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‘His prominence’ Sandy Dawson, a barrister like no other
By Declan Roche
Alexander ‘Sandy’ Dawson SC, who has passed away after a battle with brain cancer at the age of just 50, was among Australia’s most prominent barristers.
Indeed, so often was he referred to in the press as “prominent Sydney barrister”, that his former chambers colleague Fabian Gleeson, now a judge of the NSW Court of Appeal, used to address him jokingly as “your prominence”.
A wiggery of barristers taking silk: R-L Sandy Dawson, Kate Richardson, Kate Williams.
Sandy was born in Sydney in 1972 to parents Alexander (also Sandy) Dawson and Jane (nee Watson). He was later followed by two siblings, Angus and Katrina.
Their father Sandy was CEO of Arnott’s biscuits. Their mother Jane, while raising three young children, established a busy bike shop at Randwick and later became a successful sculptor.
Sandy attended high school at Cranbrook School, Bellevue Hill, where he excelled academically. He was followed by Angus, who did even better than his brother. Their sister Katrina, who attended nearby Ascham, eclipsed them both, topping the state in the HSC. Sandy used to jokingly refer to himself as the dunce of the family.
After finishing high school, Sandy attended Sydney University where he studied law and arts, and spent four years at St Paul’s College.
At university, lifelong habits began to form: Sandy’s idea of casual dress was a collared shirt and sports jacket, his hair was always immaculate, and he was hardly ever on time.
It was during his second year of university, in 1991, during an intercollegiate production of Michael Gow’s Away that Sandy met a young Sancta Sophia resident, Alexandra Hunter. Sandy was smitten at once, and set about persuading Alex that she felt the same way. Fortunately, he succeeded, and young love blossomed.
After leaving university, Sandy spent a year working as an associate to Federal Court judge Graham Hill. The following year 1997, Sandy began working as a solicitor at Minter Ellison, where he spent the year working in the Canberra office, while Alex studied law at ANU. They moved back together to Sydney in 1998.
He later moved to Freehills to pursue his interest in defamation law, where he worked under the tutelage of Leanne Norman, who would later brief him in many of his cases.
In 2003, Sandy became a barrister. In 2004, he was invited to join a group of more senior barristers who were establishing a new set of chambers. Notwithstanding his comparative youth and inexperience, he accepted the invitation with relish and made Banco Chambers his home.
Taking silk: Sandy Dawson with parent Jane and Sandy Dawson in 2016.Credit: Murray Harris
Sandy quickly established a career as a fearless advocate, who would leave no stone unturned in his meticulous preparation of cases. One of his early cases involved a butchery, which he insisted on visiting prior to starting the case. During a critical point in the cross-examination, he demonstrated that the witness was lying, relying on his knowledge of the dimensions of the cool room he had visited the week before.
Many of Sandy’s cases and clients were well known. His specialty was defamation and in that area of law acted in many of the leading cases in recent years. He acted for publishers including this newspaper in defending many high-profile defamation suits. In recent days, many of his well-known clients – including Sarah Ferguson, Ray Hadley and Kate McClymont – have paid tribute to his legal skills, but also the lasting relationships he formed with each of them.
Sandy’s early years at the bar were a busy time in the Hunter/Dawson household. Sandy and Alex’s eldest son Jack was born in 2004. Twin girls, Holly and Freya, followed in 2006, and Henry in 2008. Shortly after Henry was born, Alex returned to university to study secondary school teaching and later became a teacher at St Vincent’s College, Potts Point.
Sandy took silk in 2016, although he had already been leading cases for several years. His practice continued to broaden.
He represented VW owners in relation to the diesel-gate scandal. It was a hard-fought matter in which Sandy’s doggedness and forensic skills, honed in years of defamation cases, were deployed to great effect.
In another case, he acted for a protester who had been charged with criminal damage after harnessing himself to a ship loader at a coal terminal. He came into the matter after the barrister who had run the trial asked Sandy to lead him on appeal, after appearing against Sandy in another matter. Although they were unsuccessful in the Court of Criminal Appeal, on Sandy’s advice, they and Tim Game SC sought leave to appeal to the High Court, where they ultimately prevailed, the High Court quashing the protester’s conviction.
