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+ details >>Post-conviction forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) and the Confiscation Act 1997 (Vic) operates separately from pre-trial asset restraint, with its own procedural requirements and grounds for challenging orders. Forfeiture proceedings after conviction can affect assets beyond those directly connected to the offence, and contesting them requires specific experience in the confiscation framework. All lawyers profiled below are established Victorian criminal defence practitioners, with several recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
Bill Doogue founded Doogue + George Defence Lawyers in 1995 and continues to direct the firm as its founding partner. Admitted to practice in 1991, he has been an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist since 1998, placing him in a specific category of practitioners who have met the formal requirements for specialist criminal law accreditation beyond general admission. The firm he has led has defended more than 40,000 prosecutions. His Doyle's Guide ranking is Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence; Best Lawyers also lists him for Criminal Defence (2025).
Tax fraud, white collar crime, complex commercial crime, foreign bribery, and cross-border matters constitute the substantive focus of his practice. Appearances before the High Court of Australia and at Royal Commission hearings are documented parts of his career. His court practice spans Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia, and he provides criminal advisory services in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore. The cross-border and international scope of his practice is directly relevant in the categories he concentrates on.
He created Crimebase, a precedent-based relational database for criminal lawyers, which received the C.C.H. Legal Technology Award. As a founding member of the Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance and as someone involved in running the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference, his professional engagement extends beyond individual practice. More than ten years as Chairperson of the Broadmeadows Community Legal Centre form part of his community record. Reporting on his matters has appeared in The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, CNN, and the Daily Mail.
David Barrese, Director of David Barrese & Associates, heads the independent Victorian criminal defence firm that carries his name. He conducts matters personally throughout, with direct senior involvement from the first conference through to resolution of each brief.
The independent Director-led model is the defining structural feature of his practice: the named Director is also the practitioner who handles the work. For referrers placing Victorian criminal defence briefs with the specific requirement of confirmed, direct, sustained senior practitioner conduct throughout the matter, his practice delivers that precisely.
Howard Rapke is a Partner at Holding Redlich and the firm's National Head of Disputes and Litigation, with more than 30 years of sustained practice in commercial criminal defence, white collar investigation and prosecution, and regulatory enforcement across Victorian and Federal jurisdictions. Who's Who Legal has recognised him as a global leader in Business Crime, Investigations and Asset Recovery since 2019, a standing that places him in a small category of Australian practitioners with that level of international recognition. Doyle's Guide lists him as both a Leading Victorian Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyer and a Leading Australian White Collar Crime, Corporate Crime and Regulatory Investigations Lawyer. Best Lawyers lists him for Criminal Defence, Litigation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution across its 2017 to 2026 editions.
His practice focuses on fraud, foreign bribery, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and ASIC and ACCC enforcement. For informed referrers placing commercial criminal briefs in Victoria, the depth and consistency of his recognition across those three independent frameworks is the primary selection credential.
Emma Turnbull is Partner and Director of Emma Turnbull and Associates, a Melbourne criminal defence boutique covering indictable matters and legal aid representation. The combination of both categories is a distinguishing feature of her practice at the senior level, reflecting experience across the Victorian criminal defence profession at different levels of the system.
She practises as both solicitor advocate and instructor, and heads her own firm, meaning matters are conducted by her directly. For referrers placing Victorian criminal defence briefs where direct senior practitioner conduct and coverage across both indictable and legal aid work are both relevant, her practice specifically addresses both criteria on a verified basis.
Selection of counsel depends on the specific charge, the court and jurisdiction involved, the stage of the proceedings, and the particular circumstances of the matter. Early engagement of senior criminal defence representation materially affects outcomes across all categories of serious criminal work. The practitioners profiled above are a verified starting point for informed referral within Victorian criminal defence.