Douglas Meagher signed the Bar Roll on 1 May 1964. In 1984 he was appointed Queen's Counsel in Victoria and later in other States. He is admitted to practice in the UK and Wales, being a member of Inner Temple.

In early years of practice he appeared in all jurisdictions, civil and criminal, jury and non-jury trials and appeals. Although always in private practice, he was frequently briefed to prosecute substantial criminal matters, with a significant emphasis upon major white collar fraud. Included was the extradition of a fraudulent solicitor from Israel, the first permitted by that country; the successful prosecution of the directors of Trustees & Executors Agency; the directors of the Athena Building Society; the managing director of the National Safety Council. For some years he was retained by the Director of Public Prosecutions to advise upon and monitor the prosecution of all white collar criminal prosecutions. Later he accepted briefs to defend those charged with such offences, amongst which was the defence of the principal director of the Pyramid Building Society following its collapse, both at an inquiry and on criminal prosecution. He has defended solicitors in respect of professional misconduct charges.

The experience gained in the conduct of these major trials was the foundation for a series of papers on management of major criminal trials which he delivered to various professional groups including judicial conferences arranged by the Institute of Judicial Administration.

This work resulted in his appointment as leading counsel in the Royal Commission into the Ships Painters & Dockers (the 'Costigan Inquiry'). In the course of this engagement he wrote and the Commonwealth published a work entitled "Organised Crime' which identified the practices of organised crime in Australia. As part of the work at the Royal Commission Douglas developed a computer based criminal intelligence systems, on which he was subsequently invited to lecture to the ICAC in Hong Kong, and at Scotland Yard, London.

Concurrently with his prosecution work, Douglas was engaged by the Commissioner of Corporate Affairs and its successor, the National Companies and Securities Commission in a number of matters arising under company law. This included matters concerning the amplitude of powers of investigation, the promotion of fraudulent investment schemes, and misconduct by liquidators, the last resulting in the leading authority on liquidator's misconduct (Harvey v CCA). In consequence of this work, Douglas was engaged as leading counsel to assist the Inquiry by the National Companies and Securities Commission into BHP and Elders, and in the preparation of its final report.

Douglas has also been engaged over many years by the Commonwealth Government in respect of bankruptcy matters, on behalf of the Official Trustee and the Commissioner of Taxation, to effect the recovery of concealed assets. One such matter was the successful winding up of the largest corporate group effected in Australia. He has advised and appeared in many matters for trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, liquidators and administrators.

His practice has extended beyond these areas, have been briefed to conduct significant litigation on behalf of both State and Federal Governments. One was litigation designed to diminish the number of rural flooding claims being brought against the Victorian Government, in the course of which he introduced into evidence satellite imagery, and ultimately succeeded in achieving a favourable result both on the evidence and in a more restrictive interpretation of the relevant statute (Crea v SRWSC). He has been engaged by the Victorian Government in respect of land acquisition claims, and has represented the Northern Territory Government at the Prices Justification Tribunal, and when the appointment of its Chief Magistrate was challenged. He has been engaged by the Commonwealth Government in respect of indigenous land rights' claims, one being in respect of the Ranger Uranium mine; another the Stolen Generation case (Cubillo v The Commonwealth).

Douglas has appeared in numerous commercial and equity matters. Included was his engagement by News Ltd in respect of its take over of the Herald Sun; the recovery of assets on behalf of the liquidator of the Bond Group; the successful defence of the acquisition of UTA; the successful recovery against the State in respect of the Seal Rocks of Victoria commercial venture on Phillip Island.

These and other matters have led to appearances in the appellate jurisdictions, including the High Court. In addition, Douglas has appeared in commercial arbitrations both as counsel and as arbitrator.

Douglas has developed the use of computers by the courts and in litigation. He was one of the first to use computers as an aid in litigation, having done so in the mid to late 1970's. In consequence, on a number of occasions in the early 1980's he was invited to conduct weekend seminars for judges from around Australia in their use, to speak at Commonwealth and Australian Law Conferences on the use of computers in litigation, and to provide advice on computerisation of court process. He has published papers on these subjects, and was engaged to examine and report upon legal information retrieval systems for the State.

Douglas continues to be engaged in general practice at trial and appellate levels. He practices in the High Court, Victorian Supreme Court, the Federal Court and various other jurisdictions including New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

Appointments:-

Senior Counsel assisting the Royal Commission into the Federated Ship painters & Dockers Union and Organised Crime (the "Costigan Commission")
Senior Counsel assisting the National Companies and Securities commission Inquiry into BHP.
Auditor appointed by Victorian Government to examine Computerised Legal Information Retrieval Systems.
Consultant to Victorian Courts on Computerisation.
Consultant to Directors of Public Prosecutors of State of Victoria on prosecution of commercial crime.

Articles by Douglas Meagher QC

Stolen Generation - Quadrant Seminar
Ombudsman or Royal Commission - The Age Newspaper
Appointment of Judges - Australian Bar Assoc. Conference London
Cases for a Crimes Commission - General Publication
Management of Complex Trials - APSM Conference
Complex Fraud Trials - Aust Institute of Judicial Administration
Computers as Evidence - Aust Law Council Conference
Marriage of Courts & Silicon Chip - Attorney-General's Department
Professional Accountability in Criminal and Civil Law - Aust. Society of Accountants
Application of Computers to Law Enforcement - Victorian Society for Computers and the Law
Diagnosing Crime with the Silicon Chip - Medico - Legal Society
Shrinking Scope of Legal Prof. Privilege - Queensland Law Society