Prominent Launceston barrister Tim Ellis has been appointed the State's new Director of Public Prosecutions to replace respected and long- serving director Damien Bugg.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Ellis, who has been a barrister and solicitor in Launceston for almost 20 years, will take up the position in Hobart in mid- October.
Mr Bugg has already left the post to head up the Commonwealth DPP.
A former Longford lad, Mr Ellis has come a long way since fresh out of his apprenticeship, he was unable to find a job with a law firm in Hobart.
Hobart's loss became Launceston's gain as Mr Ellis established a reputation in legal circles as one of the best lawyers in the State.
Mr Ellis was admitted to the bar in 1979 and ``spent a couple of months knocking on doors until I got an offer up here''.
He joined law firm Clarke and Gee, was made a partner within two years, and only left the firm to set up his own practice late last year.
His new job puts him in charge of all criminal prosecutions in Tasmania, and he will represent the State for appeal matters in the Supreme Court, the Full Court and the High Court. The DPP also represents the State in all civil matters.
But while he has devoted his working life to law, his decision to study law came at the very last minute.
``I was thinking of doing teaching _ it was just a last- minute decision to do law,'' he said.
``I think I probably told more people that I was doing law, so I stuck with it.''
Mr Ellis has defended countless clients in his career, and is unperturbed at the inevitable prospect of having to prosecute some of them in the future.
``We're all very professional _ you prosecute the crime, not the person,'' he said.
Nor is he daunted by following in the footsteps of Mr Bugg, who was probably the most successful DPP ever.
``Damien set a very high standard, and I will have to maintain that,'' Mr Ellis said.
``He was the most experienced DPP out of all the states, and he had a huge amount of experience in the job.
``You're in the centre of so much and you never know what'll pop up. There's always interesting things happening.''
And while the new job means that the father-of-two will have to make Hobart his home, he plans to take every opportunity that his role provides to revisit the North.
``It's important that the DPP doesn't get holed up in Hobart,'' he said.
``
