The Honourable Margaret Stone AO FAAL was a scholar, academic, teacher, practitioner, Judge, Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, leader and mentor. Throughout her career she taught, advised and adjudicated on matters that spanned the breadth of Australian law.
In the inaugural Margaret Stone Lecture, Justice Michelle Gordon AC reflects on Margaret Stone’s life in the law. The Lecture will explore Margaret Stone’s profound contribution to Australian property law, an area which she once observed “fascinated” because of its history and development, and because of how it challenges “how we think about law”. The Lecture is a celebration of how Margaret Stone thought and the lasting impact that thinking has had.
The inaugural Lecture co-hosted by the Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney and Herbert Smith Freehills honours the life and contribution to the law of the late Hon Margaret Stone AO FAAL. Amongst her many achievements, Justice Stone was a much-loved and revered teacher at UNSW Sydney, a partner at Freehill, Hollingdale and Page and a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. In her later life she undertook a number of important roles in the public service including as the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. The creation of this Lecture has been with the support and encouragement of Justice Stone’s family.
This newly established 2023 Margaret Stone Lecture will focus on Private & Commercial Law but also accommodate other areas in which Justice Stone made contributions, including the federal judiciary and national security.
This event is co-hosted by
The Honourable Justice Michelle Gordon AC was appointed to the High Court of Australia in June 2015. At the time of her appointment, she was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, to which she was appointed in April 2007.
Her Honour graduated in law from the University of Western Australia. She was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1987 and joined the Victorian Bar in 1992. She was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. She practised in state and federal courts principally in commercial, equity, taxation and general civil matters. She was appointed a Professorial Fellow of the Melbourne Law School in July 2015.
