Murray Gleeson

Gleeson was born in Wingham, New South Wales, the eldest of four children. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, where he won the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition in both 1953 and 1955, before matriculating to receive first class honours degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney. Among his graduating class of 1962 were John Howard, later to become Prime Minister; and Michael Kirby, who later served alongside him as a judge on the High Court. ==Legal career==

After graduation, Gleeson spent one year as a solicitor at Messrs Murphy & Moloney. Gleeson was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1963, where he read with Laurence Street and Anthony Mason - his future predecessors as Chief Justice of New South Wales and Chief Justice of Australia respectively. His appearances as junior counsel focussed mainly on matters of taxation and commercial law, as well as important constitutional cases including Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd, which concerned the scope of the corporations power. Upon his appointment as Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1974, Gleeson's career as senior counsel continued to focus on commercial and constitutional matters. However he also appeared in some high-profile criminal cases, including his successful defence before a jury of National Party MP Ian Sinclair in 1980. In the same year he appeared for the appellants in Port Jackson Stevedoring v Salmond & Spraggon, the last case granted leave to appeal to the Privy Council from the High Court. ==Judicial career==

Chief Justice of New South Wales Gleeson was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1988, the first barrister to be directly elevated to the Chief Justiceship since Frederick Jordan in 1934. His tenure as Chief Justice was also characterised by a large number of joint judgments, and a relatively frequent number of judgments that clearly and plainly provide the Court's ratio decidendi. On 30 July 2008, it was announced that Federal Court justice Robert French would succeed Gleeson as Chief Justice. In accordance with the Australian Constitution, he retired from the High Court on 29 August 2008, the day before his 70th birthday. The occasion was marked by a ceremonial sitting of the High Court in Canberra. Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong On 7 November 2008, Gleeson was appointed a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and served until 29 February 2024. He was given a Chinese name, "紀立信" (Jyutping: gei2lap6seon3) by the Hong Kong Judiciary. ==Honours==

• He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1986. • He received Australia's highest civil honour when he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1992. • He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001. • Life Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. • Grand Bauhinia Medal of Hong Kong in 2020. ==Personal life==

He married Robyn Paterson in 1965, and the couple have four children. Their eldest daughter, Jacqueline, was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 2014, after practising law as a barrister at the Sydney Bar and as general counsel of the Australian Broadcasting Authority. In October 2020, she was appointed to the High Court of Australia by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In September 2006, The Australian Financial Review magazine named Gleeson Australia's seventh most overtly powerful person. ==References==