Adam is an experienced defence advocate in a broad range of serious criminal law and related administrative law and public interest matters. He is particularly adept at representing clients in cases arising out of sophisticated investigations and involving complex evidentiary and legal issues.
He regularly appears for the defence (both alone and with a leader) in trials in the State courts, appeals, committals, contested hearings and bail applications as well as a range of procedural hearings and hearings in coercive commissions of inquiry, such as Royal Commissions, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and IBAC.
In recent years, he has been briefed in a range of notable matters, including cases involving: homicide; violence; large-scale drug offences; armed robberies on ‘hard targets’; fraud and money laundering; arson; and charges arising out of protest actions.
Prior to being called to the Bar, Adam was an associate to the Honourable Justice Byrne at the Supreme Court of Victoria, worked in-house at the Office of Chief Examiner - Victoria Police (the mandate of which is the investigation of serious and organised crime) and for a number of years regularly appeared as a solicitor advocate with the Melbourne offices of Doogue & O’Brien and as a sole practitioner.
Adam is also passionate about and maintains an active interest in academic, international and pro bono work.
He has published widely and has studied and undertaken research at the University of Melbourne, Griffith University and the University of Queensland. His research interests include: civil disobedience and protest; coercive powers; covert policing; police accountability; surveillance; and conflicts between law enforcement methodologies and human rights more broadly.
Adam has carried out anti-death penalty campaign work in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia and defended asylum seekers charged with criminal offences in the Republic of Nauru. He has also undertaken international humanitarian response training with RedR Australia. He is a member of the Organising Body for Melbourne Activist Legal Support and also regularly defends activists on a pro bono basis.
Adam read in Crockett Chambers with Mandy Fox KC (now Justice Fox) and senior mentor Peter Morrissey SC. He was a founder of and now practices in Niagara Lane Chambers; a boutique and private set of chambers for defence barristers devoted to upholding human rights.
He holds an Indictable Crime Certificate, is on the Victoria Legal Aid list of Counsel and is accredited as an advocacy instructor by the Victorian Bar. He is also a member of the Criminal Bar Association and Liberty Victoria.
