David Denniston

David Denniston is a Special Counsel at LLLS Lawyers, Port Moresby, PNG. Prior to this David consulted to PNG corporates, government and international donors and was an advisor to the Solicitor General’s Office, PNG. Before this David worked for Australian top tier law firms, the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office and a Commonwealth agency. David is admitted to the National & Supreme Courts of PNG and the Supreme Courts of NSW, QLD, the ACT and the High Court of Australia.

David has a broad commercial practice which includes mergers & acquisitions, capital markets, foreign direct investment, oil & gas, mining, carbon, conservation, forestry & environment, property, development & construction, solar mini-grids, land, water, employment, fintech, tax exemptions, data protection & cybercrime, AML/CTF/sanctions, bribery & corruption, government & administrative law, disputes and international development.

David has been a CLA member since 2017 and the PNG Council Member since Jan 22. He is active in PNG and the South Pacific presenting and facilitating legal education, access to justice, building the CLA network and promoting the rule of law. As a private practitioner he is independent from government and the judiciary.

2022-24 CLA Council term initiatives 

Legal education

• Organised and presented at the 5 Sep 23 CLA PNG CLE re: commercial law & mediation (160 attendees and 117 online) – materials freely available.
• Jointly organized the 30 Aug 23 “Strategic climate litigation opportunities: a Pacific Case Study” webinar (445 registrations from 36 countries).
• Borneo Rainforest Law Conference (Feb 24) – papers and organisation committee member.
• Public advocate for PNG compulsory professional development.
• Present CLA branded CLEs through the PNG Centre for Judicial Excellence (PNGCJE) re: rule of law and custom & rule of law & protection of the law (2021).
• Present WJP Rule of Law Toolkit materials re: A Call for Rule of Law Leadership
• Share CLA legal education materials across social media, including the PNG Lawyers Forum.
• Support YCLA webinar re: lawyer and judges and coping with stress.

Institutional strengthening

• Initiated MOU with the World Justice Project (WJP) and developed its collaboration potential.
• Support Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Pitcairn Islands (foreign admitted lawyer) and others to join the CLA Council in 2024 and share CLA materials re: Latimer House Principles, Harare Declaration, UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the B4ROL Framework, etc.
• CLA Committees – active member of HR & Rule of Law and also Climate Justice.
• Support the PNG Law Society re: legal education, institutional strengthening and international relationships.
• CLA conferences – provided a sponsor and secured attendees.
• Representing the CLA:
• World Justice Project Asia Pacific Justice Forum in Jakarta.
• PNGCJE Stakeholders meeting.
• PNG Department of ICT & PNGCJE re: development of PNG digital law.
• With the PNGCJE, met the CJ of High Court of Australia Susan Kiefel, CJ of the Federal Court of Australia Debra Mortimer and CJ of the Supreme Court of Queensland Helen Bowskill.

Access to Justice

• Work with CLA Council Members to support PacLII from closure and continue to support the Law Council of Australia and the South Pacific Lawyers Association and the PNG Law Society re: the same.
• Work with vLex to:
• Provide current laws to PNG.
• Establish the “vLex South Pacific Bar Association Group” for small South Pacific Bars to join the CLA.
• Support PacLII through information sharing.
• Support the PNG Legal Training Institute (LTI) with access to law.
• Develop a platform for CLA/vLex legal education online.
• Support the Post Courier re: freedom of the press, publish rule of law materials and support CLA legal education.
• Support to the PNG Women’s Lawyers Association.
• Support the PNG LTI with access to CLA legal education materials.