Recognised for significant service to the law, and to the judiciary in Tasmania, the Honourable Justice David James Porter AM had worked in both civil and criminal law for 32 years before becoming a judge in 2008.

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He retired in 2016, but has since returned to the bench as a part-time acting judge in the Hobart Supreme Court.

The current chairman and member of the Board of Legal Education since 1996, acting Justice Porter has held many positions throughout his career.

He was president and treasurer of the Australian Bar Association, president of The Tasmanian Bar, and president of the Law Society of Tasmania.

Beyond the courtroom, he is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Tasmania, an occasional lecturer in the Faculty of Law between 1992 and 2007, a member of the selection committee for the John Kable Memorial Scholarship in Law since 1995, and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

He has also been chairman of the Medical Complaints Tribunal, editor of Tasmanian Law Reports, chair of the Council of Law Reporting, and director of the Tasmanian Legal Practice Course.

Throughout his work in court rooms, he has been both a barrister and a judge in countless criminal and civil cases, including in both Tasmania, and Victoria.

He represented Tasmania's Premier at the time in a high profile political bribery case involving a state MP and a media company in 1991.

The following year he represented the family of the deceased in a heavily publicised police shooting case.

Outside of his legal career, he was president of the Northern Tasmanian Football Association from 1985 to 1986, has represented Tasmania as a target shooter, and was the director of Crime Stoppers Tasmania from 1995 to 2008.

Before stepping into the world of law, he worked as an underground miner to help fund his legal studies.