Richard Conti, a life in the law and rugby league
Richard "Dick" Conti, QC was probably better known as chairman of the NSW Rugby League Judiciary than he was as a barrister or Federal Court judge. The prestige he brought to the role did not escape the notice of Sir Anthony Mason, the Chief Justice of Australia. Having just presided over a momentous High Court decision in constitutional law, Sir Anthony spotted a Daily Mirror poster on Elizabeth Street: "Judiciary Hands Down Landmark Decision." He promptly bought a copy, probably for the first and only time in his life, only to read about Dick Conti's ruling on a notorious eye-gouging incident in a clash between the Dragons and the Panthers.
Dick Conti, the second of four children to Edwyn Harold Davidson Conti, who worked in insurance, and Dorothy Elizabeth Conti (nee Pritchard), grew up on the north shore in the war years. He attended North Sydney Boys High, played cricket for Lindfield and Roseville and rugby for Gordon. He completed three months of national service in 1956 and a further two years in the Sydney University Regiment. When his father died in 1960, Conti became the breadwinner for his mother and much younger brothers.
Richard Conti working at the farm with Lord Denning. His 40-year association with the Tamworth district began in 1974.
A diligent law student in the late 1950s, he had to skip lectures and study part-time so as to put in extra hours as an articled clerk at his uncle's firm on O'Connell Street, Arthur Pritchard & Co. The commercial nous he gained outside the lecture rooms saw him arrive at the bar in 1967 with a ready-made practice, which soon flourished into one of the most enviable in the nation. He never slighted a junior or solicitor in front of clients, and retained a sporting sense of fair play in the rough-and-tumble of the courtroom. His motto: "Barristers are briefed to fight their client's cause, not to fight each other."
Conti's courtroom skills caught the eye of league bosses John Quayle and Colin Love in 1985, when he appeared against them to keep embattled club Western Suburbs in the competition. The three became firm friends. With Rex Mossop, they visited the Conti cattle property in the Moonbi Hills, donating a Kangaroos jersey to celebrate Conti's renovation of the historic Bendemeer Hotel, which still hangs on the pub's riverside wall.
Richard Conti, QC in chambers. His door was always open, especially after hours when it was time for a "wee sip".
The Contis' 40-year association with the Tamworth district began in 1974, when Richard purchased Mount View after touring its 2225 hectares on horseback with Frank McAlary, QC, the Pitt Street farmer known to millions as the Dancing Man of World War II newsreels. Two more farms in the Tamworth district, Keringal and Yaraan, were acquired in 1984 and 1994. To his employees Conti was that rare thing, a well-loved boss.
Conti's mentoring of new arrivals at the NSW bar revealed another side to his selfless generosity. The door of his chambers was always open to colleagues, especially at day's end when it was time for a "wee sip". His advice to young barristers on how to approach the law was tinted with insights into how to approach life: "Don't try to learn all the law; just know where to look for it."
He was well-positioned to offer such advice.
Hard work had a lot to do with it too. Conti's prodigious appetite for work was legendary. He never turned down a brief, and normally started his work day at 3am. At 6am he could be seen at Manly Life Saving Club before running on Manly Beach, trading jokes with Wallaby winger Barry Roberts.
He was a master of litigation tactics. In a case between two giant corporations Conti, holding the weaker hand, opened settlement negotiations with the gambit: "Big dogs don't bite other big dogs." And then there was that silky voice, which Tom Hughes, QC lauded on the occasion of his swearing-in as a justice of the Federal Court in 2000. Spurning "the clap and roll of forensic thunder", Conti beguiled rivals and witnesses with a smooth, "crabwise" advance.
Not one for much overseas travel, he spent his time shuttling between Philip Street in the city, Bower Street, Manly, and Mount View Road, Bendemeer, often in the company of Lord Denning, his beloved Hungarian Vizsla, named after the English jurist famed for his passion for justice, Christian virtue, and plain English prose.
Conti respected and inspired loyalty, cultivating his companionable nature into a talent for friendship. "Friendships are like fences," he used to say. "You have to keep mending them." A regular worshipper at St James Church, where his funeral was held, Conti conned his own friends into helping out at Sister Frieda's soup kitchen once a month. Some recall him scrubbing the floors of the crypt one Sunday before returning to work on a judgment.
Richard is survived by Betsy, his devoted wife of 54 years, their four children and 10 grandchildren.
C.E. Conti