Lucy M E Line practises in regulatory and disciplinary matters, public law, professional negligence, employment law, defamation and crime. Lucy's regulatory and disciplinary practice focuses on the legal, medical and financial sectors.
Before coming to the Bar, Lucy graduated from the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Arts and Law, and was awarded the University Medal and the prize for the Best Graduating Law Student, amongst other prizes. Lucy later attained a Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford and was admitted as an attorney in California.
Lucy is presently a Senior Fellow at Monash University where she teaches Employment Law at a Masters level, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Tasmania, where she teaches Employment Law to undergraduates. Additionally, Lucy has taught Juris Doctor students Ethics in Legal Practice at Monash University.
Lucy has published several legal articles and has co-authored law reform reports.
Lucy has published several legal articles and has co-authored law reform reports. In particular, Lucy proudly co-authored a report in collaboration with the South Australian Law Reform Institute recommending the abolition of the common law defence of provocation in South Australia. Informally known as the "gay panic" defence, this defence assisted persons who responded to unwanted homosexual advances with violence, including fatal violence, on the basis that receiving an unwanted homosexual advance could justifiably send a person into a violent, even homocidal, panic. Recognising that this defence was archiac, discriminatory and amounted to providing a vaneer of legitimacy to "gay bashing", the report was instrumental in parliament legislating to abolish the defence in 2020.
Lucy's experience includes:
- acting for regulators and legal practitioners in relation to professional disciplinary matters;
- acting as counsel assisting for an integrity body examining witnesses in compulsory examinations;
- acting in financial complaints, including in respect of superannuation matters;
- acting for regulators and businesses in occupational health and safety matters;
- advising on statutory construction and interpretation;
- appearing in arbitrations, including international arbitrations for a treaty-based organisation;
- acting in commissions and inquiries;
- conducting numerous workplace investigations, especially complex and highly sensitive investigations involving religious and educational institutions;
- regularly appearing to argue public interest immunity claims;
- advising and arguing privilege claims;
- advising with respect to alleged breaches of directors' duties;
- advising on potential defamation claims and appearing in defamation hearings; and
- advising and appearing in employment disputes.
Lucy is available to appear throughout Australia.
Some matters in which Lucy has been briefed include:
Garcia v BT Funds Management Limited, 2023 - acting for an individual in a complaint to the financial complaints authority. The client was not paid the death benefit of a deceased member of a superannuation fund. Rather, the superannuation trustee inadvertently paid criminals who intercepted emails between the client's solicitor and the superannuation trustee and caused the payment to be diverted and dissipated. The authority found that the superannuation trustee failed to exercise due diligence to prevent this. Successfully resulted in the authority recommending that the death benefit be paid to the client.
Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, 2023 - acting for two former employees of the State of Tasmania in relation to potential findings of misconduct regarding their conduct while in the public service. Successfully notified by the Commission that no findings of misconduct would be made against either client and that notices of proposed misconduct were withdrawn.
Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Wong (Legal Practice) [2022] VCAT 432 - acting for a solicitor who was a principal of a law firm and who failed to adequately supervise a junior employee. This disciplinary matter resolved favourably for the client with a reprimand and an order that he pay the regulator's costs.
Wang v Qin [2022] VCC 102 - successfully obtained costs in favour of the client.
Wang v Qin [2021] VCC 1906 - successfully obtained orders that the client had been defamed and that each imputation argued had been proven.
QDP v Victorian Institute of Teaching (Review and Regulation) [2021] VCAT 13 - acting for the regulator in respect of a teacher's registration.
Vos v Global Green Growth Institute, 2020 - international arbitration conducted in South Korea under the treaty-based organisation's arbitration rules. Successfully acted for the employer to resist the employee's appeal of their dismissal.
Mukiza v Global Green Growth Institute, 2019 - international arbitration conducted under the treaty-based organisation's arbitration rules. Successfully acted for the employer to resist the employee's appeal of their dismissal.
May v Commonwealth of Australia and Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd - defending occupational health and safety charges, led by D. Hallowes, with C. Currie.
Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Zervas, VCAT J26/2019 - led by C. Shaw QC.
R v Eastman (No 50) [2018] ACTSC 321 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 49) [2018] ACTSC 320 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 48) [2018] ACTSC 276 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 47) [2018] ACTSC 263 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 46) [2018] ACTSC 203 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 45) [2018] ACTSC 197 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 44) [2018] ACTSC 194 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 43) [2018] ACTSC 186 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 42) [2018] ACTSC 176 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 41) [2018] ACTSC 175 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 40) [2018] ACTSC 174 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 39) [2018] ACTSC 171 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 38) [2018] ACTSC 124 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 37) [2018] ACTSC 114 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 36) [2018] ACTSC 107 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 34) [2018] ACTSC 68 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 32) [2018] ACTSC 12 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 30) [2018] ACTSC 7 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 29) [2018] ACTSC 4 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 28) [2018] ACTSC 2 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 27) [2018] ACTSC 1 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 26) [2017] ACTSC 393 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 25) [2017] ACTSC 364 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 24) [2017] ACTSC 348 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 23) [2017] ACTSC 281 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 22) [2017] ACTSC 256 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 21) [2017] ACTSC 255 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 18) [2017] ACTSC 180
R v Eastman (No 15) [2017] ACTSC 143 (with G.Georgiou QC)
R v Eastman (No 14) [2017] ACTSC 66
Eastman v Director of Public Prosecutions (No 13) [2016] ACTCA 65 (with P. Tehan QC)
Director of Public Prosecutions v Alaniz (a pseudonym) [2016] VCC 1274
R v Eastman (No 6) [2015] ACTSC 377 (with M. Griffin QC)
R v Eastman (No 5) [2015] ACTSC 376 (with M. Griffin QC)
Eastman v The Queen [2015] ACTCA 24 (with C. Boyce SC)
R v Eastman (No 2) [2015] ACTSC 98 (with C. Boyce SC)
R v Eastman [2015] ACTSC 97 (with C. Boyce SC)
Director of Public Prosecutions v Dunn [2014] VCC 2228
Inquiry into the conviction of David Harold Eastman for the murder of Colin Stanley Winchester, 2013 - 2014 - acting for David Eastman, led by P. Willee QC and M. Griffin QC.
Memberships and Associations:
- Member of the Victorian Bar Ethics Committee, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Member of the Supreme Court Library Committee, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Member of the Finance Subcommittee of the Supreme Court Library Committee, 2024
- Member of the Law Library of Victoria Committee, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Member of the Finance Subcommittee of the Law Library of Victoria, 2024
- Member of the Victorian Bar Library Committee, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Graduate of the Australian Company Directors Course (Australian Institute of Company Directors)
- On the Victoria Legal Aid Criminal Trial Preferred Barrister List
- Holds an Indictable Crime Certificate
