Criminal Law Solicitors
Hire Criminal Law Solicitors from Melbourne’s Oldest Criminal Law Firm
Are you looking for criminal law solicitors with the experience, legal knowledge and successful track record necessary to help you fight a criminal charge? At Galbally Parker, we can help. We are the longest-running private law firm in Melbourne that focuses exclusively on areas of criminal law. No matter the severity or complexity of your criminal case, we can provide the legal advice and representation you need.
What Sets Galbally Parker Apart Among Criminal Defence Solicitors?
As you seek a criminal trial lawyer, you might wonder what sets our firm apart from the others operating in this space. Here are a few factors:
- Our long track record: Galbally Parker has been a notable name in the Melbourne legal scene since 1976. No other private criminal law firm in the area has a longer track record of experience, casework or notable verdicts.
- Our success rate: We are a detail-oriented law firm, driven always to deliver the highest level of legal service and attention to detail to our clients. This commitment has led to a very high success rate in our cases, including a few headline-worthy verdicts. Most recently, we won an acquittal for Faruk Orman—the first defendant to have his conviction quashed as a result of the Lawyer X scandal.
- Our wealth of criminal law practice areas: Some criminal defence firms are just ‘serious crime lawyers,’ in that they only accept cases that involve severe or complex criminal matters. We are entirely comfortable operating in this high-stakes area but are also happy to take on summary or traffic matters.View a full list of our practice areas here.
The Best Advice You Can Hear Regarding Criminal Law Solicitors
As you seek out criminal defence solicitors for your case, keep these tips in mind to ensure the best outcome:
- Read about their experience: Not all criminal lawyers have the same experience or strengths. Read about solicitors and their experience before hiring them or their firm. At Galbally Parker, we maintain bio pages for each of our solicitors, outlining their experience and accomplishments.Here is one for Ruth Parker, our Principal.
- Schedule a consultation: You always want to get a feel for how you and a lawyer get along before putting them on retainer. An initial consultation is also an excellent opportunity to get some advice and determine what your next steps should be.
- Focus on hiring an advocate: You want someone in your corner who cares about you and your case and will fight to defend your rights no matter what. Our firm has a reputation for compassion, personalised service and long-term commitment to cases. The Faruk Orman case mentioned earlier, for instance, required nearly a decade of legal work.
What You Should Know about a Criminal Defence Barrister
When it comes to hiring a criminal litigation lawyer for your case, you may require a criminal defence barrister. Here are a few crucial points to know about barristers in Australia:
- Barristers are different from solicitors: Solicitors are lawyers who specialise in working with clients, providing advice and preparing cases. Barristers are skilled in courtroom strategy and advocacy. If your matter goes to court, you will likely need a barrister to serve as your trial lawyer in Melbourne.
- Solicitors work in law firms; barristers do not: Barristers typically operate independently. Often, they work in ‘chambers’ with several other barristers. Law firms/solicitors and their clients will hire barristers if barrister services are required.
- We only work with the best barristers in Melbourne: Over the years, we have built up strong partnerships with trusted third-party experts. We utilise these relationships when necessary, including connections with the best barristers and barrister chambers in Melbourne.
A History of Galbally Parker
As we mentioned above, Galbally Parker was established in 1976 and is the oldest exclusive, private criminal defence law firm in Melbourne. Here are a few other interesting points about our history:
- The firm was founded by Brian Rolfe and Bob Galbally: Our founders, Brian Rolfe and Bob Galbally, were and are extremely respected names in the world of Melbourne criminal law. Bob Galbally is still a part of our firm today, though he is no longer in the office daily.
- Ruth Parker took over as Principal in 2019: Ruth Parker took over the firm at the beginning of 2019, taking the baton from Brian Galbally as he nears a much-deserved retirement. She looks forward to continuing and extending the firm’s long history of excellence in criminal law.
- We have been a part of numerous groundbreaking cases: We already discussed our role in the Faruk Orman case, a very important matter in the context of the Lawyer X scandal. We have also been involved in several other groundbreaking cases. For instance, in the early 2010s, Ruth Parker represented Phillip Bracken, a client who had been charged with murdering his de facto partner. The case ultimately ended with an acquittal based on then-brand-new family violence self-defence provisions. Bracken was the first person to be acquitted under these provisions in Victoria history.
