Peter has extensive experience in advocacy in a range of courts and tribunals in the Federal jurisdiction, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and has appeared in inquiries, including the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

Some of the more interesting cases that Peter has acted in include;

Intentional torts

* Lewis v The Australian Capital Territory 271 CLR 192; [2020] HCA 26; 94 ALJR 740; 381 ALR 375 (principles for damages in false imprisonment)

* State of New South Wales v. Riley [2003] NSWCA 208 (1 August 2003) (intentional torts of assault and false imprisonment by police – aggravated and exemplary damages)

* Niven v. SS [2006] NSWCA 338 (30 November 2006) (civil damages for sexual assault involving a re-statement and application of the tort/felony rule in New South Wales)

*Campbell v Northern Territory of Australia (No 3) [2021] FCA 1089 at [424]-[471] (development of the common law principle of “residual liberty” in the tort of false imprisonment)

*The Trustees for the Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore v GLJ [2022] NSWCA 78. (The imposition of a permanent stay by the Court of Appeal was successfully overturned by the respondent (as appellant) in the High Court in GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2023] HCA 32, (1 November 2023)); see also GLJ v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Lismore [2021] NSWSC 1204

Human rights

* Yasmin v Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia [2015] FCA 91 and [2015] FCAFC 145 (administrative law and prerogative of mercy)

* Monaghan v Australian Capital Territory (No 2) [2016] ACTSC 352 (30 November 2016)
(Human Rights Act (ACT) and novel duty of care in bail processing)

* LFDB v SM [2016] NZCA 295 (debarred litigant, human rights, Trans-Tasman proceedings and judicial comity)

* Jasmin v The Queen [2017] WASCA 122 (29 June 2017) (miscarriage of justice, statutory referral powers and directed acquittal)

* Eastman v The Australian Capital Territory [2019] ACTSC 280 (14 October 2019) (wrongful conviction, miscarriage of justice and first award of compensation under the Human Rights Act (ACT))

* Deng v Australian Capital Territory (No 3) [2022] ACTSC 262 (jurisdiction of inferior court, jurisdictional error and construction and application of the Human Rights Act (ACT))

*Featherstone v Australian Capital Territory [2022] ACTSC 250 (status of declaratory relief under the Human Rights Act (ACT), in rem judgments)

Succession

* Borthwick v Mitchell [2017] NSWSC 1145 (31 August 2017) (Informal will – unsigned notes transcribed by interested witness)

*Middleton v Schofield [2022] NSWSC 1454 (Construction of wills, extrinsic evidence)

Restitution

*Carpenter & Anor v Morris & Anor [2023] NSWCA 124 (and at first instance) (restitution – moneys had and received and implied terms in contract)