Jane Needham

Jane Needham SC was admitted as a legal practitioner on 3 August 1990 and commenced her practice as a barrister. She joined 13th Floor St James’ Hall as one of the foundation members in early 1991. She was appointed Senior Counsel on 29 September 2004.

Jane specialises in Equity and Succession Law, and provides advice to clients on succession planning as well as acting in all aspects of estate litigation. She has also appeared in significant Inquiries and Inquests, including for institutions, corporations, or government bodies in the Royal Commissions into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Aged Care, and Disability, She has appeared for the NSW Police Force and for NSW Government bodies in coronial inquries.

Jane was a Judicial Member, then a Deputy President, of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal from 2002-2011 and was the Divisional Head of the Revenue Division.

In 2014-15 Jane was President of the NSW Bar Association. She was elected to the Council of the NSW Bar Association for over 20 years and served as a member of professional conduct and practice committees, as well as being a Director of the Law Council of Australia and a member for some years of its Access to Justice Committee.

She was named Lawyers’ Weekly ‘Senior Barrister of the Year’ in 2013, Women Lawyers Assoc ‘Woman Barrister of the Year’ and UTS Faculty of Law Alumni Award for Excellence in 2015 and was named one of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence (Fairfax/Westpac) in 2014. In 2016 she achieved a national award, Women in Law’s Barrister of the Year. Doyle’s Guide has listed Jane in its Wills and Estates Litigation Senior Counsel for NSW and Australia from 2016, and she is currently noted as one of Australia’s pre-eminent Senior Counsel in this field.

Jane is an experienced mediator who is available to conduct mediations in various areas of law including succession, family provision, trust and family disputes, as well as other areas of law including medical negligence, and claims arising out of historical child sexual abuse. She is trained as a Collaborative Practitioner in Wills and Estates and is available to lead collaborative processes as a facilitator/coach, or as practitioner in appropriate cases. Please see the following website for more details of her mediation services.

Areas of Practice

• Administrative Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution – Arbitration/Mediation/Expert Determination
• Commercial and Corporations Law
• Disciplinary Law/NCAT
• Equity and Trusts
• Family Provision
• Housing/Tenancy Law
• Inquests and Commission of Inquiry
• Land and Environment
• Mediation
• Partnership
• Real Property
• Revenue
• Succession
• Taxation