Robert Bruce Scott Macfarlan (born 22 November 1949) is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

, the highest court in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, which forms part of the

Australian court hierarchy The judiciary of Australia comprises judges who sit in federal courts and courts of the States and Territories of Australia. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as the ultimate court of appeal on matte ...

Education

Macfarlan is the son of Bruce Panton Macfarlan (1910-1978) and Barbara, daughter of H. R. Hamilton Scott. His father was a lecturer in law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

and a barrister, subsequently appointed a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, then judge in Admiralty and judge in Commercial Causes. Macfarlan's paternal grandfather, Alfred Ingram Macfarlan (1861-1929), was nephew of the timber merchant and philanthropist

John Goodlet John Hay Goodlet (22 March 1835 – 13 January 1914) was a Scottish-born Australian timber merchant and philanthropist. Life Goodlet was born in Leith to merchant George Goodlet and Mary Hay. He migrated to Melbourne in 1852, working for a bui ...

, and held a senior position in the family business, Goodlet & Smith, as company secretary. Macfarlan was educated at Cranbrook School. He subsequently graduated in Arts and Law (with first class honours) from the University of Sydney.Who's Who in Australia 2009, ed. Leanne Sullivan, Crown Content, 2007, p. 1350

Career

From 1972 to 1976, Macfarlan worked as a solicitor at Sydney law firm

Blake Dawson Waldron Ashurst Australia is the Australian branch of Ashurst LLP, an international commercial law firm. The Australian headquarters of Ashurst are in Sydney. Prior to its acquisition by Ashurst, the Australian firm was named Blake Dawson, one of th ...

. Macfarlan came to the bar in 1976 and was made

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1986. He served as a member of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal from 1999 to 2008 and as a member of the Legal Services Tribunal from 1994 to 1999. In September 2008, Macfarlan was appointed to the

NSW Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates purs ...

Personal life

In 1972, Macfarlan married Janine Carmel O'Brien; they had two sons and a daughter before the dissolution of their marriage in 1997. He married secondly, in 1998, literary consultant and former barrister Nicole Estelle, daughter of judge Alan Richard Abadee, AM, RFD; they have a son.

References

Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Living people 1949 births Australian King's Counsel {{Australia-law-bio-stub