Garde-Wilson took up an article clerkship at the law firm Pryles & Defteros,[9] working on criminal defence. After being admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2002, Garde-Wilson began practising law independently in 2004.
Melbourne gangland killings
Garde-Wilson became a significant figure during the Melbourne gangland killings through her representation of individuals linked to these events.[10] She acted for several persons investigated by the Victoria Police from 1998 to 2006 and came into the public eye during the high-profile trials of Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel.[4][6] During this time, Garde-Wilson became aware that fellow barrister, Nicola Gobbo, had been corruptly recruited by Victoria Police as an informant against her own clients.[11] Her involvement was not only professional but also deeply personal. Garde-Wilson was the girlfriend of Lewis Caine,[12] a victim in the gangland killings,[13] which further complicated her role and placed her under the media spotlight.[11]
Involvement in Lawyer X scandal
Garde-Wilson's role in uncovering the Lawyer X scandal originated from her first-hand experiences during the Melbourne gangland wars.[11] As a criminal defence lawyer, she represented several high-profile clients who were unknowingly compromised by their own attorney, Nicola Gobbo, who was secretly acting as a police informant under the codename "Informer 3838".[14] Garde-Wilson's concerns about leaks within the legal system and her public questioning of the legal integrity of Victoria Police began to intensify during the late 2000s.[15][16] However, her calls for broader public and legal scrutiny that eventually exposed Nicola Gobbo's role as "Informer 3838" escalated significantly around 2018 when the media first publicly disclosed Gobbo's role as an informant.[17]
Following the revelations surrounding Nicola Gobbo's dual role as a lawyer and a police informant, the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants was established.[11] Garde-Wilson provided testimony during this inquiry, which scrutinized the conduct of Victoria Police[4] and the implications of using a legal professional as an informant. In response to the Commission's findings and the subsequent impact on public trust in the justice system,[18] Garde-Wilson, along with other prominent Australian lawyers, called for significant reforms.[19] In July 2023, following the closure of the Lawyer X Office of the Special Investigator, these legal practitioners, including Garde-Wilson, demanded an official apology from former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, emphasizing the need for reforms to restore integrity within the judicial system.[19]
Notable cases
In 2005, she represented Carl Williams,[4] a key figure in the Melbourne gangland killings, who was convicted of multiple murders. Another significant case involved defending Tony Mokbel,[6] a notorious drug lord who was eventually convicted of large-scale drug trafficking.
In 2016, Garde-Wilson filed an appeal for the first Lawyer X case concerning convicted trafficker Rob Karam, who was involved in Australia's largest MDMA importation known as the "Tomato Tins" case.[8] Convicted in 2012, Karam was implicated in smuggling 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy pills, valued at $122 million,[20] hidden in tomato tins – a scheme purportedly orchestrated by the Calabrian Mafia.[21] This case drew significant media attention due to the scale of the drug importation and the controversial involvement of Nicola Gobbo, who provided information to police about her clients, including Karam.[22][23]
In 2019, Athar Almatrah was represented by Garde-Wilson in a case involving an alleged setup using a fake Instagram account to ambush Rocco Curra, a member of the Mongols motorcycle gang.[24] During the proceedings, Garde-Wilson disputed the evidence against Almatrah, challenging the claims about her client's intent and the credibility of the testimony from co-accused individuals.[25]
In 2022, Garde-Wilson represented Osman El-Houli[26] in the Supreme Court of Queensland,[27] where he was acquitted of charges related to an alleged 400kg cocaine smuggling plot.[28] El-Houli was accused of driving from Melbourne to Queensland to collect the cocaine, but the jury found him not guilty after deliberating for four hours and he was acquitted of all charges.[28]
In 2022, Garde-Wilson acted as the defence attorney for Tony Larussa before the Court of Appeal in Western Australia.[29] Tony Larussa, initially sentenced over involvement in a methamphetamine operation,[30] successfully appealed the conviction and was acquitted of all charges.[29]
