Cornelius Griffin is an Australian lawyer based in Sydney. He was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1985 and worked as a partner of the Sydney commercial law firm Freehill, Hollingdale & Page, which later became known as Freehills.
Background
Cornelius Griffin's life and career were rooted in Australia's legal profession. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and later practised in Sydney, New South Wales, where he was admitted to the bar in 1985.
The University of Melbourne was founded in 1853 and was the first university in the Australian state of Victoria. Its law degree gave Griffin the academic foundation for admission to practice, which in New South Wales required separate admission to the state's legal profession.
Education
Griffin received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne. Founded in 1853, the university was Victoria's first and grew into one of Australia's most prominent universities, with a long-established tradition of professional legal education.
Following his studies, he was admitted to the bar in New South Wales in 1985. This admission connected his legal training with the Sydney legal market, where the large commercial firms of the period were centred.
Career
Griffin's professional career is documented in association with Freehill, Hollingdale & Page, a Sydney law firm, where he worked as a partner. The firm's origins lay in the Sydney practice of Bernard Austin Freehill, established in 1871, and it adopted the name Freehill, Hollingdale & Page in 1947.
Under the direction of partner Brian Page, the firm expanded into corporate and commercial practice within Australia and internationally. In 1978 it became the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner, and in 1979 it formed Australia's first national law partnership with Muir Williams Nicholson & Co of Perth.
In 2000 the state partnerships of Freehill Hollingdale & Page became a single partnership under the name Freehills. In 2012 Freehills merged with the firm Herbert Smith to form Herbert Smith Freehills. Griffin was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1985 and is documented as working as a partner at the firm in this period of its development.
