Geoffrey Bourhill's documented background centres on Western Australia, where he pursued legal education and entered the legal profession. He was admitted to practice in 1981, beginning a career that moved from plaintiff-side litigation into private practice and later the independent bar.
Bourhill studied law at the University of Western Australia, where he earned a Bachelor of Laws. The university's Faculty of Law was established in Perth in 1927 and is regarded as Western Australia's premier law school.
The UWA Law School is the fifth-oldest law school in Australia and publishes the UWA Law Review, founded in 1948 as the oldest university law review in the country. Its teaching aims to develop reasoning, legal research skills, and a critical understanding of law's role in society.
Bourhill's early legal career centred on personal injury litigation. After his admission in 1981, he spent his first five years acting for plaintiffs in claims involving workers' compensation, employers' liability, public liability, and motor vehicle accidents.
He later practised at private law firms in Western Australia, including as a partner. He was a partner of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, a firm that took that name in 1987 when Stephen Jaques Stone James merged with Mallesons.
From 2010 until June 2016 Bourhill was with Tottle Partners. Before joining the Bar, he was a member of the legal panels of the Insurance Commission of Western Australia, MDA Insurance, the Transport Accident Commission, and formerly Law Mutual and SGIO/CGU. His practice included professional indemnity claims acting for the insurers of doctors, hospitals, and lawyers.
In July 2016 he began practising as an independent barrister at Francis Burt Chambers. He specialises in personal injuries law, with particular interest in the assessment of damages in catastrophic claims, compulsory third-party insurance coverage, medical negligence, industrial disease, and institutional abuse claims. He has appeared as counsel in numerous trials, inquests, and appeals.
In October 2021 the Chief Justice of Western Australia announced the appointment of seven Senior Counsel, including Bourhill, from 21 applications.
Bourhill is a member of the Legal Practice Board and serves as Deputy Chairperson of the Legal Services Complaints Committee. Both bodies are concerned with oversight of the legal profession in Western Australia.
