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+ details >>Criminal charges across Victoria range from summary offences in the Magistrates' Court through to the most serious indictable matters in the Supreme Court. The lawyers profiled below cover that spectrum collectively, with established standing in Victorian criminal defence at the senior end of the profession. Specialist counsel matters because the right practitioner depends on the charge, the jurisdiction, and the stage of proceedings. All lawyers profiled below are recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
Bill Doogue practises as a Director of Doogue + George, with a cross-border footprint that includes the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore. His admissions in Victoria, the High Court of Australia, and New Zealand date back to 1991, giving him more than three decades of senior criminal defence experience.
The categories Doogue is most often briefed on are tax fraud, white collar crime, and complex commercial crime, with cross-jurisdictional elements common across his practice. He is recognised by Doyle's Guide as Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence and is listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence (2025).
What sets Doogue apart in this category is the combination of an international practice base with senior trial experience and a systems-driven approach to managing complex briefs, reflected in his CCH technology award for database design. He runs the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference, a forum that draws senior criminal defence practitioners from across the country. For matters that involve overseas evidence, foreign-agency cooperation, or extradition considerations, that combination of factors is hard to replicate elsewhere in the Australian profession.
Tony Hargreaves is recognised by Doyle's Guide as Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence (2026) and practises as Principal of Tony Hargreaves and Associates. He has more than 30 years of experience in serious criminal defence and is admitted across Victoria and Federal jurisdictions.
The Pre-eminent ranking is the highest tier in the Doyle's methodology and reflects sustained peer recognition for senior indictable defence work. Hargreaves operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor. His practice has remained focused at the senior end of Victorian criminal defence over a long career, with continued recognition reflecting the consistency of that focus.
With more than three decades of practice across Victoria and Federal jurisdictions, Howard Rapke holds a Partnership at Holding Redlich and serves as the firm's National Head of Disputes. He is listed in Doyle's Guide as Leading in administrative law (2023) and was recognised by Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence in 2017.
His criminal defence work focuses on commercial crime, complex fraud, and regulatory matters. The administrative law ranking is an unusual complement to a criminal defence practice and reflects the regulatory side of his work. Rapke is known for a negotiator's approach to defence strategy, which fits the long-running, multi-agency nature of the matters he typically handles.
The flexibility to appear personally at contested hearings or brief counsel as the matter requires sits at the centre of Peter Rankin's practice. As a Partner at Peter Rankin Lawyers, he heads his own Victorian criminal defence firm and operates across the solicitor-advocate and instructor model.
Rankin runs his briefs directly, with the senior practitioner conducting the matter from charge through to resolution rather than passing it to junior staff. For informed referrers assessing how a matter will be handled day to day, that direct senior involvement is the relevant feature of the practice.
Practising as Partner and Director of Angus Cameron and Associates, Angus Cameron heads his own Victorian criminal defence boutique. The firm carries his name and he runs his matters directly. He is recognised by Doyle's Guide as Recommended in Criminal Law Defence (2026).
The Recommended tier in the Doyle's methodology identifies practitioners who are regularly cited within the Victorian profession for their criminal defence work. Cameron's dual solicitor-advocate and instructor role retains flexibility on whether to run matters at hearing personally or to brief counsel where the case calls for it.
Practising as Partner and Director of Shaun Pascoe Criminal Law, Shaun Pascoe heads the Victorian criminal defence boutique that bears his name. He is listed by Doyle's Guide as Leading in drink driving and traffic (2025), an area in which sustained peer recognition is the relevant marker of standing.
Pascoe's dual solicitor-advocate and instructor role means he can run contested matters at hearing personally or brief counsel where strategy requires. Heading his own firm means continuity of representation, with the same practitioner conducting the matter from intake through to resolution.
Indictable matters and legal aid work define Emma Turnbull's Victorian criminal defence practice. She is a Partner and Director of Emma Turnbull and Associates, the firm she heads, and operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor.
The combination of higher-court indictable work and legal aid practice is unusual and reflects an engagement across the full range of the Victorian profession. Turnbull runs her matters directly, with the dual solicitor-advocate role allowing her to take cases to hearing personally or brief counsel where strategy calls for it.
Serious indictable matters are the substantive focus of Chen Yang's Victorian criminal defence practice. He is a Partner and Director of Paul Vale and Associates, where his work is known among peers for thorough preparation of contested briefs.
Yang practises in both English and Mandarin, which positions him for matters involving Mandarin-speaking clients or Mandarin-language evidence. The dual solicitor-advocate and instructor role gives him the option to take matters to hearing personally or brief counsel where strategy requires it.
Direct senior practitioner involvement across the life of a brief is the defining feature of David Barrese's practice. As Director of David Barrese & Associates, he heads the Victorian criminal defence firm that carries his name and runs matters personally.
Barrese operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor. The dual role allows him to take matters to hearing himself or brief counsel where strategy requires. For referrers assessing whether a brief will be handled by the senior practitioner or delegated, the boutique structure is the working signal.
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.