About our firm


We have a proud heritage of providing ethical, high quality legal services and access to justice for all of our clients.

Our firm was founded in 1935 by John Galbally. He was joined in 1948 by his brother Frank Galbally. In 1956 John Galbally became a barrister practising at the Victorian Bar and was later appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC). He was also elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Melbourne North and was the Labor leader in the upper house of the Victorian Parliament from 1955 until his retirement in 1979.

In 1965 Frank Galbally went into partnership with Peter O'Bryan, a leading personal injury lawyer.


Frank Galbally was regarded by many as the preeminent criminal lawyer of his time. He was one of the first solicitors to practice as a trial advocate, without joining the Victorian Bar and was famous for an astonishing acquittal rate. Click here.


Our Criminal Law Practice is now managed by Paul Galbally and Peter Ward, who are accredited criminal law specialists with over forty years experience between them. They have been involved in some of the most significant inquiries and criminal law cases in Australia and provide specialised advice in regard to all criminal law matters.

We have long established expertise in personal injury law and over the years have successfully resolved for our clients thousands of claims, including many complex and prominent cases. We have always aimed to provide legal assistance to all persons regardless of their financial means and for over forty years have acted in many cases on a “no win-no charge” basis. The partner in charge of the personal injury practice is Nicholas O'Bryan.

Our expertise also extends to other areas of law including family law, commercial disputes/litigation, wills and probate, employment matters including unfair dismissal, purchase and sale of property and businesses, insurance and superannuation claims and other professional negligence claims including claims against accountants, architects, builders, lawyers and the like.

We have earned a reputation for excellence and many leading members of the legal community commenced their career with our firm. These include a former Premier of Victoria, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the current Chief Justice of the County Court, many current QC's and SC's and several serving Supreme Court and County Court Judges.

We have offices located in Melbourne and Dandenong.

We offer a free telephone consultation with a solicitor from this firm. If we think that we can assist you, we can then arrange a free first consultation.