Sandy was motivated by decency and fairness. On many occasions he acted for friends or even friends of friends. On one occasion his long-time assistant told him a young friend of hers had been unfairly charged by police with an illegal U-turn. Upon hearing this, Sandy insisted on acting for the friend and appeared in Blacktown Local Court, where he had the charges dismissed. He refused to accept any payment, other than several packets of Arnott’s Iced VoVo’s.
One of the first things new barristers are told is never to attempt humour in court. It was a rule that Sandy broke, regularly. In a hearing in 2015 before Justice Lucy McCallum (now the Chief Justice of the ACT), her Honour told Sandy that she had been puzzling over one of his legal arguments while searching for a school tunic that morning. Sandy interjected, “What your Honour is now wearing is a much more appropriate choice.” The Court had to briefly adjourn while everyone composed themselves. Her Honour later sent Sandy a framed copy of the transcript.
One of the traditions of the bar is its open-door policy: any barrister’s door is open to any other barrister who needs help or assistance. No one embodied this tradition better than Sandy. Notwithstanding his own jam-packed practice and life, Sandy always made time for colleagues, especially junior ones, who wanted to discuss a problem. In these situations, he always offered empathy and practical solutions.
Sandy was a legendary mimic. No one was safe from his impersonations. Judges, colleagues, friends and family were all fair game. His Darth Vader impersonation was so good it would startle small children. He was once warned in a jury trial that he was not to use his facility with voices to influence the jury. Sandy sometimes mused if he had not been a barrister, he would have been a radio announcer. He had a beautiful voice.
Sandy was a prodigious multitasker. Meetings and phone calls were often interrupted by other meetings, phone calls and texts. Call-waiting was used heavily. He would duck away during the day to attend kids’ school events, and would make up for it by working late into the night.
Sandy and Alex at a friend’s themed birthday party in 2020.
Sandy had many interests outside the law. He loved cars. He turned them over with an alarming frequency, usually at a significant loss. One of his early purchases was a BMW, which he had a sunroof cut into at considerable expense. He made several other small modifications to subsequent vehicles, including one that allowed him to (legally) watch The 7.30 Report from the comfort of his front seat. In the all-too-rare quiet moments, he could be found wistfully googling his old cars.
From early childhood, Sandy and his family loved skiing. On finishing high school he and his siblings completed the instructors’ course at Whistler. Sandy loved skiing with his own family, and many of his favourite memories were of family ski trips at Christmas time. He skied like a professional.
Sandy and Alex shared a love of music. For many years, they enjoyed trips to the Music in the Hunter festival and subscriptions to the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Sandy loved nothing better than a night out, dressed up, with Alex.
Golf was another hobby Sandy enjoyed. Golf runs in the Dawson family, with Sandy’s father a former captain of both Royal Sydney and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrew’s. As Sandy’s illness progressed, he relished his time on the golf course with his father, his brother Angus and friends. Right up until the final months of his illness, he was continuing to work on his golf game.
One of the last rounds of golf at St Michael’s golf course, Little Bay.
The Dawson family was shattered by the death of Katrina in 2014 in the Lindt Cafe siege. With immense courage and dignity, Sandy and his family put together the pieces of their broken lives – all under the glare of intense publicity. Notwithstanding that tragedy, or perhaps because of it, Sandy continued to be the kind, open-hearted, and generous person he had always been. He was passionate about the work done by the Katrina Dawson Foundation, established in his sister’s name, to assist young women.
Sandy bore the news of his diagnosis with his trademark courage and optimism. No one would have begrudged him anger or bitterness but Sandy was more focused on spending time with his family and friends.
Sandy Dawson in Phillip Street in February this year, a year to the month after diagnosis.
According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, people are only capable of maintaining 150 relationships. Clearly, Dunbar never met Sandy. His capacity for forming genuine and lasting friendships was unrivalled. Those of us lucky enough to have experienced the warmth of his affection will never forget him.
Sandy is survived by his wife, Alexandra, his children, Jack, Holly, Freya and Henry, his parents Sandy and Jane, and his brother Angus.
Declan Roche