Others at the NSW bar said the closure was a "tragedy", particularly given its prominence and history.

Founded in 1982 by leading commercial litigators Don Grieve, QC, and John Garnsey, QC, the chambers sat defiantly outside the parochial Phillip Street realm in the immediate vicinity of the Supreme and Federal Courts.

Outstanding mentors

Mr Grieve became a senior counsel – in legal parlance, "took silk" – the following year; Mr Garnsey followed in 1989. Both have appeared as leading counsel in High Court appeals and are known to have acted as strong mentors to up-and-coming barristers.

Mr Grieve is still a member; Mr Garnsey is an honorary member, along with Mr Hughes, who was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 1988 for services to the legal profession.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, former attorney-general Tom Hughes, QC, and the prominent barrister's daughter Lucy Turnbull. Barristers consider the closing of Hughes' chambers 'tragic'. Mick Tsikas

The father of former Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull, Mr Hughes, who was federal Attorney-General for three years from 1969 and president of the NSW Bar Association from 1973 to 1975, is the "longest serving member of the NSW Bar" according to Blackstone Chambers.

He remains an honorary member of the chambers he once headed and is similarly heralded as a leading mentor, as is current head of chambers Simon Couper, QC.


There are 36 barristers listed on the chambers website, including 19 junior counsel and seven silks, plus the two honorary members; however, the home page notes there are 46 members in total. Half of the barristers listed have at least two decades of experience at the bar.

Sources said some could lose at least a portion of the goodwill in their investment in the chambers, although there are ways in which they can try to recoup it in their new home, along with the ability to book it as a tax loss.

Although there was a deal on the table to renew the floor's expiring 30-year lease of Level 62 for at least another 10 years according to sources, the board of the chambers did not go ahead, meaning it will now wind up.

Iconic building

Among the tallest buildings in Sydney's CBD, the 67-storey high MLC Centre was designed by iconic architect Harry Seidler and is described on the building's website as an "enduring modernist vision". It is jointly owned by GPT, Dexus and DWPF. Level 47 is currently available for lease, covering 1248 square metres; along with suites on levels 61 and 65. Level 62 is still shown as "occupied".

There are more than 2300 barristers in NSW, including 390 senior counsel. Most are located in Sydney.

The profession is on a drive to improve diversity, including by gender: just 10 per cent of silks in NSW are women; overall, the proportion is 21 per cent. At Blackstone, there are four women among the 29 junior counsel and no senior counsel listed on the site.