Richard Conti
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Richard Alan Conti (1937-2016) was a
Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
of the
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...
from August 2000 until his retirement in August 2007.


Early life and background

Richard "Dick" Conti, QC was second of four children to Edwin Harold Davidson Conti, who worked in insurance, and Dorothy Elizabeth Conti (née Pritchard). He was born in 1937 and grew up on the North Shore during the war years. He attended
North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded, Single-sex school, single-sex, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary day school for boys, loc ...
, played cricket for Lindfield and Roseville and rugby for Gordon. When his father died in 1960, Conti became the breadwinner for his mother and much younger brothers. He studied at
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
Law School in the 1950s and did so part time for he was also working as an articled clerk at his uncle's firm Arthur Pritchard and Co. Richard married Betsy Conti ( Cahill) in 1962 and had four children whom they raised in Manly. Conti was greatly involved in his local and regional communities throughout his life. This included his interest in
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
: he appeared against
New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...
bosses John Quayle and Colin Love in 1985, successfully advocating to keep embattled club
Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) is an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as the club is commonly ...
in the competition. He was later appointed the chairman of the NSWRL Judiciary. The Conti's also had a 40-year association with the Tamworth district, when Richard purchased Mount View in 1974 and later Keringal and Yaraan. Both him and Betsy were greatly involved with the community at the nearby town of Bendemeer and owned the local pub for some of this time.


Career

Following his studies he was admitted as a solicitor in 1960 and became a partner in the firm of Arthur Pritchard and Co. until 1967. He was admitted to the Bar in 1967 and joined the eleventh floor of Wentworth Chambers, where he remained until his appointment to the Bench. He was appointed to the position of a
Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
in 1977. On 15 August 2000 he was appointed as a judge of the Federal Court. In a 2005 case involving
architectural drawing An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to deve ...
s, Conti was criticised and his verdict overturned by an
appeals court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellate ...
because of concerns that his views had
prejudiced Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that perso ...
the case. However, on appeal, the High Court overturned the decision of the Full Federal Court and held that no reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of Justice Conti was established. High Court of Australia, CONCRETE PTY LIMITED v PARRAMATTA DESIGN & DEVELOPMENTS PTY LIMITED AND GHASSAN FARES (6 December 2006) https://cdn.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2006/hca55-2006-12-6.pdf Since the beginning of his career, he engaged in a diverse practice of tax, trade practices, intellectual property and corporations law which took him to the Privy Council and many courts in Australia. He has been described as having had profound knowledge of the law, cross examining skills and acute sense of tactics, and absolute integrity. A motto of his was: "Barristers are briefed to fight their client's cause, not to fight each other." He supported and mentored many junior barristers, advising them: "Don’t try to learn all the law. Just know where to look for it".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Richard Judges of the Federal Court of Australia 1937 births 2016 deaths People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Lawyers from Sydney Australian King's Counsel