Criminal Defence Lawyer · NSW & ACT
Aaron Kernaghan.
Criminal defence lawyer in NSW and the ACT. Admitted to the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Over 26 years in practice across solicitor and counsel-instructing capacities. Trial, appellate and bail work in the Local Court, District Court, Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeal, and at the ACT Magistrates Court and ACT Supreme Court.
The work.
Aaron's practice is built around the proposition that the lawyer who answers the first phone call should be the lawyer who reads the brief, conferences the witnesses, briefs counsel where counsel is needed, and stands at the bar table on the day. The handoff to a junior is the most common failure mode in criminal practice. The firm runs files differently: one lawyer, attentive across the months of proceedings, with senior counsel briefed when the matter calls for it and instructed by Aaron in every conference.
Trial advocacy.
Trial and defended-hearing practice across the District Court, Supreme Court and the ACT Supreme Court. Indictable and strictly indictable matters in violence, sexual offences, drugs, fraud and dishonesty. Led-junior work on murder, manslaughter and complex drug-trafficking matters.
Appellate work.
Conviction and sentence appeals in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal. Severity appeals from the Local Court to the District Court. The Kentwell framework and manifest excess as a residual ground, run in parallel where the matter justifies it.
Bail and intake.
Local Court, District Court and Supreme Court bail practice. Show-cause matters, unacceptable-risk applications, revocations and subsequent release applications in the Supreme Court. Early intake on serious matters where the first thirty days sets the conditions for everything after.
How Aaron works with clients.
The first call is a confidential conversation about the matter. If the matter is one for the firm, Aaron books a paid first conference (30 minutes, by telephone or in person at the Potts Point or Wollongong office). At the first conference the brief is discussed, the realistic range of outcomes is set out, the timing decisions for the next ninety days are identified, and the fee for the matter is quoted on the brief.
Aaron does not give guarantees of outcome at the first conference. The separate note on lawyer guarantees explains why. What Aaron does give is a realistic range, the dependencies that govern where the matter will land in that range, and the work that the defence has to do to land in the better half of it.
Beyond the conference, Aaron is contactable by telephone and email throughout the proceedings. The firm answers its phone. Aaron's mobile number is on every page of this site for a reason.
Writing and teaching.
Aaron writes the long-form articles in the insights archive. The pieces are written for accused persons and their families and pass the test of being something a senior criminal lawyer would actually say. There are now twenty-five published pieces; the cadence is one substantive piece every two weeks. Practitioners who use Aaron's research and CPD material will find it at akclr.com.au; the firm's CPD programme is described separately.
Where Aaron appears.
NSW: Downing Centre Local and District Court, John Maddison Tower, Parramatta, Penrith, Campbelltown, Burwood, Wollongong, Manly, Hornsby, Sutherland, Waverley, Newtown. ACT: ACT Magistrates Court and ACT Supreme Court. Each court has its own working rhythm and the firm has appeared in all of them. The court pages set out the practical detail for each.
First contact.
If you are reading this because something has gone wrong, the call is to 0421 717 019. Out of hours, same number. The emergency page sets out the after-hours playbook. The first-hour decision tool is the interactive guide if you are looking for orientation before the call.
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