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+ details >>Making a threat to kill is a serious indictable offence under the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) that can arise from a single incident without any accompanying physical violence. The circumstances of the threat and the relationship between the parties are central to both the charge and the approach to the defence. All lawyers profiled below are established Victorian criminal defence practitioners, with several recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
Bill Doogue is Director and founding partner of Doogue + George Defence Lawyers, which he established in Melbourne in 1995. Across three decades it has defended more than 40,000 prosecutions. Admitted to practice in 1991 and an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist since 1998, he brings over three decades of specialist criminal defence practice to every matter. He is Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence in Doyle's Guide and listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence (2025).
The categories he concentrates on are tax fraud, white collar crime, complex commercial crime, foreign bribery, and cross-border matters. He has appeared before the High Court of Australia and represented clients at Royal Commission hearings. His court practice covers Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia. His international advisory practice covers Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore.
Crimebase, the precedent-based relational database he designed for criminal law practice, won the C.C.H. Legal Technology Award. The Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance counts him among its founding members, and he is involved in running the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference. He served the Broadmeadows Community Legal Centre as Chairperson for more than ten years. Coverage of his work has appeared in The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, CNN, and the Daily Mail. Pre-charge engagement, working with clients before charges arrive, is a defining emphasis of his practice.
The firm name says who handles the work: David Barrese & Associates, directed by David Barrese, who practises Victorian criminal defence as the senior practitioner of the independent firm he heads. Matters are conducted by him personally throughout.
The independent Director-led model is the defining structural feature of his practice. For those placing Victorian criminal defence briefs where direct, sustained involvement by the named senior practitioner is the primary criterion, his practice provides exactly that.
Howard Rapke leads the national Disputes and Litigation practice at Holding Redlich as Partner and National Head. More than 30 years concentrated on fraud, foreign bribery, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and regulatory enforcement before ASIC and the ACCC. Doyle's Guide lists him as 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. Who's Who Legal has recognised him as a global leader in Business Crime, Investigations and Asset Recovery since 2019.
For complex multi-agency commercial crime matters in Victoria, his practice represents the primary reference point.
Shaun Pascoe is Partner and Director of Shaun Pascoe Criminal Law, the Victorian criminal defence boutique he heads. Doyle's Guide ranks him as Leading in drink driving and traffic for 2025, a specialist recognition built from peer citation in that specific category.
He operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor, conducting matters directly as the named practitioner. The specialist Doyle's Leading recognition, direct-conduct boutique model, and dual advocacy-instructor capacity define his practice for referrers placing drink driving and serious traffic briefs in Victoria.
Peter Rankin practises Victorian criminal defence as a Partner at Peter Rankin Lawyers, an independent firm he heads under his own name. He operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor, giving him the flexibility to appear at hearing himself or instruct counsel as strategy requires.
The independent boutique model means Rankin conducts matters directly throughout. For informed referrers placing Victorian criminal defence work where the primary requirement is a direct answer to who will conduct the matter, his independent practice provides that without ambiguity.
Selection of counsel depends on the specific charge, the court and jurisdiction, the stage of proceedings, and the particular circumstances of the matter. Early engagement of senior criminal defence representation materially affects outcomes. The practitioners profiled above are a verified starting point for informed referral within Victorian criminal defence.