Toowoomba’s most influential lawyers and their biggest cases revealed

From prosecuting and defending some of the biggest cases to make headlines across the Darling Downs, Toowoomba is home to a number of dedicated legal professionals fighting for justice. Here are some of our most influential lawyers and their biggest cases.

Toowoomba is home to more than its fair share of high profile lawyers and legal experts, who have a wide range of experience from prosecuting murder cases that made headlines around the world to founding a law firm that have spread across the country.

Here are some of Toowoomba’s most trusted voices in the legal profession:

Frank Martin

When it comes to experience practising law in Toowoomba, few come close to Frank Martin, who boasts more than 45 years of experience in both prosecuting and defending some of the state’s worst murderers and robbers.

Toowoomba barrister Frank Martin. Photo from 1992 when Mr Martin was Crown Prosecutor in Toowoomba. The Chronicle Archives

Graduating from the University of Queensland and being admitted as a barrister in the Queensland Supreme Court in 1976, Mr Martin spent the first 16 years of his career as a Crown prosecutor.

During this time Mr Martin successfully prosecuted the trial of “Black Widow” Wendy Lange, 25, who in 1986 was convicted of the murder of her building supervisor husband Geoff.

Earning the moniker after it was revealed during the trial that Ms Lange bought a black dress for her husband’s funeral a week before the men she had hired to kill him did the job, Mr Lange’s charred remains were found inside his burnt-out utility on Old Goombungee Rd to Toowoomba’s north in April, 1986.

“She might have had a better chance in this day and age with the battered wife syndrome as a defence,” Mr Martin told The Chronicle in 2016.

“She might have gotten off, at least on manslaughter. That was an interesting case.”

Mr Martin moved to the other side of the bar table in 1992, defending clients on a range of charges including more than 30 murder and manslaughter trials including the notorious “bowling ball head case”.

Barrister Frank Martin has more than four decades of legal experience on both sides of the bar table. Photo: Covington & Co. Photography

“It’s a high pressure job because you’ve got the accused’s life in your hands if it’s a life sentence,” he said.

“They tell you they didn’t do it so you have got to be on the ball, be able to cope with the pressures and if you do something wrong, the person could be in jail for something they didn’t do.”

Kerry Shine

While these days he spends more time in Toowoomba Regional Council chambers than in a courthouse, it’s hard to deny Kerry Shine’s impact on the legal profession.

From launching a law firm with a staff of one, Shine Lawyers has grown into one of Australia’s leading law firms.

A 26-year-old solicitor working in Brisbane, Mr Shine took an opportunity to start an office in Toowoomba in 1976.

Kerry Shine and celebrating 45 years of Shine Lawyers. Friday, November 19, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“I decided to start as KG Shine and Co which everyone laughed at because it was only me,” Mr Shine said.

“Soon Eddie Dean came into the partnership and then Alan Mogg. I had no idea where it would all go.

“When I left in 1998 we had 90 staff, now Shine Lawyers has 900.”

Mr Shine left the firm to pursue a career in politics which proved very successful as Member for Toowoomba North from 2001 to 2012 which included a stint as Queensland Attorney-General from 2006 to 2009.

He is a councillor with Toowoomba Regional Council having been elected at the last council election in March 2020.

From that one office in Toowoomba in 1976, Shine Lawyers has grown to 55 offices throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Dan Creevey

The principal of Creevey Russell Lawyers, Dan Creevey has spent 40 years as a lawyer representing clients in all levels of court in both civil and criminal jurisdictions.

In 2020 Mr Creevey successfully represented Hampton Irrigators Pty Ltd in their Supreme Court battle against Toowoomba Regional Council after water from the Kleinton Bore, which they had relied on for 15 years, was cut off after council claimed the water was contaminated.

Creevey Russell Lawyers director Daniel Creevey. Photo: Jonah Ritchie

The court ruled the contract was still valid, and that water quality was suitable for drinking, based on an assessment by an independent expert.

Mr Creevey has appeared for a number of other clients across the state and has advocated for the underdog in cases against the top end of town after first getting into law through his parents.

“There were barristers and magistrates on mum’s side of the family, and my dad Noel was a policeman in Winton, where I was born,” Mr Creevey said.

“He studied law while I was small and became a barrister.

“I started as an articled clerk at a firm in Brisbane, and dad moved my admission when I was admitted as a solicitor. Subsequently I completed a Master of Law at the University of Queensland specialising in litigation.

“Together with my sister Clare and Perry Russell we started Creevey Russell in 2009 with offices in Toowoomba and Brisbane.”

While Mr Creevey said there have been many standout cases across his career, the matters that stayed with him most were the ones that saw vindication of people’s rights against big business or governments.

“Too often disputes are fought on a commercial basis by lawyers,” he said

“What I mean by that is we see people or companies lodging claims without any real entitlement on the basis that it will be cheaper for the defendant to settle than take the matter to court.

“We also see big companies delaying and postponing settlements for years against battlers and then settling at the court’s door.

“Unfortunately, I have seen both of these scenarios too many times and it makes me angry. I then use my experience and knowledge of the law to help our clients get the best result we can by utilising the court process early in proceedings – court doesn’t have to be about long and drawn-out trials.

“One of the most intriguing matters I worked on involved a death caused by carbon monoxide poisoning but it was unclear where the carbon monoxide had come from.

“There was a strange contraption located near the deceased and this was brought into our office. When investigated by the University of Queensland it was found that this contraption could produce very high levels of carbon monoxide – it could have poisoned all of us in the office.”

Keeping things in the family, Daniel Creevey’s son, Dan Creevey Jnr, is now also a solicitor representing clients in criminal matters including at Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

David Jones

Another former Crown prosecutor who has since moved to practise law as defence counsel, Mr Jones has been involved in a number of high-profile trials, on both sides of the bar.

After joining the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2005, where he spent more than a decade and became senior Crown prosecutor in 2010, Mr Jones branched out into private practise in 2016.

Since then, Mr Jones has appeared in District and Supreme Court matters ranging from murder and manslaughter to drug trafficking.

Toowoomba barrister David Jones has appeared in hundred of jury trials since 2006. Photo: Covington & Co. Photography

In 2020 Mr Jones represented disgraced former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale after being jailed for more than seven years for fraud, corruption and sexual assault he committed while in the city’s highest office.

Mr Jones also managed to appeal against a murder conviction of a man charged with murdering his girlfriend’s former lover during a botched home invasion.

A military officer, in 2013 Mr Jones was commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army Reserves, graduating from Duntroon with the Sword of Honour a year later, before going on to join the Legal Corp where he appears in Defence Force Magistrate trials and court martials on both ends of the bar.

“A lot of the work is pretty broad and it involves a lot of travel with the inquiry work for Defence, and we’re involved in a broad range of investigations,” he said.

“Whenever there is a death of a member of the Australian Defence Force we get called in to assist with the inquiry which is challenging but rewarding.

“It’s been excellent, haven’t regretted the decision to move from the Crown and into this work.”

Mr Jones said handling the emotions of clients has been one of the challenges he has faced in private practise.

“It takes experience as there’s different types of stress,” he said.

“You could have a person you’re representing who themselves can be stressful to you as a barrister, also the subject matter of what people are accused of as well can be stressful, as they’re quite often very serious.

“I’ve got the benefit of having a number of very experienced barristers who work alongside me that are there to talk to and share their experiences which helps.”

Brad Skuse, Claire Graham

Two of Toowoomba’s more experienced criminal lawyers, in 2021 the pair joined forces to form their own law firm, Skuse Graham Criminal Lawyers.

Starting his law career in Toowoomba Magistrates Court in 1987, that included time as acting magistrate, Mr Skuse worked in the court until 2009 where he started practising as a criminal lawyer.

Lawyers Claire Graham and Brad Skuse have merged to form a new legal firm, Skuse Graham Lawyers, Friday, July 2, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

After leaving he spent 11 years with David Burns Lawyers, spending seven years as the firm’s principal.

Ms Graham spent a year with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions before working nine years in a criminal law firm in Toowoomba before becoming the principal of her own firm, Peters Criminal Lawyers, in Dalby in 2019.

“We are thrilled to be able to combine forces, experience and talented staff to create a firm that has greater capacity to deliver quality legal services to a diverse and ever growing base of clients,” Mr Skuse said.

Chelsea Saldumbide, Joe McConnell

Starting a law firm from scratch is no mean feat but for legal aces Joe McConnell and Chelsea Saldumbide the challenge has been rewarding.

The pair launched their firm McConnell and Saldumbide Criminal Lawyers in 2021, and despite being in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic Mr McConnell said the business has expanded since then.

“Just before Christmas we put on our first new staff member which was exciting,” he said.

“In criminal law a lot of the other practices have been around for a long time, and some have new partners that have bought in so to start from scratch has been quite an experience but it’s going well.”

Criminal lawyers Chelsea Saldumbide and Joe McConnell have opened their own law firm, Friday, June 25, 2021. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Before partnering with the new firm, Mr McConnell was a criminal defence solicitor at MacDonald Law, and has been practising law for close to six years.

Ms Saldumbide has been working in criminal law for eight years and practising as a solicitor for the past six years.

She started her career in prosecutions working for both the Commonwealth and State Directors Offices.