Robert Richter KC

About Robert Richter KC

Robert Richter KC has spent fifty-five years at the Victorian Bar, more than forty of them as silk, and the profession has run out of ways to honour him. He signed the Bar Roll on 5 August 1971, was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1985 and, in 2012, was inducted as a Legend of the Bar, the Victorian Bar’s recognition of a small number of its most eminent members. Melbourne Law School, which awards a scholarship in his name, says he “has acted in some of the most high-profile criminal cases in Australian history” and has “made an enormous contribution both within and beyond the legal profession”.

His peers agree, and they have said so for a decade. Doyle’s Guide’s peer survey placed him in the Preeminent tier for criminal law senior counsel in Victoria in every edition from 2016 to 2021, six consecutive years at the top of the list, and in the Preeminent tier of its 2019 national list. He was Leading in 2022 and Recommended in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Doyle’s states its rankings “cannot be purchased”; they are produced by peer nomination, not by this site, and this profile is not a paid placement.

The story starts a long way from Lonsdale Street. According to published profiles he arrived in Australia in 1959 as a thirteen-year-old with little English. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with honours, where, his chambers record, he was joint editor of the Melbourne University Law Review with Kenneth Hayne, later a Justice of the High Court of Australia. He read with the late Ron Castan QC, the barrister who went on to lead the Mabo case. The company he kept at the start of his career says a good deal about the one that followed.

Beyond the courtroom he has served the profession and the public in nearly every role a barrister can hold: member of the Victorian Bar Council (1975–76 and 1998–99), Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria (1986–89), part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission of Victoria (1989–92) and President of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, now Liberty Victoria (1994–96). He is an Adjunct Professor at Victoria Law School, Victoria University, and earlier tutored torts and evidence at the University of Melbourne. His register profile lists English, Hebrew and Yiddish.

• Preeminent, six years running Doyle’s Guide criminal law senior counsel, Victoria, 2016 to 2021; Preeminent nationally in 2019.
• Legend of the Bar Inducted by the Victorian Bar in 2012, per Melbourne Law School and Victorian Bar News.
• Silk since 1985 Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1985, now King’s Counsel; at the Bar since 1971.
• Leader of the profession Chairman, Criminal Bar Association 1986–89; Bar Council 1975–76 and 1998–99.
• Civil liberties and law reform President, Victorian Council for Civil Liberties 1994–96; Law Reform Commissioner 1989–92.
• Gives back The Robert Richter Scholarship at Melbourne Law School supports Juris Doctor students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

What Robert Richter KC stands for

Most barrister profiles stop at practice areas. Fifty-five years of public record let us say something more about Robert Richter: what he has consistently stood for. The headings are our editorial characterisation; the fact under each one is sourced.

• The right to a defence, for everyone. For more than half a century he has taken the briefs that test the oldest principle of the criminal bar: that every accused person, however unpopular the client or the charge, is entitled to a fearless defence. Few advocates in Australia have lived that principle longer, and none more visibly.Basis: at the Bar since 1971 and a criminal advocate throughout, per the Vic Bar register and Victoria University.
• Civil liberties as a cause, not a slogan. He led the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, now Liberty Victoria, as President from 1994 to 1996, and his university describes him as a critic of human rights violations and an advocate for the rule of law. Human rights is one of only three practice areas he lists with his clerk.Basis: Victoria University; Meldrum’s List.
• Fixing the law, not just arguing it. As a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission of Victoria from 1989 to 1992 he worked on the law itself, not only on the cases in front of him. It is the rarer kind of contribution: the kind that outlasts any single verdict.Basis: Victoria University; Meldrum’s List.
• Service to the Bar. Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria from 1986 to 1989 and twice a member of the Bar Council. The Bar’s own answer to that service, Legend of the Bar in 2012, is the profession’s verdict, not ours.Basis: Victoria University; Legend of the Bar per Melbourne Law School and Victorian Bar News, Spring 2012.
• Opening the door for others. The Robert Richter Scholarship at Melbourne Law School gives high-achieving Juris Doctor students from disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances a $9,000 allowance. Its namesake arrived in this country at thirteen with little English, so the scholarship is not a gesture; it is the man’s own path, paid forward.Basis: University of Melbourne scholarships; early life per published profiles.
• Teaching the next generation. An Adjunct Professor at Victoria Law School, Victoria University, and earlier a tutor in torts and evidence at the University of Melbourne. Fifty-five years of advocacy, and still in the classroom.Basis: Victoria University.

