QC the first female president of QLD Bar Association
She was most famous for successfully defended Lorna Jane against fat-shaming and bullying claims, now this QC has achieved a new milestone in the legal system.
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AS FAR as people who argue for a living go, Rebecca Treston is fairly unassuming.
At least she appears that way sitting in her chambers in the centre of the Brisbane’s legal district, noting one of her most loved things about being a barrister is the “respectful” way you can get a point across in court.
Despite just being named as the first female head of the Queensland Bar Association in 115 years, the silk is surprised by all the fuss.
“I knew I would be the first (woman president) and that’s a little bit exciting, but I didn’t put a lot of stock in that fact,” she tells The Courier-Mail.
“I’ve been a barrister for the best part of 25 years, and I’ve just been going about my day job.
“I’ve always looked up to the people who had this role and admired what they gave up of their personal time to the profession.
“My parents were very driven towards ideas of what we could do to serve the public, so I think I always had that sense of I’d like to help out where I can.”
Treston, 52, comes from legal pedigree. Her father ran one of the most successful insurance firms in the city. He was her first boss and occasionally referred to Treston as his “baby girl” at work functions, she remembers.
“His firm Quinlan Miller & Treston is still operating, and is one of those mid-sized firms that has never been taken over,” the Queen’s Counsel says.
“I used to go in and photocopy documents for them on school holidays, and I just always loved everything about it.
“My father was just a really diligent thoughtful solicitor and one of those men that, when people met him, they just wanted him to be their solicitor for the next 100 years, and I like that solidness about him.”
In the late 1980s, barristers didn’t have fancy offices with views, Treston says.
“Back then, it didn’t impress me as a prestigious job, but I just loved the idea of looking into a matter and trying to find out the true story, searching for what the real answer was,” she says.
She grew up in Ashgrove, attended St Michael’s College and came to the bar in the 1990s.
In the past two decades, she has been involved in several high-profile cases, including famously representing Lorna Jane in the “fat-shaming” debacle that landed the fitness-wear mogul in court. The case involved a former employee seeking damages against the company, claiming an employee had actively fat-shamed, bullied and harassed her to the point where she had to give up work and couldn’t work again. The employee’s claim was dismissed.
“It shouldn’t make any difference who it is you’re acting for,” Treston says of the case.
“The normal human part of you is a bit interested in the lives of other people, so if it’s someone high-profile or who you know something about anecdotally, there is a bit of an interest factor … (but) at the end of the day, it’s the legal issues that are involved that you have to look at.”
It doesn’t take long to notice that Treston’s got a life outside of the four walls of her Tank St chambers.
A cursory glance around her office shows family is front and centre. She’s quick to say how much help her husband has been to her career and even sends a follow-up email to make sure she’d made clear her achievements have been a joint effort, and she hadn’t just prattled on about her trained-chef husband’s fantastic cooking.
“I was 36 and single and mortgageless and childless, and by the time I was 37, all that had changed,” she says.
“I didn’t anticipate I’d be lucky enough to have four beautiful, healthy children in my life, so I’ve really valued my time with them. I think I have a relatively good balance, but that takes a lot of discipline.”
Treston will tell any woman to come to the bar. It’s not such a scary place, she says, with the Queensland Bar Association this year adopting a policy aimed at giving 30 per cent of work to female barristers.
“I think it is about just trying to drive some cultural change, really,” she says.
“I don’t think we should get too hung up on it one way or the other. It’s a positive step towards ensuring women are given the best opportunity to compete on a level playing field.
“I think being a barrister, naturally, is a very adversarial environment to operate in … and some might say that aggressive approach to your day-to-day work life isn’t something that a lot of women would relish … but it probably is more flexible than people think.
“A lot of what we do is actually designed towards thinking of creative solutions to avoid an argument, and women are particularly skilful at that.”
Treston says the best advice she was given was to run your own race and she will continue to do so with her new appointment, noting training and support for the independent bar is one of her goals as president.
“A good piece of advice I was given many years ago was … not to compare yourself with someone else because it’s easy to look around you and say, well, that person got a better brief than I did.
“This is a very competitive environment that we work in, and you just have to keep your head down and focus on what you’re doing.”
Who is Rebecca Treston QC?
* Graduated in law in 1989
* Specialised in insurance litigation as a solicitor
* Called to the bar in 1996
* Became a QC in 2013
* Specialises in wills, estates, trusts, insurance and statutory liability, as well as professional indemnity and medico-legal matters
* Has previously been the Queensland Bar Association’s
vice-president
* Has appeared in several high- profile cases, including acting for Lorna Jane, and was involved in one of Queensland’s most complex statutory will cases, which centred around a $70 million estate
* Also acts as a mediator in commercial disputes
* Has previously been a memberof the Queensland Law Reform Commission
* Has four children aged between 11 and 15
* Has an interest in hiking and cooking
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