'I got four job offers one was for a position in Gippsland which included advocacy. 'I can remember spending half a week's pay on stamps for job applications,' Mr Woods recalled. It was a reason he joined a regional law firm in Gippsland (now called Tyler Tipping Woods with offices in Traralgon and Morwell and employing 40 people). With that background, and a personality that can only be fairly described as extrovert – 'I do like the sound of my own voice,' he confesses good-naturedly – was he drawn to advocacy?

He is also a classically trained pianist, accredited church organist and member of the Royal School of Church Music. In the past few decades he has trod the boards in various acting and singing roles with the LaTrobe Theatre Company – including Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly, the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, Rudolf Schultz in Cabaret, plus the odd production of Oscar Wilde works. Of course, Woods is well known in the law profession for his leadership roles and awards – most recently the 2012 Law Council of Australia President's Medal for his continuing work in promoting access to justice. It included the likes of comedienne Jean Kittson, TV presenter Jennifer Byrne, musician Paul Grabowsky, radio host Red Symons, and Melbourne Law School alumni Barry Jones and Waleed Aly. The 'brains trust' comprised an eclectic bunch that appeared to share attributes of intelligence, humour and fearlessness, and combine them with an unexpected combination of talents. It's not each individual detail, but the combination of them that makes Mark Woods (LLB 1980) an unusual sort of lawyer.įor starters, Woods is probably best known publicly as one of the 'brains trust' on the popular ABC TV program, The Einstein Factor.

Time of Tides by Mark Woods