BEN JAMIESON

Most 24-year-olds are starting their careers as the office junior. Lawyer Ben Jamieson was representing one of Australia’s most feared men in a court case.

Now 32, Jamieson has opened his own legal firm — a move made possible because of the way he handled dealing with dangerous clients from a very early stage in his career.

The underworld figure he was representing can’t legally be named but his rap sheet includes armed robbery, shooting one of crime boss Bassam Hamzy’s family members, setting his jail cell on fire and brawling with Hamzy behind bars.

It’s a high-pressure job. The lawyers representing alleged criminals have to tell dangerous people news they don’t want to hear. You have to be able to stand up for yourself against people who have (allegedly) the capacity to kill.

Jamieson had been a lawyer for less than two years. But this is how apprenticeships go in the world of criminal law.

Jamieson had landed a job in 2012 with revered Sydney lawyer Greg Goold. That year, one of Jamieson’s first jobs was to act in a marathon trial relating to one of four men charged with the armed robberies of six armoured trucks where $6 million cash was stolen and never recovered. All four men were found not guilty.

Next was one of two men who allegedly pointed a gun at the face of bar boss Justin Hemmes during an armed holdup of one of his Surry Hills pubs.

Next cab off the rank was a Rebels bikie charged with torturing an ex-gang member. Jamieson is now set to defend one of the men charged after lawyer Ho Ledinh was shot dead in broad daylight at Bankstown in 2018.

JESSICA FAHMY

When one of the state’s biggest bikie trials was recently playing out in the Sydney District Court, Jessica Fahmy was having a heated debate with a senior barrister over the legal strategy in the case.

It mattered little that the barrister had three decades of legal experience to Fahmy’s four.

He soon accepted her point of view. She works for Zahr Partners and got her start with another leading criminal firm, Matouk Joyner in 2010.

In 2013, Fahmy was admitted to act as a lawyer. By 2016 she was running the high-profile case of Penthouse Pet-turned-drug smuggler Simone Farrow.

In 2017, she acted in a high profile trial relating to the alleged torture of an ex-Rebels bikie where her client was found not guilty. She has since acted in the state’s biggest murder trials.

CARLA VELASQUEZ

Two weeks after being employed in her first job as a lawyer, Carla Velasquez was instructing a QC in a 2012 murder trial. Ms Velasquez was tasked with instructing highly experienced silk Bruce Walmsley QC alongside criminal lawyer Simon Joyner.

“It was daunting but it was more thrilling,” Ms Velasquez said.

Seven years later and she is one of the state’s leading young lawyers who has recently opened her own practice.

With her new firm, she has acted on a broad spectrum of cases. These include Alaedine Rifai, who pleaded guilty to a seven-figure fraud on the NDIS scheme and photographer and baby killer Andrew Woodcock.

ROBERT CANDELORI

For Robert Candelori, growing up in one of Western Sydney’s most famous restaurants was perfect training for a career in criminal law because neither profession operates to a nine to five schedule — and both require a tireless work ethic.

Now one of the best young lawyers in Sydney, the 34-year-old was raised helping his family run Smithfield’s famed Italian eatery Candelori’s.

So when he landed a job as a 19-year-old law student at the firm McGirr and Associates, Candelori was well equipped to be able to handle the gruelling work schedule.

He was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 2015 and has gone on to work on some of the state’s biggest cases.

In 2020, he acted on the case of Valentino Fries, who was found not guilty of attempting to smuggle 1.4 tonnes of cocaine.

This year he is set to work alongside Mr McGirr when the firm defends NRL player Manase Fainu, who has pleaded not guilty to a stabbing in Western Sydney.

DAVID PHILIPPE

Growing up as the child of a widowed mother shaped David Phillipe’s approach to being a lawyer.

“My passion for criminal law is underpinned by the belief that I can make a difference and promote positive change in my clients during the most stressful times in their lives,” Mr Phillipe said.

Now 25, Mr Phillipe was admitted to work as a lawyer and secured a job at Australian Criminal Defence and Traffic Lawyers.

His first big case was representing Brian Lee on a murder charge.

Lee stabbed an Australia Post worker to death but was found not guilty of murder on mental health grounds in 2019.

TORIK DIB and NORA SAYED

Torik Dib was studying medicine when his sibling’s career made him change his mind.

Torik’s brother Ahmed Dib is a high profile criminal lawyer and at that point was working on the case of murdered Sydney gangster Kemel Barrakat.

It was a career-changing moment.

Torik graduated with a law degree and now works alongside Ahmed at his practice.

He has recently worked on cases related to the high-profile gang wars that are plaguing Sydney.

This includes the case of Ghassan Amoun, the younger brother of gang leader Bassam Hamzy who recently had his bail conditions changed so he could attend the funeral of his cousin, murdered gangster Bilal Hamze.

Also working for Mr Dib is Nora Sayed, who acted in the trial of Osama Hawat.

Hawat was found not guilty of murdering gangster Hamad Assaad in 2019.

MOHAMED BEJJAOUI

When Mohammed Bajjoui walked out of court after representing a man charged with supplying cocaine to the son of a famous Sydney broadcaster, he was confronted by a throng of cameras and microphones.

Welcome to the Sydney legal fraternity.

