Philip OPAS QC interview 4/8/2003

I understand Justice Frederick Gamble and you used to sketch each other.

We painted each other.  He was a very fine amateur artist. Sir John Longstaff was quoted as saying that Gamble was the best amateur artist he'd ever seen.  I'm a dilettante - I paint portraits - and one time we were going on circuit together. The judge is the loneliest man on circuit, he can't be seen with anybody, and before we went away, I said to Freddy "Why don't we take our paints up? I'll paint you - you paint me". He said "Great idea!" We went to his rooms in the pub, set up our easels and painted each other.

Well, in the morning, dipping the paintbrush in the glass of beer didn't improve the taste of the beer or the quality of the picture - so we didn't have an entry for the Archibald, but we had a lot of fun doing it.

Freddy would come out with things with a dead straight face. You'd be putting a serious argument to him on law, and he'd say "Tell me, Mr Opas, what do you think of the case of Glasscock v. Balls?" Well, there is such a case in the English reports, but it had nothing to do with the case in point. I'd make some similarly facetious point, and he'd say "You're quite right" and it would confuse the opposition.

Practising law could be fun.  Sir Charles Lowe, whose portrait appears in this building (Owen Dixon Chambers East), was said to look more wise than any man could possibly look - I don't think any portrait could possibly do him justice.  He was the epitome of the ideal judge, but he had a wonderful sense of humour.

He used to bail me up at a Bar dinner, usually in the toilet and say "Tell me, Opas, what is the latest story doing the rounds at Owen Dixon - I've got to mix with such a dull bunch of people".  And he enjoyed a good joke.  I remember the days when divorce had to be dealt with in the Supreme Court of the state where we'd appear in our "undies" - as we'd call the undefended divorces when you'd do a few a day.

I was waiting to appear in one and Sir Charles was adjudicating in a case where a man was being divorced on the ground of his adultery with his wife's mother.  And (Sir Charles) looked at me without any sign of emotion and said "This appears to be a case where a man was able to get on with his mother in law!" 

In another case where a witness gave his name as Arthur Adam Peach and his counsel interpolated "Your Honour - that's spelled 'Peitszch'". Sir Charles looked down, and said "Tell me - how does he spell apricot?"  Things in those days softened the harshness of law - it tended to make us more conscious of the reality of life, than the prosaic, esoteric language in which so many of our contests were couched.

Conducted for the Bar Oral History project by Juliette Brodsky in the Neil McPhee Room, Owen Dixon Chambers and filmed by Stewart Carter (People Pictures)