Solicitor-General Chris Bleby SC appointed to new Court of Appeal
Solicitor-General Chris Bleby SC is the second appointment to SA’s new Court of Appeal – and it’s not the first time a member of his family has donned the robes of a Supreme Court judge.
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Solicitor-General Dr Chris Bleby SC has been appointed to South Australia’s new Court of Appeal.
Dr Bleby – the son of former Supreme Court justice David Bleby – will sit on the Supreme Court bench from Monday until the new court commences in January.
Widely respected within the legal profession, Dr Bleby has been Solicitor-General since 2016, worked as crown advocate for two years and was a successful barrister.
Dr Bleby, 50, described himself as an appellant lawyer with a constitutional and administrative law focus and said he was looking forward to his new role.
“I am very honoured. I feel very privileged; it is work I am looking forward to very much indeed,’’ he said.
Dr Bleby started his legal career as an associate to former Supreme Court justice John Perry, and from 1996-97 worked as a junior lawyer in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Between 1997 and 2000 he studied at Cambridge University and obtained his PhD in public international law, returning to Adelaide where he worked at the Crown Solicitor’s office on constitutional law for four years before joining the independent bar in 2004.
Dr Bleby, who took silk in 2012, spent a decade as a barrister practising in administrative and constitutional law, employment law and taxation in Hanson Chambers.
He said his intended career was as an academic, but when he returned from the UK in 2000, universities were not hiring, so he focused on a legal career in his chosen field.
“When I was young I had no intention of doing law. My father was a barrister and became a judge; I saw how hard he worked and it looked like an awful proposition,’’ he said.
“I got into law and loved it for the law itself. My real ambition at the time was to go into academia and that was what was partly behind my motivation to do a PhD.’’
Dr Bleby is the second Supreme Court judge to follow his father’s footsteps – Justice Sam Doyle’s father is former chief justice John Doyle.
Dr Bleby is the second appointment to the new Court of Appeal after barrister Mark Livesey QC was appointed in February. The remaining three members of the new court, including its president, are expected to be selected from the existing sitting Supreme Court judges later this year.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said Dr Bleby would “make an excellent contribution’’ to the new court.
“I am confident he will serve the new court with distinction,’’ she said.
“This appointment will help alleviate existing workloads within the Supreme Court while also ensuring the court has flexibility to continue hearing matters.’’
Current Crown Solicitor Mike Wait SC will take over the position of Solicitor-General from August. A replacement for his position is being sought.