Legal team behind Novak Djokovic’s win at Federal Circuit Court

Fighting for the world’s number 1 tennis player in front of the whole world was a high-powered team of elite lawyers. This is Djokovic’s team.

Novak Djokovic hopes to compete at next week’s Australian Open. Picture: Paul Crock/AFP

Novak Djokovic is a step closer to being allowed to stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open starting next week.

On Monday, he successfully won a court bid to overturn the cancellation of his visa, but it remains a possibility that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke could use personal powers to kick the Serbian tennis star out of the country.

His win at the Federal Circuit Court was made possible after he hired powerful lawyers that cost in the region of $50,000.

Law firm Hall & Wilcox acted for Novak Djokovic. They were led by Natalie Bannister, Penelope Ford and Graydon Dowd and they briefed counsel including Paul Holdenson QC, Nick Wood SC, Nik Dragojlovic and Jim Hartley.

The team successfully argued Djokovic has been deprived of procedural fairness when border agents stopped him on Thursday morning and issued him with a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation of his visa.

Judge Anthony Kelly found that Australian Border Force acted unreasonably when they took Djokovic’s phone off him and demanded proof of a medical exemption to enter Australia despite not being vaccinated against Covid-19.

Judge Kelly ruled that Djokovic should’ve been given more time and access to his lawyers in the early hours of Thursday morning before having his visa cancelled.

The hiring of the four male lawyers followed reports that Djokovic parted ways with two female lawyers after court documents filed on his behalf misspelled his surname.

These four Australian lawyers are trying to quash the cancellation of Novak Djokovic's Visa into Australia: Paul Holdenson, Nikola Dragojlovic, Nick Wood, Jim Hartley. #Djokovicpic.twitter.com/lPnGUtcTSb

— Simon Häring (@_shaering) January 9, 2022

Who are Novak’s lawyers?

Novak Djokovic’s legal team was led by Nicholas Wood, whose public profiles offer an insight into how he found himself representing the world’s best tennis player in one of the highest profile cases in recent memory.

Mr Wood is the editor of the Judicial Review chapter of Victorian Administrative Law and has worked for clients before he High Court, Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Court.

He was previously Counsel Assisting the Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth and Associate to Justice Beaumont of the Federal Court.

Mr Wood is no stranger to immigration law. He recently worked in the Federal Circuit Court on a proceeding concerning an alleged fraud committed against a visa applicant by her migration agent.

Mr Wood was joined by Paul Holdensen whose extensive career in law began when he signed the bar roll in 1989.

According to the Victorian Bar website, Mr Holdensen “has developed a specialist practice as an appellate advocate, appearing predominantly in criminal appeals”.

He has worked before the Victorian Court of Appeal, the High Court of Australia and interstate appellate courts in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

Members of the local Serbian community play music and dance in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: William West/AFP

High profile clients include Akon Guode, the Melbourne mother who drove her children into a lake, and Christopher Hudson, who killed a father-of-three Brendan Keilar in 2007.

Nik Dragojlovic was also part of the Djokovic team. His LinkedIn profile declares that he works in “all courts and tribunals in a broad variety of commercial law matters and have particular expertise in property related issues”.

He cites experience with “complex contract disputes”, “insolvency, bankruptcy and winding-up proceedings” and “corporations law matters”.

The four-man team also included Jim Hartley who was an Associate to Hon Justices Tracey and Bromberg of the Federal Court and a senior lawyer in commercial litigation practice with Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers in Canberra.

An online profile notes that Mr Hartley last year received the Ron Castan AM QC award “for outstanding achievement in pro bono advocacy undertaken by barristers who are between one and six-years’ call.”

Relatives of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, including his uncle Goran, his mother Dijana, his father Srdjan and his brother Djordje. Picture: Pedja Milosavljevic/AFP

What now for Novak?

Novak Djokovic used the hours after Monday’s ruling to take to Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park where he hopes to star at next week’s Australian Open.

That will depend on what Immigration Minister Alex Hawke does next.

A spokesperson for the Federal Government said late last night that “it remains within Immigration Minister Hawke’s discretion to consider cancelling Mr Djokovic’s visa under his personal power of cancellation within section 133C(3) of the Migration Act” and that “the Minister is currently considering the matter and the process remains ongoing”.

If Djokovic is removed by the Immigration Minister, he will be banned from entering Australia for three years.

In an Instagram post on Monday night, Djokovic thanked his supporters.

“I am pleased and grateful that the Judge overturned my visa cancellation,” he wrote.

“Despite all that has happened in the past week, I want to stay and to try to compete at the Australian Open. I remain focused on that.

“I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans. For now I cannot say more but THANK YOU for standing with me through all this and encouraging me to stay strong.”