INTERVIEW with Liam Cavell, Federal Prosecutor at CDPP
Liam Cavell is a Federal Prosecutor at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) and the Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Criminal Law Committee. Previously, he has worked as an Associate to a District Court Judge and a Solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills, and completed a secondment in the latter role at the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre. What does your role typically involve? There are two main components to my job. The first is assessing briefs of evidence that are referred to our office from various federal agencies to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to institute a prosecution. The second is prosecuting matters in court, such as conducting a hearing where a not guilty plea has been entered or making sentencing submissions where a person has pleaded guilty. What is the most challenging part of your role? As my role involves both assessing new matters and prosecuting existing matters, there can be a tension between the need to assess matters in a timely manner and the demands of court work. Ensuring that both aspects are given appropriate attention can be very challenging. And the most rewarding part? Having carriage of a matter from the time that a Court Attendance Notice is issued to the time that it is concluded in court is extremely satisfying. Often solicitors only work on one aspect of a matter. For example, a solicitor may only conduct the committal hearing, and then give the file to another solicitor who will instruct in the trial. However, Federal Prosecutors generally maintain carriage of their matters throughout each stage of the proceedings.
Macquarie University Law Society
What skills have you found to be most useful? Because no two cases are identical, the ability to think laterally about the law and the evidence is the most important skill required to be an effective prosecutor. Lateral thinking skills are important when conducting legal research, assessing a brief of evidence, preparing a matter for hearing, and even making submissions. Another extremely important skill is having a strong attention to detail, particularly in cases that involve large amounts of documentary evidence, such as fraud matters. What advice would you give to students considering taking a similar path? Federal Prosecutors have diverse backgrounds and there are many paths to working at the CDPP. The CDPP really values practical experience, so it is important to work for a little while after you graduate before applying for a position at our Office. For example, you might consider undertaking a tipstaff position in the Supreme Court or an Associateship in the District Court, as both are extremely useful ways of gaining a practical understanding of criminal practice and procedure. Whilst working as a solicitor in criminal law would of course be useful, the CDPP also values applicants with a commercial law background. When it recruits, the CDPP advertises on www.apsjobs.gov.au. On that site, you can subscribe to be notified of future job opportunities in the CDPP as well as elsewhere in the Australian Public Service.
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