Written By Justine Tee And Jennifer Ung
What is CRIMINAL Law?
Criminal lawyers fall into two categories: defence and prosecution. Unlike prosecution lawyers (e.g. crown prosecutors) who act in the interest of the State, defence lawyers play a crucial role in representing and advising the accused in relation to criminal charges made against them by the State. They can be found speaking on behalf of the accused in mainstream courts or playing a more supportive role in non-adversarial courts such as the Drug Courts. Criminal lawyers possess extensive knowledge about the criminal law and are subsequently able to advise on various criminal matters, including but not limited to:
assault and battery;
family violence;
driving suspensions and fines;
drug charges; and
murder
Nicole Spicer
Senior Lawyer and Consultant, Stary Norton Halphen
Nicole Spicer is currently a Senior Lawyer and Consultant at leading criminal law firm, Stary Norton Halphen. Nicole started her criminal law career working in the Northern Territory after a chance encounter with a lawyer at a fundraising event. Since then, Nicole has gone on to start her own criminal law practice, raise kids as a proud mum, and teach at Monash as a tutor. Keep on reading to learn more about Nicole and the criminal law field!
INTERVIEW
How did you get into practising criminal defence law?
During university, I was very involved with outdoor education. In fact, I worked in that field for a while, taking groups of kids hiking, rock-climbing and skiing. In that community, I would often talk about my interests in human rights advocacy and wanting to stick up for people. Through those friends I had met a lawyer who did a lot of work in the Northern Territory. I bumped into him at a fundraising function one evening soon after I had completed my law degree and he said he was running a rape trial funded by Aboriginal Legal Aid the next day in Alice Springs. He asked if I would like to come up and instruct him in the trial as he would not have an instructor. I had a total of $850 in my bank account and used almost all of it to purchase my plane ticket to Alice Springs the following day. This turned out to be a very good decision! As soon as I went up there to the NT, I saw first-hand the injustices that the indigenous people faced on a daily basis. That brought everything into sharp focus for me. It literally hit me in the face that criminal defence and human rights advocacy go hand in hand. From there I was referred to a whole lot of contacts within the criminal law sphere in Melbourne and it just became very clear that that was the place for me and luckily I was able to get a job eventually with a specialist criminal law firm in Footscray which I loved.
What does a day in your life as a criminal lawyer look like?
I’m in a supervisory role and I have a specialist caseload, so an ordinary will involve:
supervising other lawyers and addressing their concerns;
responding to emails and liaising with clients, other lawyers and barristers;
1-2 appointments with clients;
drafting documents or going through supporting materials for cases;
reading case material that has been sent to me; and
making a court appearance as Counsel, running a committal hearing, or doing an appeal or county court plea.
“One thing about criminal law is that a lot of it is pretty interesting. There are stacks and stacks of interesting cases.”
What is the most interesting project you have worked on?
One thing about criminal law is that a lot of it is pretty interesting. There are stacks and stacks of interesting cases. I had a recent case related to racehorse doping. Here, there was an intersection between criminal law and civil law. It was a very fascinating case because it dealt with various areas of law. It considered parts of regulatory and criminal conduct. The hearing also took place in a racing tribunal, which I realised did not have the same evidentiary and procedural protections as observed in courts. It ended up being a huge case with a lot of colourful characters in an area that was completely foreign to me. That was pretty interesting, but perhaps not easily accessible to other people.
What prompted you to start your own employment law and civil litigation practice in 2009?
There were a couple of motivators behind my decision. I really wanted to be the boss of my own work and not work to someone else’s timetable, because I had young children and flexible working hours was not standard practice back then as it is now. The other reason was that because I’d just come out of a big criminal practice, I was aware that there was a significant legal need in the crossover area. That is, matters that have both a criminal and civil flavour and involve civil litigation, employment law, regulatory matters and licensing. A lot of mainstream law firms don’t want to touch these matters, because they don’t want to deal with the criminal aspect. On the other hand, criminal lawyers don’t want to touch them, because they’ve become very specialised in criminal law and their insurance will only cover them for criminal law. Consequently, I noticed that it was hard to refer individuals needing representation in this crossover area and saw an opening to engage in this particular field of work.
How do you manage your work-life balance? In particular, how do you juggle being a mother and your responsibilities to both Stary Norton Halphen and Spicer Lawyers?
At one stage, when I was running Spicer Lawyers, I had 4 lawyers and we really had a heavy caseload. That part of it was great and I really loved that. I had a very good team, but I was finding that the business administration aspect was becoming more and more time-consuming.
In 2016, I made the strategic decision to merge Spicer Lawyers with Stary Norton Halphen and work with them on the basis that my primary role was as a mentor and supervisor. I also maintained some of the specialist work.