In 2024, Garde-Wilson represented reputed Melbourne underworld boss Fadi Haddara[31] who faced legal proceedings regarding firearms charges. The charges included possession of unregistered firearms and handling a stolen Glock handgun.[32] These charges were part of a broader investigation by Victorian Police Operation Taskforce Luna, which was examining the Haddara crime syndicate's involvement in the Australian illicit tobacco industry.[33]
Defamation case against Avi Yemeni
In June 2021, Garde-Wilson initiated a defamation lawsuit against Avi Yemini,[34][35] a journalist associated with the Canadian-based alt-right website Rebel News. The case was filed in the Federal Court of Australia under the title "ZARAH GARDE-WILSON v AVI YEMINI & ANOR". The proceedings concluded with a settlement in October 2021, although the specific terms of the settlement were not made public.[36]
Legal action against Google
In 2020, Garde-Wilson initiated legal action against Google,[37] aiming to unmask an anonymous online reviewer she suspected was a rival trying to damage her reputation.[38] In the case, Justice Bernard Murphy had ordered Google, which didn’t object to the application, to provide the registration information of the account along with IP addresses of the reviewer, however it wasn’t enough to identify who was behind the posts.[39] Garde-Wilson tried to get more information including phone numbers and email addresses used to recover account details when they were lost or verify the account when it was created. Google claimed that due to the length of time since the account was deleted, any relevant data associated with the reviewer had been “permanently deleted”.[40] Ms Garde-Wilson said in a statement to The Age newspaper that she would issue proceedings against Google for destroying the account data and failing to save the reviewer's information in a 'timely way'.[41][42]
Professional recognition
In 2024, Garde-Wilson was listed among "The 8 best criminal lawyers in Melbourne" by The Canberra Times.[43] She was named in the Herald Sun on June 5, 2022, as one of "Melbourne's top female lawyers,"[44] and previously in a September 9, 2021, article highlighting "Melbourne’s top legal eagles".[45]
Personal life
Garde-Wilson was romantically involved with Lewis Caine,[12] a notable figure in Melbourne's underworld, who was murdered on May 8, 2004.[46] Caine, also known by the aliases Sean Vincent and Adrian Bligh,[47] had extensive connections within the Melbourne criminal milieu, which were often highlighted in media reports about his life and death.[48]
Zarah Garde-Wilson is a mother to three children. She gave birth to her daughter Samantha in late 2008, and twins Max and Sophie in September 2010.[49]
In popular culture
Zarah Garde-Wilson's presence in popular culture is notably marked by her portrayals in two significant Australian television series. In 2008, she was portrayed by Kestie Morassi in the series Underbelly. Later, in 2014, Zoe Cramond played her in Fat Tony & Co. These portrayals contributed to her recognition beyond the legal sphere, highlighting her connections to high-profile criminal cases and bringing her career to the attention of a broader audience.[50]
Related Research Articles
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vacuum within Melbourne's criminal community, and rival factions fought for control and influence. Many of the murders remain unsolved, although detectives from the Purana Taskforce believe that Carl Williams was responsible for at least ten of them. The period culminated in the arrest of Williams, who pleaded guilty on 28 February 2007 to three of the murders.
Ella Scott Lynch is an Australian actress. Her notable roles include Shirley Ryan in the series Love Child and Melbourne gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo in the Channel Nine mini-series Informer 3838.
Carl Anthony Williams was an Australian convicted murderer and drug trafficker from Melbourne, Victoria. He was a central figure in the Melbourne gangland killings as well as their final victim.
Victor George Peirce was an Australian gangster from Melbourne, Victoria. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, which was headed by matriarch and former Richmond brothel owner Kath Pettingill.
Antonios Sajih Mokbel is an Australian criminal who has been convicted of a number of offences, most prominently commercial drug trafficking. He has spent most of his life in Melbourne, Australia. Operation Purana alleged that he is the mastermind behind the Melbourne amphetamine trade. He has been linked to Carl Williams, and charged but not convicted of two murders in the Melbourne gangland war. He disappeared from Melbourne while on trial in March 2006, and was arrested by Greek police in Athens on 5 June 2007. Since being brought back to Australia he has remained incarcerated.
