Maurice Blackburn (law firm)

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, (formerly Maurice Blackburn & Co and Maurice Blackburn Cashman), was founded in 1919 by Maurice Blackburn. The firm is an Australian plaintiff law firm, having represented clients in a number of high-profile cases since its establishment.

Major cases
Since its establishment Maurice Blackburn Lawyers have acted in a number of cases, including:
 * The 40-Hour Working Week Case - in conjunction with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Maurice Blackburn fought for shorter working hours;
 * MUA Waterfront Dispute Case - represented maritime workers against the Commonwealth Government during the waterfront dispute in 1998;
 * The GIO Class Action - the first shareholder class action win in Australian legal history;
 * Centro Class Action - the biggest shareholder class action settlement in Australian legal history;
 * Black Saturday bushfires Class Actions - collectively the largest class action settlement in Australian history at $794 million ($494 million in the Kinglake class action and $300 million in the Marysville class action);
 * Mohammed Haneef Case - defended Dr. Haneef against false charges of terrorism in 2010 and later acted on his behalf in a defamation matter;
 * The Gene Patent BRCA1 Case - a ruling that saw the High Court rule that a mutated gene that causes cancer cannot be subject to a patent under Australian law.

Former staff

 * Maurice McRae Blackburn, Firm Founder, Former Labor MP and Former Independent Labor MP
 * Bill Shorten, Opposition Leader and Federal Labor MP
 * Nicola Roxon, Former Commonwealth Attorney-General and Federal Labor MP
 * Terri Butler, Federal Labor MP
 * Anika Wells, Federal Labor MP
 * Peter Cashman, Barrister and Academic at the University of Sydney
 * Eugene Arocca
 * Bill Slater, Australian politician and founder of the law firm Slater and Gordon Lawyers.
 * Murray Watt, Australian Labor Senator and Former Queensland Labor MP
 * Justice Bernard Murphy, Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
 * John Button, Former Labor Senator for Victoria
 * John Cain, Former Victorian Government Solicitor
 * Andrew Watson, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria