Four top Tasmanian lawyers snare silk in annual court announcement

Four of Tasmania’s top lawyers have been honoured with the highest-ranking title of Senior Counsel.

FOUR Hobart lawyers have snared the silk — the ultimate distinction to be bestowed upon a member of the bar.

High-profile criminal lawyer Greg Barns, Crown prosecutor Jackie Hartnett, local government expert Anthony Spence and family law specialist Marcus Turnbull were each appointed as Senior Counsel yesterday.

Mr Barns, a Mercury columnist and prominent prisoner advocate, is notably an adviser to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and once worked on a case involving an Islamic State terrorist’s part in a plan to bomb the MCG.

Greg Barns, SC, is one of four Tasmanian lawyers to have earned the title of Senior Counsel. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Mr Barns is also the Tasmanian Prisoners Legal Service chair, former national chair of the Australian Republican Movement, and has worked as senior adviser to a number of federal and state Liberal leaders and premiers.

“It’s an honour to take silk. My commitment to pro bono work and human rights issues won’t change at all,” Mr Barns said.

Jackie Hartnett, summary prosecutions assistant director in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, has worked for the Crown for 16 years on some of the state’s most high-profile murder cases, including Darren Gale and Anthony Finnegan.

She has also prosecuted a number of significant sex cases, such as Nicolaas Bester.

“The complainants that I’ve met have sometimes been through the most traumatic life-changing events, but their resilience and their hard work and overcoming adversity is something I’ve always found amazing,” she said.

Marcus Turnbull. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Anthony Spence is a principal lawyer at Page Seager, heading the firm’s planning and environment group, and has worked on some of Tasmania’s landmark planning and environment cases.

Marcus Turnbull, a partner at Ogilvie Jennings, regularly appears in the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court of Australia in complex property and children’s cases, and is the Tasmanian board representative for the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators.

Senior Counsel appointments replaced Queen’s Counsel in 2000. The only difference between the two is the name, and they are both referred to as “silks” because of the fabric of their robes.