After 14 years as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia we are delighted to announce the return of Honourable Neil McKerracher QC to Francis Burt Chambers.
He brings with him a wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience in commercial dispute resolution and joins other distinguished former members of the judiciary who provide arbitration and mediation services from our Chambers.
During his tenure on the Court, Mr McKerracher delivered some 940 appellate and single instance written judgments in a wide variety of commercial and other matters.
He represented the Court on the executive of the Australian Judicial Officers’ Association. He chaired the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Organising Committee of Australia, and from 2019 to 2022 represented the International Judges’ Association in UNCITRAL working groups in the UN, negotiating a draft international maritime treaty.
He also sat as a judicial member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and participated in endeavours to shape rules of the Court to modern needs generally, including for arbitration.
Before his appointment to the Court in October 2007, Mr McKerracher generally practised in commercial and civil disputes, taking silk in 1997. He was also a long-standing member of Francis Burt Chambers having served on the Board for many years including as both Chairman and Deputy Chair.