Murray Byron Kellam was formerly a judge of the County Court of Victoria in Australia before being appointed as a judge on 28 January 1998 to the Supreme Court of Victoria, the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Victoria. He was also the first President of VCAT. On 16 May 2007 Kellam was appointed a judge of Appeal. He retired from the Supreme Court on 15 June 2009. Kellam also served as a member of the Supreme Court of Samoa. He was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT on 8 March 2017.
Lewis Caine was an Australian organised crime figure who was murdered on 8 May 2004 during the Melbourne gangland killings.
Simon James Overland is the former Chief Executive Officer at the City of Whittlesea and a former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police in Australia. He previously worked with the Australian Federal Police and then with Victoria Police focusing on Melbourne's gangland wars. On 2 March 2009 he was named by the Premier, John Brumby, as Victoria Police Chief Commissioner. He resigned from this position on 16 June 2011 after intense public pressure from critics who questioned his performance. In July 2011, he was appointed the chair of the Board of Management of the Tasmania University Union and was responsible for overseeing the direction of the student union.
Underbelly is an Australian television true crime-drama series which first aired on the Nine Network between 13 February 2008 and 1 September 2013, before being revived on 3 April 2022. Each series is based on real-life events. There have been six full series, with season 7 being a miniseries. A 2014 series titled Fat Tony & Co is a sequel to the first series but is not branded under the Underbelly title.
Jill Hennessy is a former Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly between February 2010 and November 2022, representing the seat of Altona. She was Minister for Health in the Andrews Ministry from December 2014 to November 2018, and was Attorney-General from November 2018 to December 2020, the second female Attorney-General in Victoria's history.
Nicola Maree Gobbo, sometimes known as Nikki Gobbo, is an Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant.
In 2004 the murders of Terence and Christine Hodson caused the Victorian government to establish the Office of Police Integrity to investigate probable Victoria Police involvement in the murders and to investigate the leaking of sensitive police information to the Melbourne underworld.
Danielle McGuire is a member of the Melbourne criminal underworld best known as the former girlfriend of Australian drug lord Tony Mokbel. Before her relationship with Mokbel, McGuire had an affair with drug dealer Mark Moran.
Graham Leonard Ashton is an Australian police officer who was the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police from 2015 to 2020. He also served in the Australian Federal Police for a long period.
Informer 3838 is an Australian television series focusing on criminal barrister-turned police informer Nicola Gobbo and her involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings. It is a spin-off of the Underbelly franchise, with various actors reprising their role from previous series. Commissioned by the Nine Network and produced by Screentime, it was broadcast between 20 and 27 April 2020.
AB v CD; EF v CD is a decision of the High Court of Australia.
Joseph Acquaro also known as Joe Acquaro or Pino was a Melbourne lawyer, businessman and former president of Melbourne's Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Reggio Calabria Club who was shot to death on 15 March 2016 at age 54.
The Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants - An inquiry into Victoria Police’s use of Nicola Gobbo as a human source, referred to in the press as Lawyer X Royal Commission, was a royal commission in Victoria, Australia set up to examine the actions of Nicola Gobbo and Victoria Police whilst Gobbo, also referred to as Informer 3838, Lawyer X (media), and EF (litigation), was working as a lawyer and acting as a registered informer. It was announced on 3December 2018, in response to the High Court AB v CD; EF v CD judgement, and was established on 13December 2018 under Hon Margaret McMurdo to examine the adequacy and effectiveness of the processes of Victoria Police for the recruitment, handling and management of human sources who are subject to legal obligations of confidentiality or privilege and the effect of using such sources on past cases.
The Kellem review was an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) inquiry undertaken by Murray Kellam from July 2014 to February 2015 into Victoria Police human source management. The review was initiated in response to newspaper reports about the actions of lawyer Nicola Gobbo in providing information to police.
Garde Wilson Lawyers is a criminal defence law firm based in Melbourne, Australia, founded by Zarah Garde-Wilson.
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