To specialise or not to specialise?: That is the question

Abstract

The cause of much litigation is brought about by ignorance of this wisdom. However the present volume of litigation is in part attributable to the growth in legislation, particularly in the length of statutes. Professor Paul Finn (as he then was) has described Australians as 'born to statutes'.¹ Here a great deal of the Federal Court's present work is in hearing immigration appeals arising under the lengthy Migration Act 1958 (Cth).An apparent result of this exponential increase in statute law, is a corresponding growth in specialisation at the Bar. It is reflected by the relatively recent establishment of specialist sections of the NSW Bar Association, such as the administrative law, constitutional law, and corporations and securities law sections. The Revenue Bar generally belongs to long standing taxation discussion groups, comprising lawyers and accountants such as the Challis Group, the Gunn Club and the Ratcliffe Society.