firm, followed with a presentation on ‘Advocacy, are you still there? The rise and falls of lawyering in 2025’.

Veronika presented on the shift towards written advocacy, in all jurisdictions, and the importance of retaining the art of advocacy.

Veronika encouraged practitioners to:

• Take up as much space in the courtroom as needed to make submissions.
• Save some submissions for the appearance and be considered in what is included in written submissions to provide for flexibility depending on how things proceed in the courtroom.
• Check Practice Directions and comply with permitted lengths of written submissions.
• Consider whether written submissions are necessary at all, particularly in the lower courts and jurisdictions. It may be that a sentencing snapshot would be sufficient depending on the case.

Thanks to Veronika and Colin, we are motivated to reinvigorate our legal practice with key takeaways for jury trials and other criminal proceedings, and inspired to approach our advocacy with clarity of purpose and refreshed confidence in the courtroom.

Date Published: 24 March 2025