Two Senior Counsel to join the Supreme Court in 2024

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 

Two eminent Senior Counsel will join the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2024.   

Attorney General Michael Daley today announced that Ian Pike SC and James Hmelnitsky SC have been appointed to the jurisdiction. They are both highly regarded and bring more than 60 years of legal experience with them to the bench. 

Ian Pike has one of the largest commercial and corporations law practices at the New South Wales Bar and has appeared regularly in courts throughout the country, as well as in the New South Wales Court of Appeal and Federal Court of Australia, including the Full Court.   

Mr Pike was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1997 and took silk in 2011. He is renowned for his technical ability and practical, common-sense approach to commercial dispute resolution.  He has served as Chair of Eleven Wentworth, one of the leading sets of chambers in the country, as well as on the board of Counsel’s Chambers Limited and on the North Bondi Surf Club judiciary panel. He was Associate to the Honourable Justice D G Hill of the Federal Court in 1991.  

James Hmelnitsky SC was admitted to practice in 1996. From 1998 to 2001 he practised as an attorney in the New York firm Shearman and Sterling before coming to the New South Wales Bar in 2001. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2013 and is a member of 6th Floor, Selborne/Wentworth Chambers.   

During Mr Hmelnitsky’s career at the Bar, he has represented a wide range of corporate, private and government clients in revenue, commercial and administrative law matters appearing before state and territory courts and tribunals. Mr Hmelnitsky has also represented media organisations and individuals in several high-profile defamation and media disputes.  

The new judges will replace the Hon. Justice Stephen Robb and the Hon. Justice Trish Henry, both of whom will retire in early February 2024 and whose service to the Court and the State the Attorney General gratefully acknowledges.  

Mr Pike is expected to be sworn in at a ceremonial sitting at 9.15 AM on 30 January 2024, while Mr Hmelnitsky is expected to be sworn in at 9.15AM on 1 February 2024. Both ceremonies will be held in the Banco Court, Law Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney and will also be livestreamed on the Supreme Court’s YouTube channel. 

Quotes attributable to Attorney General Michael Daley: 

“The Supreme Court of New South Wales is highly respected, both nationally and internationally, as a forum for the resolution of commercial disputes. The appointment of two such experienced senior counsel to the Court’s Equity Division will only add to that reputation. I congratulate them both on their appointments.” 

“I would also like to thank Justice Robb and Justice Henry for their dedicated service and I wish them both all the very best for their futures.”