Bettina Mangan is an Australian lawyer based in Perth, Western Australia. Admitted in 1983, she was a partner at the firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques and later a partner at Lavan in Perth, before becoming a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers in 2009. She was appointed Senior Counsel in 2022 and practises across insurance, negligence, contract, and coronial matters.
Background
Mangan's professional life is rooted in Western Australia, where she completed her legal studies and later built her career. Her work unfolded in Perth, where long-established firms and independent barristers' chambers formed part of the local legal community. Lavan, one of the city's best-known firms, was founded in 1898 by Michael Gibson Lavan, an Irish barrister who had migrated to Western Australia and was admitted to practice there.
The independent Bar in Western Australia took shape in the early 1960s. Francis Burt, who later served as Chief Justice and then as Governor of the state, founded the independent Bar in 1961, and barristers' chambers were established in Perth the following year.
Education
Mangan studied at the University of Western Australia, where she completed a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Jurisprudence. The UWA Law School was established in 1927 and is the oldest law school in Western Australia and the fifth oldest in Australia. Before the school opened, the only way to qualify as a lawyer in the region was a five-year articled clerkship, so its four-year Bachelor of Laws offered a university-based route into the profession.
The school has published an internationally recognised law review since 1948 and has built its reputation on legal education, research, and professional skills. Mangan was admitted in 1983, marking her entry into legal practice after her university studies.
Career
Mangan was admitted in 1983 and later became a partner of Mallesons Stephen Jaques. The firm originated in 1832 in Western Australia, and its modern form dates from 1987, when Stephen Jaques Stone James merged with the Melbourne firm Mallesons to create what was described as Australia's first truly national, integrated law firm. From 2012 the firm operated as King & Wood Mallesons, and it reverted to the Mallesons name in 2026.
In 1989 she became a partner at Lavan, a Perth firm founded in 1898. Before 2006 the firm traded under names including Lavan Solomon and Lavan & Walsh. Her partnership focused on insurance and family law, and it continued through 2009. In 2006 the majority of Perth partners of the national firm Phillips Fox formed Lavan Legal, an independent practice, and Mangan's partnership continued through that change.
Mangan moved to the Bar in 2009, when she became a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers in Perth. The chambers began in 1962 as Bar Chambers, the first barristers' chambers in the city, and was renamed in 1997 in honour of Sir Francis Burt. It now has more than 140 members across a wide range of practice areas.
Her practice covers insurance, contract, general and professional negligence, professional disciplinary matters, occupational health and safety prosecutions, coronial inquiries, and workers' compensation. She gives legal opinions, acts as counsel at trial and appeal hearings, and has appeared in courts including the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Western Australia, and the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.
Mangan has also completed a mediators course and accepts briefs as a mediator, and she regularly presents papers for continuing legal education. She was appointed Senior Counsel in 2022.
Views
Mangan has expressed a concern for social welfare and justice issues. In her view, many of today's social welfare and justice problems are addressed by helping adults care for children and young people. Her practice includes strategic and liability advice on historic child abuse matters.
Membership
Mangan's organisational roles include a seat on the board of directors of WA Bar Chambers Limited, the company associated with Francis Burt Chambers, and service on the council of The Beehive Montessori School. Montessori schools follow the educational approach devised by Maria Montessori, which emphasises structured, self-directed learning. She served on the council from 2009 to 2021 and was its chair from 2015.
She was also a trustee of the Fogarty Foundation.
Member of the Board of Directors
WA Bar Chambers Limited
,
Australia
Council member; chair from 2015
The Beehive Montessori School
,
Australia
2009 - 2021
Trustee
Fogarty Foundation
References
Bettina Mangan SC, Francis Burt Chambers
Chambers profile recording her year of admission (1983), election to the bar (2009), appointment as Senior Counsel (2022), practice areas, and court appearances.
Bettina Mangan, Business News
Business profile listing her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Jurisprudence from the University of Western Australia, her barrister role at Francis Burt Chambers, and earlier positions, including a partnership at Lavan from 1989 to 2009.
