Cameron Sweeney is an Australian lawyer whose work has focused on commercial litigation and real estate law. He studied law at the University of Western Australia, was admitted as a lawyer in 1982, and later worked as a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques and as a director of Sweeney Legal in Perth.
Background
Cameron Sweeney's documented schooling was in Perth, Western Australia. He graduated from Trinity College, a school whose origins lie in the Christian Brothers' College that Bishop Matthew Gibney and Brother Ambrose Treacy founded on St George's Terrace in 1894. The school moved to East Perth in 1962 and was renamed Trinity College; it now operates as a Catholic day school for boys in the Edmund Rice tradition.
His early distinction came in public speaking. He was the captain of the Trinity team that won the Western Australian Schools Debating Competition, and his firm's biography describes law as a natural choice for a student with that record. He was also awarded numerous academic prizes during high school and university.
Education
Cameron Sweeney attended Trinity College in Perth, which traces its origins to the Christian Brothers' College founded in 1894. The school moved to its East Perth site and took the name Trinity College in 1962. At Trinity he captained the team that won the Western Australian Schools Debating Competition.
He went on to the University of Western Australia, the State's first university. Established by an act of the state parliament in 1911, it opened in 1913 with 184 students and moved from Irwin Street to its Crawley campus in 1932. Sweeney studied law there, completing a Bachelor of Jurisprudence with Honours between 1977 and 1980 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1981.
At university he took part in mooting, the simulated appellate advocacy in which students argue fictitious appeals before lawyers or judges. He won the university's mooting competition in his second year of law studies. He was admitted as a lawyer at the end of 1982.
Career
Cameron Sweeney's professional life began in Perth. From 1982 to 1985 he worked as a solicitor at Freehills, an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1852 that was one of the country's largest firms before its 2012 merger with the London firm Herbert Smith. He then spent 1985 to 1986 as an associate to Justice Wilson at the High Court of Australia in Canberra, where he worked for Sir Ronald Wilson. The High Court, established under the Australian Constitution in 1903, is the highest court in Australia's federal judicial system.
He returned to Freehills from 1986 to 1988 and then became a partner of Phillips Fox from 1988 to 1992. Phillips Fox later relaunched as DLA Phillips Fox in 2006 and was absorbed into DLA Piper Australia in 2011.
From 1991 to 2003 he taught part-time at Murdoch University, a Perth institution founded in 1973. He guest-lectured in contract law and tutored in property law, administrative and constitutional law, and civil procedure and evidence. From 1992 to 2011 he was a director of MDS Legal Pty Ltd in Perth.
In July 2011 he became a director of Eastwood Sweeney Law, a boutique commercial litigation practice that he led with Cameron Eastwood. In November 2017 he became a director of Sweeney Legal in Perth. The Sweeney Legal website states that, apart from his period with Sir Ronald Wilson, he has spent his professional life in private practice, concentrating largely on commercial litigation and real estate law.
He was also a partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques. The firm was formed in 1987 when Stephen Jaques Stone James merged with Mallesons, and it became part of King & Wood Mallesons in 2012.
Achievements
Won the Western Australian Schools Debating Competition as captain of the Trinity College team.
Won the University of Western Australia mooting competition in his second year of law studies, arguing simulated appeals before lawyers or judges.
Received numerous academic prizes during high school and university.
Connections
Cameron Sweeney's principal documented professional connection is with Cameron Eastwood, with whom he was a principal of Eastwood Sweeney Law, a Perth commercial litigation practice. The two men were both described as highly experienced litigation lawyers in that practice's profile.
Collegue :
Cameron Eastwood
Co-principal with Cameron Sweeney of Eastwood Sweeney Law, a Perth boutique commercial litigation practice focused on litigation over wills and commercial disputes.
References
Sweeney Legal – Our People
Firm webpage profiling Cameron Sweeney as a director, describing his Trinity College and University of Western Australia education, his admission as a lawyer at the end of 1982, and his litigation and real estate practice.
