Gallimore's documented background lies in Queensland, where he completed his tertiary education before entering the legal profession. The state's legal practitioners had been subject to a formal regulatory framework through the Queensland Law Society, which was incorporated under the Queensland Law Society Act 1927 and was given statutory responsibilities for regulating and disciplining solicitors.
Gallimore studied at the University of Queensland, where he took the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws with Honours. The university was established by an Act of the Queensland Parliament on 10 December 1909 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Queensland's separation from New South Wales. It was formally founded on 16 April 1910 with the gazettal of appointments to its first Senate.
An 1891 royal commission had recommended a new university with five faculties: Arts, Law, Medicine, Science, and Applied Science. The university's first classes were held in Government House in 1911, with 83 commencing students. Gallimore's legal qualifications were therefore obtained within one of the faculties the university was founded to include from the outset.
Gallimore was admitted to the bar in Queensland in 1978. His documented professional career is associated with Feez Ruthning, a Brisbane law firm, where he has worked as a partner.
Feez Ruthning traced its origins to Robert Little, who began practising law in Brisbane in 1846, twelve years before Queensland became a separate colony. The firm was renamed Feez Ruthning & Co. in 1927, and as Feez Ruthning it became one of Brisbane's leading commercial legal practices. It merged with Allen Allen & Hemsley in 1996, and its Brisbane operations later became part of Allens.
