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+ details >>Victorian criminal defence at the senior end is served by a relatively defined community of practitioners across both larger firms and specialist boutique practices. The choice of lawyer at charge stage shapes the entire matter, particularly where the prosecution case is document-heavy or involves contested expert evidence. Specialist counsel matters where the brief is sufficiently serious that learning on the matter is not an acceptable cost. All lawyers profiled below are recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
Bill Doogue is a Director of Doogue + George and is recognised by Doyle's Guide as Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence. He is also listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence (2025). His practice covers tax fraud, white collar crime, complex commercial crime, and cross-border matters, with admissions in Victoria, the High Court of Australia, and New Zealand since 1991.
His work spans multiple jurisdictions including the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore. This cross-border footprint is unusual among Australian criminal defence practitioners and is particularly relevant in matters involving overseas evidence, parallel investigations by foreign agencies, or extradition considerations.
What distinguishes Doogue in this category is the combination of senior trial experience, the international practice base, and the systems-driven approach reflected in his CCH technology award for database design. He runs the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference, which itself reflects standing across the senior criminal defence community in Australia. For matters where the prosecution case is built on documents and cross-jurisdictional evidence rather than witness testimony alone, the ability to manage the brief at scale and across borders is the relevant differentiator.
Commercial crime, regulatory defence, and complex fraud sit at the centre of Howard Rapke's practice. As a Partner at Holding Redlich and the firm's National Head of Disputes, he brings more than 30 years of experience across Victoria and Federal jurisdictions. He was recognised by Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence in 2017 and is listed by Doyle's Guide as Leading in administrative law (2023).
The seniority of his firm role and his administrative law standing make him particularly relevant for briefs that move between regulatory enforcement and criminal prosecution. Rapke is known among peers for a negotiator's approach, with the strategic judgment that comes from running large disputes alongside criminal defence work over a long career.
Sustained peer recognition is the defining feature of Tony Hargreaves's practice. He is ranked by Doyle's Guide as Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence (2026), the highest tier the methodology offers, and practises as Principal of Tony Hargreaves and Associates. His work focuses on serious indictable matters across Victoria and Federal jurisdictions.
Hargreaves brings more than 30 years of experience to the briefs he runs and operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor. The Pre-eminent recognition reflects standing within the profession itself, drawn from peer review across Victorian criminal defence. For senior indictable matters, his name appears consistently at the top of informed referrer lists in the state.
Heading Emma Turnbull and Associates as Partner and Director, Emma Turnbull runs a Victorian criminal defence boutique focused on indictable matters and legal aid work. Matters are run by her personally, with the senior practitioner handling the brief end-to-end.
She operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor, retaining flexibility on whether to appear at hearing herself or to brief counsel where strategy requires. The legal aid component of her practice reflects ongoing engagement with the access-to-justice end of the Victorian profession, alongside higher-court indictable representation.
Selection of counsel in this category depends on matter type, jurisdiction, and stage of proceedings. Early engagement of senior counsel materially affects outcomes, particularly where decisions made at the investigation or charge stage shape the options available later. The practitioners profiled above represent a starting point for informed referral within Victorian criminal defence.