The litigation and disputes expert was previously NSW Industrial Relations Commission president
Michael Walton, former NSW Supreme Court common law division justice, has begun a stint at Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers.
He brings experience with litigation and complex dispute resolution as a justice, having dealt with trials involving employment and work as well as health and safety cases. As a practitioner, he also handled industrial, workplace, employment and administrative law, personal injury, and tort law.
At Carroll & O’Dea, Walton will provide advice across several jurisdictions, handling industrial and employment law and administrative law to personal injury, tort and criminal matters. He will also serve as a mediator on legal disputes in these areas, with the exception of crime.
“Michael’s unique perspective and wide-ranging expertise position him as a highly sought-after mediator, as Carroll & O’Dea continues to develop a specialist mediation practice. His capabilities will also be of great impact across other matters involving the firm, including advice and litigation”, said Hanaan Indari, Carroll & O’Dea’s managing partner.
Before Walton became a justice, he was a barrister who tackled major industrial and employment matters before courts and tribunals, including the High Court. He assisted as counsel in the NSW Pay Equity Task Force’s inquiry that helped address gender-based pay gap issues. He was also involved in Industrial Relations Commission inquiries into the security industry and the warehousing and distribution industry.
He was named president of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in 2014, a role he held until 2016. He was also a judicial member of the Industrial Court of NSW from 1998 to 2016, where he was involved in the conciliation of industrial disputes and conducted judicial mediation of unfair contract cases.
Walton was appointed to the NSW Supreme Court’s common law division in 2016. In his role, he heard significant criminal and civil trials and issued judgments on award and statutory interpretation.
A life member of the Australian Judicial Officers Association, he was elected vice president in 2020 before ascending to the presidency in 2022. In 2024, he joined the association’s standing committee on judicial independence.
Walton retired from the bench on 19 December 2025. He has also conducted pro bono work in Oceania, South Africa, the US and the UK.
