David Sharp's documented professional life is rooted in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, the most populous state of Australia. The University of Sydney, where he completed his law degree, is the oldest university in Australia and has been a central institution of legal education in the state since the nineteenth century.
The University of Sydney was founded in 1850 and is Australia's oldest university. Its law degree was included in the Act that incorporated the university, placing legal education among its earliest disciplines alongside Arts and Medicine.
The Faculty of Law was formally established in 1855, but it did not begin teaching until 1890, when Pitt Cobbett was appointed the first Challis Chair of Law and first Dean of the Faculty. The Faculty later became known as Sydney Law School.
Until 1964, when the University of New South Wales created its own law faculty, the University of Sydney was the only institution in New South Wales offering law degrees. David Sharp's Bachelor of Laws placed him within this long-established legal education tradition.
David Sharp was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1980, marking his entry into legal practice in the Australian state of New South Wales. Admission to the bar allowed him to practise as a barrister or lawyer in the state's legal system, which was built on the common law tradition inherited from Britain.
