A former senior partner with Minter Ellison Gold Coast, Chris is one of Australia’s best known and most experienced criminal lawyers. He is also an award-winning novelist and filmmaker, and former director of Screen Queensland.
Chris is a co-founder and former member of the Advisory Board for the internationally-renowned Griffith University Innocence Project. His commitment to the project means our lawyers volunteer their time to work with law students assisting the wrongly convicted in Australia.
Chris is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Griffith University and has delivered guest lectures and speeches on corporate regulation, criminal law and advocacy. He is a former member of the Criminal Law Committee of the Queensland Law Society, a former Chair of the Gold Coast City Council Safety Committee, and a former president of the Gold Coast District Law Association.
In 1999, Chris turned his hand to fiction writing his first novel “Cop This!” which was assessed as “superb” by the Melbourne Age and saw him acclaimed as “Australia’s John Grisham” by Bulletin/Newsweek Magazine. His second novel “Gone” was short-listed for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and his third novel “Crook as Rookwood” won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award, Australia’s leading accolade for crime fiction. In 2023, his most recent novel “Millen” was a Readers Favourite Winner.
Chris launched his career in film with the acclaimed Australian movie “Gettin’ Square” which he wrote and co-produced. The film won Chris the 2003 Lexus IF Award for Best Screenplay and won David Wenham the Best Actor award at the AFI Awards, the Critic’s Circle Awards, the Lexus IF Awards and the Australian Comedy Awards. In 2007 he wrote and directed the award-winning feature film “Crooked Business”.
Co-founder of the Griffith University Innocence Project.
Acted on behalf of One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson, Hanson v Director of Public Prosecutions [2003] QSC 277; Hanson v Director of Public Prosecutions (Queensland) [2003] QCA 409.
Acted on behalf of NRL star and Australian representative rugby league player Greg Birdd , former Australian Open and US Open Junior Tennis Champion Bernard Tomic, former world surfing champion Sonny Garcia and NRL star Beau Falloon successfully bringing about the dismissal of drug related offences alleged by the Queensland Police.
The Lacey Brothers R v Lacey & Lacey [2010] QDC 344; R v Lacey and Lacey [2009] QDC 303; Lacey v Director of Public Prosecutions (Queensland) [2007] QSC 291.
So, it’s that time of year, yet again, when department stores everywhere are all adorned with glistening synthetic trees, draped in twinkling tinsel and plastic holly, surrounded by cotton-wool snow and lovingly-wrapped empty packages. Competitively-priced sound system speakers spread jolly messages of good will to all, while the latest jumbo-sized LED Full HD Smart TV […]
Our Nicola Ellis and Jordan Roles have been named as finalists in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards 2025. Nicola has been named a finalist in the Real Estate category for the second year in a row, while Jordan has been named a finalist in the Criminal category. The Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards […]
Whether your matter is civil, criminal or commercial in nature, our team at Nyst Legal has all the experience, expertise and diligence necessary to ensure that you achieve the absolute best available result.
