Chris Nyst

Chris Nyst (born November 1953) in Blackall, Queensland, is an Australian solicitor and crime fiction writer.

Chris Nyst is the founding principal of Nyst Lawyers. In 2001, Chris resigned as a senior partner with the international Minter Ellison Legal Group to set up a boutique litigation practice with a hand-picked group of hard-hitting litigators.

Recognised as one of Australia’s leading litigators and a specialist in criminal law and international extradition law, Chris is an adjunct professor of law with the Griffith University. He is a senior member of the International Commission of Jurists and was a special adviser to the UN investigation into human rights violations in East Timor. He is a founder and current executive member of the internationally renowned Griffith University Innocence Project.

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.

Chris launched his career in film with the acclaimed Australian movie “Gettin’ Square”, starring David Wenham and Sam Worthington, 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 2006, Chris established his own production company Nyst Entertainment, which produced the 2007 feature film “Crooked Business”. He wrote and directed the film, which was released nationally in 2008.

Chris has recently been appointed as a Director to the Board of Screen Queensland. Chris has also been recently hired by Bernard Tomic, who is pursuing the revoking of charges against him, for allegedly breaking the restrictions to his driving license.