It was 2018 and Mr Bajjoui had only recently been employed as a solicitor by Mahmoud Abbas.

In the time since, he has gone on to appear in some of Sydney’s most significant cases.

This has included representing one of the men found not guilty of murdering ex-bikie boss Mick Hawi.

He also acts for one of 10 men charged with allegedly kidnapping ex-bikie Dillan Mansco, who was rescued by police wearing only his underwear at a Revesby warehouse.

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ABDUL TLAIS

When Abdul Tlais graduated from his law degree he had eyes for one job — now he is running the joint.

After finishing university, the job Mr Tlais coveted was to work with famed criminal barrister John Korn.

That meant getting a job with the firm run by the barrister’s son Rick Korn.

In a stroke of luck, a job became available and he took it.

Five years later, the 27-year-old is now a partner in the firm.

He has recently appeared in a case that made world headlines.

Known as “The Chinese Hugh Jackman rape case”, Mr Tlais represented Chinese film star Yunxiang Gao, who was found not guilty of raping a woman in a Sydney hotel room.

He is now acting in a high profile murder trial where James Hachem has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend.

DANIEL KRADOLFER

It turns out there are parallels with being a criminal lawyer and a rock star.

Daniel Kradolfer should know — he’s got both jobs on his CV.

In a previous life, Kradolfer was the drummer for Adelaide indie rock band City Riots who supported rock legends The Smashing Pumpkins on their 2010 tour of Australia.

Now 35, Kradolfer has studied law and took a job last October at Aquila lawyers under the tutelage of leading criminal lawyer Omar Juweinat.

Kradolfer said he was drawn to criminal law because of the appearances in court, where he is required to think on his feet and make arguments on the spot that can win or lose cases.

“There’s parallels between the stage and court in terms of the adrenaline you get,” he said.

In less than a year he has appeared in several significant cases, including that where a man had his convictions quashed because the trial judge failed to sum up the defence case to the jury. It has set a precedent that has been used by others for multiple successful appeals.

PASQUALE CENTRACO

Pasquale Centraco made the jump from commercial to criminal law just a few years ago and hasn’t looked back.

Some have joked that he must hate money given the disparity in pay packets between criminal and civil lawyers.

But the 28-year-old explained it was the nature of the work that made him make the switch.

“The competitive nature of criminal law as well as the advocacy where you get the adrenaline of appearing in court, thinking on your feet and making critical decisions in an instant — you don’t get that working in civil because you don’t appear in court as much,” Mr Centraco said.

Where he was previously working on property litigations worth tens of millions, Mr Centraco is now working for Surry Hills firm Benjamin and Leonardo — The Defenders.

His first job was to represent the matriarch of the notorious Colt family where she avoided extra jail time over a perjury charge.

Recently he had acted for one of a number of St George Bank employees accused of draining hundreds of thousands of dollars from customers’ accounts.

He is also currently working on a case in the NSW Supreme Court where a man is suing the NSW Police over an arrest that he claims was unlawful and turned violent.

MONICA BORTOLOTTI

In the space of five years, Monica Bortolotti went from high school teacher to working on a number of Australia’s most notorious murder trials.

Ms Bortolotti was a geography and history teacher but decided she needed a change of pace in 2015.

She enrolled in a law degree and found work as a legal assistant with one of the state’s best criminal barristers Avni Djemal.

Her next stop was a job with leading criminal solicitor Kiki Kyriacou.

Since then, she has worked on several high-profile murder cases.

This has included the trial of Luke “Fatboy” Sparos who was eventually found not guilty of murdering a Crown witness after several attempts at trial.

In 2020, Ms Bortolotti appeared in the case of Yusuf Nazlioglu, who was found not guilty of murdering ex-bikie boss Mick Hawi.

JORDAN PORTOKALLI

When it comes to entries into the notoriously unforgiving world of criminal law you could say that Jordan Portokalli wasn’t so much thrown into the deep end as tossed into a chasm that ran all the way to the centre of the earth.

As a 21-year-old he appeared in a District Court Case for a man charged with importing 1.4 tonnes of cocaine into Australia.

There were five other co-accused, a mountain of evidence to get across, senior barristers and QCs with a collective experience of about 140 years and the trial went for a gruelling six months with minimum 13 hour days.

But that’s the way the legal fraternity tests who can rise to the challenge.

“When dealing with lawyers who have so much more experience you’ve just got to rise to the occasion,” Mr Portokalli said. “Review as much of the material as possible, take advice from anyone just to get through it.”

He did. And at 24 is now one of Sydney’s best young criminal lawyers.

BIANCA BARNES

Calmness under pressure — and staying cool while gangsters tried to stab each other in a courtroom — is what got Bianca Barnes her first job as a criminal lawyer.

She was working as a researcher for a barrister in the mega-trial of Brothers For Life gangster Farhad Qaumi and his fellow gang members.

But when one of the criminals attempted to stab another in the dock all hell broke loose.

But Ms Barnes, who was just in front of the brawling gangsters, kept her cool.

Watching on was one of Sydney’s most experienced lawyers, Maggie Sten, who was representing one of the gangsters in the dock.

Ms Sten liked what she saw from Ms Barnes and offered her a job that day.

Ms Barnes was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 2017 and still works for Ms Sten.

She is currently defending accused sex cult leader James Davis in his trial.

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