When I told people recently that I was going to Melbourne to attend a
farewell dinner, they asked who was it for? They were surprised when I
replied that it was for Francis Moore, a Catholic lawyer who has
retired from his firm to become Business Manager of the Melbourne
Archdiocese.
I don't know why they were surprised: soon after I joined my previous firm (as an innocent graduate), I discovered the partners were mostly Catholic. In Brisbane there weren't any Jewish firms and for a time I was the only Jewish lawyer in town.
Francis commented at the dinner that we rarely get to choose who our practice partners will be: in the late 70's/early 80's we tended to join a firm as an employee and get invited to join the partnership and stay. I agree with that observation. Over time, it became apparent to me that I had more in common with Francis than the partners at my firm in Brisbane and in recent years, as the senior partners in my firm retired, more often than not he would be my first contact on a troubling legal or ethical issue.
I can't recall when I first met Francis but it would have been around 1985 when he joined Mahonys Solicitors in Melbourne and started advising credit unions. I advised Queensland credit unions and we often consulted each other on common problems.
We became lawyers around the same time. Together with other like-minded lawyers from other states, we met at least once or twice a year at client conferences and spoke regularly on the phone. Francis and I spent nearly a week together at Armidale in the late 80's on a legal practice management course. We became friends.
Francis married later than I did but we had our first children (both daughters) close together in 1987. Francis had 4 more children (I have had 1 more, a son about 2 years younger than his son); we always kept in touch over the progress of our children and occasionally met each other's wives. And our wives met each other. In Melbourne this year, we finally met each other's children.
In time, particularly at conferences or national roadshows, I became aware of Francis' strong commitment to social welfare issues (through the Catholic Church) and to Australian Rules football.
In 1985 and 1986 Francis was the principal legal advisor for the visit to Australia in 1986 of Pope John Paul II. But he took a great deal of interest when it became time for my son to have his Bar Mitzvah.
Francis was not a commercial "legal gun for hire". He was certainly practical but earned the respect of his clients by working hard on his relationships with both boards and management without shirking from the hard political and intellectual decisions.
When I left my old firm, Francis came to Brisbane just for the day to attend a farewell lunch. That's the sort of person he is: ethical, loyal and deeply caring of his family and others.
He will be a success in his new position.
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