Derek Luxford is an Australian lawyer known for his work in maritime, transport, and trade law. He practised in Sydney for several decades, serving as a partner at Phillips Fox and later at Hicksons, and he was a long-standing member of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand before retiring from private practice in 2020.
Background
Luxford's documented career is centred in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, where he studied law at the University of Sydney and trained as a lawyer. Sydney has been a home of Australian legal practice since the early colonial period; Allens, now Australia's oldest continuous law firm, was founded there in 1822.
His professional work connected the Sydney legal market with the maritime, trade, and transport sectors, which depend on shipping, marine insurance, and international commerce.
Education
Luxford studied at the University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney was the first university established in Australia, and it has since remained one of the country's leading institutions of higher education.
He was admitted to the bar in Australia in 1976, a qualification that allowed him to practise law in the Australian legal system.
Career
Luxford was admitted to the bar in Australia in 1976. His initial professional training took place at Allens in Sydney. Allens traces its origins to 22 July 1822, when George Allen began a one-person legal practice in a cottage on Elizabeth Street; the firm describes itself as Australia's oldest continuous law firm.
After his initial training he spent three years working in London before returning to Australia.
He later became a partner of Phillips Fox for around twenty years. Phillips Fox was an Australian law firm whose practice areas included banking and finance, taxation, competition and trade practices, and insolvency. It formed an alliance with DLA Piper in 2006 and was integrated into DLA Piper Australia in 2011. During part of his time at Phillips Fox, Luxford was involved in many leading marine cases in Australia, handled aspects of aviation law, and worked on a wide range of international trade disputes.
He then joined Hicksons for a little over fifteen years. The firm was created in April 1952 as Hickson Lakeman & Holcombe, adopted the name Hicksons in 2001, and is headquartered in Sydney with offices in Newcastle and other centres. He formerly led a transport, trade and energy team whose clients included cargo owners, ship operators, freight forwarders, trade financiers, insurers, and energy explorers. In 2001 he was a member of the panel that assisted the Australian Law Reform Commission's inquiry into reforming the Australian Marine Insurance Act.
Luxford retired from private practice in June 2020. From July 2020 he has worked as a self-employed legal consultant in Sydney, providing commercial dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration, along with ship arrest and the enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards. He is an accredited arbitrator with the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Membership
The Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand was established in 1974 to advance reform of maritime law, to facilitate justice in its administration, and to provide a forum for discussing problems affecting the field. Its members include lawyers and judges, academics, representatives of exporters and shipping companies, and marine insurers. Luxford has been a member since 1983 and chaired the association's New South Wales branch committee from 1992 to 1995.
The International Bar Association is an international organisation of bar associations and law societies. Luxford was the former chairman of its Maritime and Land Transport Law Committee, and through the Maritime Committee's activities he developed an international professional network. He attended sessions of the Comite Maritime International, including those held in Vancouver in 2004.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
Alexis Cahalan, chair of the New South Wales branch of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand, described Luxford as a valued friend to many in the legal profession and said that he had made a significant contribution to the law, particularly in marine insurance.
