Louise Martin

Louise Martin practises in public, regulatory and commercial law and employment and industrial law. She regularly appears in a range of courts and tribunals, including the Federal Court and the Victorian Supreme Court.

Before joining the Bar, Louise was an associate to the Honourable Justice Weinberg in the Federal Court and she moved across with him when he took up his appointment to the Court of Appeal. Louise was also the researcher to the former Solicitor-General for Victoria, now the Honourable Justice Tate of the Court of Appeal. As researcher, Louise worked closely with the Solicitor-General on advice and litigation work, including constitutional cases in the High Court and matters relating to the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.

Prior to that, she was a solicitor at Clayton Utz in Sydney for two years, where she worked on complex commercial and public law matters, primarily in relation to trusts, contractual and consumer protection disputes, and judicial review. In particular, she worked on a long-running superannuation deed rectification case for a superannuation trustee. 

Louise holds a Masters of Law with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she specialised in statutory interpretation and human rights legislation. She also holds a BA (first-class honours) from the University of Melbourne and an LLB (first-class honours) from the University of Sydney.

Before becoming a lawyer, Louise spent six years working as a journalist at The Age, where she started as a cadet. She ultimately covered state politics, industrial relations and was the Sydney correspondent. She later worked as a sub-editor at the Australian Financial Review. During her law course, Louise was an editor of the Sydney Law Review - University of Sydney. As a barrister, she has previously been a reporter for the Victorian Reports and was on the editorial committee of Bar News.

In 2018, Louise participated in the Australian Bar Association’s week long residential Advanced Advocacy Course in Sydney, the Court of Appeal Advocacy Program coordinated by her Honour Justice Tate in conjunction with the Women Barristers’ Association, and the VPELA moot. She is an examiner for the College of Law and has delivered advocacy training for Leo Cussen.

Louise was the secretary of the Women Barristers' Association from 2013-2015 and 2018-2020.

Louise read with the Honourable Justice Chris Horan KC and the Honourable Justice Richard Niall SC. Her Senior Mentor was Peter Hanks KC.