About 5 Wentworth
5 Wentworth was founded by Sir Garfield Barwick in 1932, and is now the longest established chambers in Sydney. Since then, it has been noted for the range and depth of its members’ practices.
Today, it has particular strength in banking and finance, commercial, corporations, employment, intellectual property, public and securities law.
The chambers comprise six senior, and nineteen junior, counsel.
Alumni
Many alumni of 5 Wentworth have subsequently taken judicial appointments.
High Court of Australia
Sir Garfield Barwick QC
Sir Cyril Walsh QC
Federal Court of Australia
The Hon. Ronald Sackville QC
The Hon. Justice Annabelle Bennett AO
The Hon. Douglas McGregor
Family Court of Australia
The Hon. Justice John Cohen
The Hon. Justice Stephen O’Ryan
Commonwealth Solicitor-General
David Bennett AC QC
NSW Court of Appeal
The Hon. Justice Anthony Whealy
NSW Supreme Court
The Hon. Justice Peter Johnson
The Hon. Michael W Campbell
The Hon. Michael M Helsham
The Hon. Michael L Foster
The Hon. Hugh Maguire KC (ACT Supreme Court and the Federal Court)
Dust Diseases Tribunal
The Hon. Judge John O’Meally (President)
NSW District Court
Judge Brian Knox SC
Judge Alistair Cameron Smith
Judge Peter Moss
Judge Colin LJ Bowie
Judge Brian W Duck
Judge William H Knight
The Hon. Ernest Knoblanche QC
Other prominent 5 Wentworth alumni from the early years include:
JB Kinkead – appointed King’s Counsellor in 1950.
W.F. Sheahan – a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for the seat of Yass from 1941-1971.
L.C. Furnell – a Chairman of the Quarter Sessions in 1954.
History
5 Wentworth had its origin in Fifth Floor Chalfont Chambers.
Established in 1932, led by Sir Garfield Barwick and Sir Cyril Walsh, and clerked by Edgar Marks, the chambers was a close-knit group that became an institution on Phillip Street.
Sir Garfield promoted the foundation of Wentworth and Selborne Chambers as a permanent home for the New South Wales Bar.
He and his colleagues were the first group to set up in the new Wentworth Chambers when they moved to their new home on the Fifth Floor in 1957.
There we have been ever since, with the same traditions of collegiality and excellence with which our chambers began almost 80 years ago.
When 5 Wentworth’s then leader, Anthony Whealy QC, was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2000, he said of 5 Wentworth:
“The fifth floor has a colourful and strong history. It, or its predecessor, the Fifth Floor Chalfont Chambers, housed such greats as Barwick and Cyril Walsh. When I joined it there was a great variety of diverse talent… Its present structure is again one of great variety and strength. It distinguishes itself from other floors, in my opinion, by the overwhelming sense of friendliness and goodwill amongst the men and women who now inhabit it. It has lost none of its sense of history and continuity.”