Orange barrister Michael Allen will bring fairness, compassion and understanding of human life to his duties as a magistrate, according to fellow barrister Bill Walsh.
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Mr Walsh,head of William Owen Chambers and NSW Bar Association regional representative, will speak at a ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday when Mr Allen will be sworn in as a magistrate.
The appointment was announced by Attorney General John Hatzistergos this week.
Mr Walsh said Mr Allen had been an outstanding advocate for people from all walks of life during his career as a solicitor and barrister.
“The attorney-general has made an excellent choice in appointing Michael as a magistrate. In the finest tradition of the bar he has always acted fearlessly in the interests of his clients,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Allen came to wider prominence in Orange and the central west when he stood as the Labor candidate for the seat of Calare in the 2007 federal election.
In a legal career spanning more than two decades, Mr Allen has worked as a solicitor for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Legal Aid Commission, as well as private practice.
Mr Allen grew up on a farm near Narromine.
He came to Orange in 1991 to work as a solicitor with the Legal Aid Commission for four years and returned in 2001 to set up his legal practice.
For the past six years he has been practising as a barrister, representing clients in the local, district and supreme courts.
