Former BigLaw equity partner named WA’s 1st Indigenous Supreme Court judge

Australian Lawyers Weekly Reports

West Australian Attorney-General John Quigley has appointed Michael Lundberg — a son of a member of the stolen generations — the Wildflower State’s first Aboriginal judge on the Supreme Court.

Mr Lundberg will join the bench of the West Australian Supreme Court on 28 November 2022.

His historic appointment, the A-G noted, follows in the footsteps of his mother, Yamatji woman Dr Sue Gordon AM, who is from Meekatharra and who was Western Australia’s first Aboriginal magistrate, serving 20 years on the Children’s Court bench.

Mr Lundberg started his career as a solicitor in 1994. He served as assistant Crown counsel at what was then Western Australia’s Crown Solicitors Office before entering private practice in 2000 at what is now King & Wood Mallesons, where he served for 18 years, including as a partner-in-charge of the firm’s Perth office. Following this, he was a partner at multinational firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Jones Day.

He is also a member of Curtin University’s governing authority the University Council and acted for Aboriginal man Gene Gibson, whose wrongful conviction for manslaughter was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2017.

Speaking about the appointment, A-G Quigley said that he has great pleasure in appointing Mr Lundberg to the role.

“This is a landmark appointment for the state’s justice system and another step towards closing the gap with First Nations people,” he said.

“The son of a member of the stolen generation, Mr Lundberg grew up in Port Hedland and obtained law and commerce degrees from the University of Western Australia.”

“He is recognised as one of Australia’s best lawyers in his areas of expertise, which include dispute resolution in the energy and resources sectors, intellectual property law, industrial relations and defamation matters,” the A-G continued.

“Mr Lundberg played an integral pro bono role in obtaining the freedom of Gene Gibson, who spent nearly five years in prison for a crime he did not commit because of a miscarriage of justice and police misconduct.

“I congratulate Mr Lundberg on this well-deserved appointment and wish him well in his new role.”

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