Christopher Shanahan SC

Barrister Murray Chambers

Christopher Shanahan SC was admitted to the WA bar in 1984, NSW in 1989 and the High Court of Australia in 1990. He practices as a barrister at Murray Chambers.

Christopher Shanahan SC is an independent barrister and was appointed silk on 1 December 2004. He is a member of the WA Bar Association, of which he was Vice-President (2005-2007). His practice focuses on civil, administrative and commercial matters, with an emphasis on appeals. Chris has a substantial body of work in native title, mining, and compulsory acquisition. Chris continues to act in criminal matters, particularly white collar prosecutions. He often provides advice around the exercise of coercive statutory powers and regulation generally. Chris regularly acts for government and accountability agencies.

Chris is a senior member of Murray Chambers which he founded in February 2017. Murray Chambers has an affiliation with barristers’ chambers in Adelaide and Darwin. Chris served in a part time role as Acting Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission for over 7 years; he has also served as an Acting Information Commissioner.

Chris is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. He has an extensive background in legal education and is an experienced advocacy trainer. Chris was a member of the Australian Bar Association's Advocacy Training Council (2008-2017) and was Course Director of the ABA's first Appellate Advocacy Course in 2012. He has taught in many of the ABA Advanced Advocacy courses. Chris taught in the South-Eastern Circuit's International Advanced Advocacy Course at Keble College in Oxford in 2005, 2010 and 2024. He has lectured in law at Macquarie and Murdoch Universities, and teaches occasionally at Curtin University where he is an Adjunct Clinical Professor. In 2024 Chris taught his Comparative Anti-Corruption Course at Ghent University, Belgium.

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