Legal Career
After completing his law degree, Toohey commenced his articles of clerkship at the Perth law firm Lavan & Walsh, and was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1952.
Toohey soon rose to prominence in the Western Australian legal profession, developing expertise in taxation and property law. At the age of 31, he appeared before the High Court in Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Finn, which concerned the deductibility of travelling expenses.
He was a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Western Australia from 1957 to 1958, as well as a Visiting Lecturer from 1953 to 1965. He was well known for his lectures in property law.
In December 1966, Toohey commenced practising at the independent bar, becoming the 10th member of the Western Australian Bar Association. In 1968, he was appointed Queen's Counsel. By the early 1970s, he had a busy practice built around criminal law, contract law and property law. In 1972, he appeared in the High Court in Adamson v Hayes, an important case concerning the construction of section 34 of the Property Law Act 1969 (WA).
He served as president of the Western Australian Bar Association from 1969 to 1972, and was president of the Law Society of Western Australia from 1972 to 1973.
In 1974, Toohey helped to establish the Port Hedland office of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia. The following year, he appeared as counsel for the Skull Creek Aboriginal Community in the Laverton Royal Commission investigating the clashes between police and Aboriginal people at Laverton and Skull Creek in December 1974 and January 1975. The Commission's report vindicated the Aboriginal people's version of events and found that police were unable to justify the arrests.
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