A big reason for my decision was so that I could still have time for the family. My husband was working ridiculous amounts of time, so the bulk of the primary caring was coming from me. As my kids went into secondary school, I thought it was really important that I was available for them. When you have kids, your commitments change as they age. When they’re little, you can use childcare. Actually, when I was running Spicer Lawyers and my kids were very little, I used au pairs but then they got too big for au pairs. You just have to tailor your strategies to where your family’s at at any one time. I’m not going to suggest that I got that perfect. It was hard.
“Obtaining work in criminal law is a lot about timing...therefore, I think it’s really important for students not to be discouraged.”
Do you have any tips for students who are looking to apply for criminal law positions after graduation? In particular, do you have any extracurricular activities you would recommend?
There are a few things I can say about this. The first thing is that obtaining work in criminal law is a lot about timing. I know that with our firm, we will go for months without hiring anyone and then all of a sudden, we’ll need 4 people all in one go. Therefore, I think it’s really important for students not to be discouraged, because there’s a relatively small number of positions. Sometimes, you might just be lucky and be applying at the right time, but it takes a lot of perseverance.
“As a Monash Law tutor, I’d like to say that the standard of students at Monash Law School is very high, even the ones who are not getting the top grades. I’m consistently blown away. ”
The second thing is that I think that it’s really important to be in the criminal law environment as much as you can. By that, I mean not just straight criminal law but any sort of advocacy for vulnerable or disadvantaged people. There’s a huge crossover between criminal law and homelessness, family violence, poverty, drug use, mental illness and acquired brain injury. If you’re doing work in any of those spaces—whether it’s through a community legal service, private firm, specialist clinic, uni clinic or a social services organisation—they all count and are worthwhile. Work in these spaces are all relevant in terms of being attractive to an employer for criminal legal work but also in terms of being able to do it better when you get there. However, I don’t think people should do things so that they can add another little tick box on their resume. I think it’s important to find a cause that you genuinely care about and try to contribute to it. By doing so, you—even as a student—can actually make a genuine and meaningful contribution in your area of interest.
As a Monash Law tutor, I’d like to say that the standard of students at Monash Law School is very high, even the ones who are not getting the top grades. I’m consistently blown away. You’ll even find a lot of practicing lawyers saying that they’d never get a job now, because the students are just really motivated and have lots of experience.
Suggested Electives/activities:
Electives: There’s a significant crossover between human rights law and criminal law, so students who are also interested in human rights can look into undertaking the following units:
International Human Rights (LAW4155)
Human Rights in Australia (LAW4172)
Overview of International Human Rights (LAW5304)
Experience/Activities:
Volunteer at a community legal service, a private law firm, a specialist legal service or a uni clinic (e.g. Monash Law Clinics)
Volunteer at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre
Volunteer at specialist clinics
Homelessness clinics (e.g. Justice Connect’s Homelessness Law Service)
Social security clinics (e.g. South East Community Links)
Get involved with social services organisations
IN THE NEWS
George Pell's child sex abuse convictions have been quashed by the High Court. So what happens now? (abc, 2020)
Sarah Farnsworth writes on George Pell’s child sex abuse convictions.
“Cardinal Pell always maintained his innocence and the Vatican vowed to wait until all legal avenues were exhausted before it commenced any internal investigation into the allegations against him.
But the Holy See did enforce a ban on Cardinal Pell exercising the ministry or having contact with minors, which could now be lifted with the High Court's findings.”
The push to raise Australia’s minimum age of criminal responsibility (abc, 2020)
Henry Zwartz and Joseph Dunstan discuss the policy considerations around raising Australia’s minimum age of criminal responsibility.
“William Tilmouth was 14 when he was sent to Darwin's youth detention centre Essington House in 1969, after running away from a children's home. I was sent there for 11 and a half months because I was staying with a friend in Darwin. I remember crying in my cell the first night I was there. I cried in my cell; I was just a boy.”
“The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Australia is 10. In 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended 14 years as the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Peak bodies representing youth advocates, doctors and lawyers had been urging Australia's top legal officers to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility before a meeting of the Council of Attorneys-General (CAG).”
‘Nightmare of serious errors’: How Australia’s miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions are crippling the criminal justice system (lawyers weekly, 2020)
Naomi Neilson writes on miscarriages of justice and the consequences for those wrongly convicted.
“Australia’s most recent wrongful imprisonment case is that of a man in Canberra who spent 82 days behind bars until a court finally found him innocent. When Steven Lewis sought compensation of $100,000, he received just $1 from the state. This kind of case is one of many, with research estimating that at any one time, there are 330 people in the District and Supreme Court system that are at risk of wrongful convictions.”
learn more about CRIMINAL LAW
One decision does not make an entire justice system (LAWYERS WEEKLY, 2020)
Naomi Neilson
Jury is out: why shifting to judge-alone trials is a flawed approach to criminal justice (THE CONVERSATION, 2020)
Felicity Gerry
Criminal defence firms not likely face same downturn as UK counterparts (LAWYERS WEEKLY, 2020)
Jerome Doraisamy