Why the profession ranks him at the top

Doyle’s Guide ranks senior counsel in tiers: Preeminent, Leading and Recommended (a Market Leader tier is used in some years). It describes its lists as “the product of independent peer-nomination surveys” that “cannot be purchased”. Robert Richter sat in the Preeminent tier of the Victorian criminal law senior counsel list for six consecutive editions, 2016 to 2021, and in the Preeminent tier of the 2019 national list. In 2022 he was Leading; in 2023, 2024 and 2025 Recommended. He does not appear in the 2026 Victorian list, which we note for completeness.

The Bar itself went further. In 2012 it inducted him as a Legend of the Bar, and in 2019 a double portrait of Robert Richter and Philip Dunn KC by Martin Tighe was among the new portraits unveiled at the Victorian Bar’s gallery refresh, as reported by Lawyers Weekly. Portraits at the Bar are reserved for the people the Bar wants remembered.

Doyle’s Guide, Criminal Law Senior Counsel

Each year links to the Doyle’s Guide page it was read from, checked 12 September 2026. Chambers or list affiliation is shown as Doyle’s published it at the time.

What Robert Richter KC handles

His Victorian Bar register profile and his clerk describe a practice at the serious end of criminal law, with public law and human rights alongside it:

• Criminal trials in all criminal jurisdictions, including crimes against the person
• Criminal appeals, including conviction and sentence appeals
• Fraud, white-collar and corporate crime
• Public and administrative law, including royal commissions and inquiries
• Human rights
• Disciplinary proceedings

Source: practice areas as published on his Vic Bar register profile (Criminal; Crimes Against the Person; Criminal Appellate; Fraud; White Collar and Corporate Crime; Public Administrative; Disciplinary Proceedings) and by Meldrum’s List (Administrative Law; Criminal Law; Human Rights).

Who he is the right fit for. This is the silk a solicitor briefs when the charge is grave, the prosecution is well resourced and the client needs the most experienced criminal advocate available: serious indictable trials, complex fraud, appeals where the trial went wrong, and inquiries where a reputation is on the line. His clerk lists him as admitted to practise in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia as well as Victoria. For a first charge in the Magistrates’ Court, a junior barrister or an experienced criminal solicitor is usually the proportionate choice; our Melbourne criminal lawyers page lists practitioners at every level.

Roles, honours and recognition

• Legend of the Bar, Victorian Bar, 2012 (per Melbourne Law School and Victorian Bar News, Spring 2012)
• Queen’s Counsel, appointed 1985; now King’s Counsel (Meldrum’s List; Victoria University)
• Doyle’s Guide — Preeminent, Criminal Law Senior Counsel, Victoria: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021; Australia: 2019 (each linked in the table above)
• Doyle’s Guide — Leading 2022 and Recommended 2023, 2024, 2025, Criminal Law Senior Counsel, Victoria
• Chairman, Criminal Bar Association of Victoria, 1986–89 (Victoria University)
• Member, Victorian Bar Council, 1975–76 and 1998–99 (Victoria University)
• Part-time Commissioner, Law Reform Commission of Victoria, 1989–92 (Victoria University)
• President, Victorian Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty Victoria), 1994–96 (Victoria University)
• Adjunct Professor, Victoria Law School, Victoria University (university profile); formerly part-time tutor in torts and evidence, University of Melbourne
• The Robert Richter Scholarship, Melbourne Law School: a $9,000 allowance for high-achieving Juris Doctor students from disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances (University of Melbourne)
• Portrait at the Victorian Bar: a double portrait with Philip Dunn KC by Martin Tighe, unveiled at the Bar’s 2019 gallery refresh (Lawyers Weekly, 4 April 2019)
• Joint editor, Melbourne University Law Review, with Kenneth Hayne, later a Justice of the High Court; read with Ron Castan QC (per William Crockett Chambers)

Where he practises and how to brief him

• William Crockett Chambers, Level 17, 460 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. Register telephone +61 3 9225 7444; his clerk publishes 03 9225 7545.
• Clerk: Meldrum’s List. Barristers in Australia are briefed by an instructing solicitor. Your criminal law solicitor contacts the clerk to request a brief and confirm availability. Direct access by members of the public is available only in limited circumstances under Victorian Bar rules.
• Jurisdictions. The Victorian Bar gives him a right of audience in all Victorian and federal courts; his clerk lists him as also admitted in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
• Fees are not published. Brief fees and conference rates are set by the barrister and disclosed through his clerk. Written costs disclosure is mandatory under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Victoria) before work begins; ask your solicitor for it, and for the likely range if the matter resolves early versus running to trial.

Need a criminal lawyer first? Most people reach a silk through a solicitor. Tell us about your matter and we will point you to the right starting place, or browse criminal lawyers in Melbourne.

Client reviews

Peer rankings (Doyle’s Guide) and professional honours (Legend of the Bar) are not client reviews and are shown separately above, with their sources.