Living Faith in the Legal Sector

"How can I be a Christian in the secular legal workplace?"

Fred Chilton, Special Counsel at Toomey Pegg and former Partner with over 30 years’ experience at Allens, will address this question.

Following Fred's keynote address, we will have a Q&A discussing being a Christian at law school with Neil Foster, Associate Professor in the School of Law & Justice at the University of Newcastle and Dr Joel Harrison, Senior Lecturer at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney.

Ticket prices: 

• $15 for students
• $35 for professionals

If you are a student facing financial difficulty (or the price of tickets is an issue), please contact nicole@acls.org.au. We have sponsored tickets available. If you wish to sponsor a student ticket, you can do so when purchasing your ticket. 

Speakers' bios

Fred Chilton is a Special Counsel at Toomey Pegg Lawyers in Sydney, Australia. He is a corporate and commercial lawyer who spent most of his practising career at a major regional law firm, Allens, and since leaving Allens and joining Toomey Pegg Lawyers has acted for smaller companies including many startups as well as assisting not-for-profit entities.  

He has been a member of the Executive of the International Law Section of the Law Council of Australia for a number of years. He is a former officer of the International Technology Law Committee of the International Bar Association and has remained heavily involved with the committee. He is a regular speaker and moderator at IBA conferences on a range of topics, including data, digital assets and international trade matters. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney. Fred holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Laws from Harvard University in the USA.

Fred is married to Jillian and they have 5 adult children and 10 grandchildren. They attend St Stephens Anglican Church in Willoughby, where Fred continues on Parish Council (having previously served as a warden) and is a Parish Representative on the Sydney Diocesan Synod. He is a member of the Northern Regional Council of the Diocese and is Chairman of the Bush Church Aid Society.

Fred is also a Director of World Relief Australia and Bright Futures Child Aid Fund, both of which have Boards composed of Christians and are aimed at sustainable development in developing  countries. He also continues as a founding member of the organising committee of the Sydney Prayer Breakfast.

Neil Foster is an Associate Professor in the School of Law & Justice at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. He has a combined Arts/Law degree from the University of NSW, a degree in Theology from the Australian College of Theology, a Diploma of Arts in Theology from Moore Theological College, and a research Master of Laws degree from the University of Newcastle. He teaches Torts, and electives in “Workplace Health and Safety Law” and “Law and Religion”. He is a co-author of textbooks on Torts and Property Law published by LexisNexis Australia, the sole author of a book on WHS Law published by the same company, a co-editor of a book on “Law and Religion in the Commonwealth” published by Hart, and runs a blog on Law and Religion issues, https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog . He is married with 4 children and 11 grandchildren, and a member of, and advisor to the elders at, Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle.

Dr Joel Harrison is Senior Lecturer at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney.  He is the author of Post-Liberal Religious Liberty: Forming Communities of Charity (Cambridge University Press, 2020).  His research focuses on constitutionalism, religious liberty, and human rights norms, with a particular emphasis on the relationship of these to theological ideas, questions, and history. He has been a Visting Fellow at the Programme for Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government, University of Oxford and at Auckland Law School, University of Auckland, and has held academic positions at Macquarie University, Columbia Law School, and the University of Oxford.