The Australian Women's Register

Summary

It was not until later in life that Daune Delano Davis made the decision to become a barrister. Furthermore, although her maternal uncle, John Roscoe Nield, had been a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and her cousin, Lesley Roscoe Nield (later Bowles), was a solicitor, it is Mary Gaudron, later the first woman judge to sit on the bench of the High Court of Australia, who is credited with having influenced Davis to go to the Bar. After leaving school, Davis attended East Sydney Technical College (now the National Arts School) and then embarked upon Arts at the University of Sydney. She did well but did not graduate with a degree. Turning to the law as an intellectual pursuit when her marriage failed, and with Gaudron’s assurance that she had what it took, she obtained the qualification of Diploma in Law through the Barristers’ Admission Board and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 14 June 1974. She went on to practise, predominantly in family law, using the Women Lawyers’ Room at Frederick Jordan Chambers until she succeeded in being able to have her own. Notable among her cases was what may have been the last breach of promise suit. In the mid-eighties she suffered a broken leg which restricted her labours. Davis later retired due to ill health.