Stewart Levitt
PRINCIPAL & MANAGING PARTNER
Graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1978 (BA, LLB).
Master of Dispute Resolution. University of Technology, Sydney, 2015.
Completed Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation, Boston MA, USA, June 2012.
Master of Laws. University of Sydney, 1986.
Winner of Gustav and Emma Bondy Prize for Jurisprudence, University of Sydney, 1981.
Lawyer | Activist | Poet
LAWYER
Principal and Managing Partner of Levitt Robinson Solicitors, founded by Stewart Levitt in 1983, and practicing since 1979.
SOCIAL ADVOCACY
Active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement during the 1970s and the 1980s.
Campaigner for post-Tienanmen refugee rights in late 1980s and early 1990s.
Member of Equal Opportunity Tribunal of NSW from 1984 to 1987.
Member of Race Relations Consultation to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board from 1982 to 1983.
COLUMNIST AND POET
Poet and author of acclaimed poetry anthology, ‘Too Soon to Be Late’ (2019), and ‘We Mortals’ (2020).
Frequent contributor to Australian Business Executive Magazine including:
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“How experience makes us different: Why ‘Yes’ is the right answer.” September 2023.
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‘“No Confidence” – Lawyer, Levitt, calls out concealment of corruption by Confidentiality Clauses." April 2024
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"The Crazy Way We Treat Psychosocial Disorders". July 2021.
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Author of weekly columns, “Life According to Levitt”, published in Eastern Suburbs Messenger and ‘Levitt’s Lore”, in City of Sydney Times, between 1997 and 2004.
Stewart has had wide international legal experience, strategising and managing litigation in the US, South Africa and PNG.
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During his long career, particularly as a Class Action lawyer, Stewart Levitt has come to act for thousands of people across the continent, with whom he has developed strongly positive personal relationships. Because he enjoys the fight and is an eloquent and outspoken advocate for his clients and their causes, Stewart has been known to upset some people and certain vested interests. As Churchill said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something, sometime in your life”. Tenacious as ever, Stewart subscribes to Abraham Lincoln’s byword, “Courage is the greatest virtue”.
He is known as one of Australia’s leading practitioners in banking/finance and insolvency litigation, having instigated and conducted the Storm Financial Class Actions against major banks. He is not only an industry leader but a prominent public commentator and person of influence, having effectively campaigned for policy reforms as the author of comprehensive submissions to Federal Parliamentary enquiries on institutional and regulatory failures during the GFC (2009), and on the role of ASIC (2013), on Litigation Funding (2022) and Juvenile Justice (2024).
Acting for company directors and private businessmen, in shareholder, partnership and joint venture disputes, drafting complex contracts focused on the mining industry, and frequently appearing in commercial and criminal courts, Stewart is not only a versatile lawyer but also a tenacious and skilful litigator, with exceptional tactical and advocacy skills.
He has appeared both with and without Counsel in the High Court of Australia and has acted as agent for firms in the Middle East, Africa, the US and Asia and briefly, as speechwriter for a serving President of the Republic of Nauru.
Stewart has acted as legal counsel for several European consular legations in Sydney. He has also written speeches for Australian and foreign politicians and media releases on matters of public importance.
In June 2012, he completed the Harvard Law School ‘Program on Negotiation’ courses in “Mediation of Disputes” and “Advanced Negotiation – Dealing with Difficult Conversations” and is available as a mediator, as an ADR practitioner (avoiding or settling litigation) and as a collaborative lawyer. (If you want to use another lawyer to litigate, he is prepared to provide parallel representation to negotiate on your behalf with your opponents). In 2013, he completed the LEADR Course on Mediation and in 2015, he was awarded the degree of Master of Dispute Resolution by UTS (Syd).
Stewart represented indigenous leader, Lex Wotton, at his trial in connection with the 2004 Palm Island Riot and on Wotton’s challenge to the constitutionality of Queensland Corrective Services legislation in the High Court as a fetter on the implied right of free speech on political matters. Stewart was successful in the class action against the Queensland Government and Queensland Commissioner of Police proving claims that police had acted contrary to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) in their heavy-handed deployment of force against the indigenous population of Palm Island in November 2004.
The case resulted in a verdict and judgment in favour of the Lead Applicants and a $30 million settlement in 2018. It was the first time an entire community had successfully sued a State Government over racial discrimination.
Levitt Robinson continues to act for lead applicants in major Human Rights litigation in both the State of Western Australia and in the Northern Territory, focusing on the rights of the child, disability discrimination and racial discrimination.
Under Stewart's leadership, Levitt Robinson has successfully undertaken Court appeals and litigation against governments and banks, and franchisors with global reach. He has been a consultant to film-makers for the production of documentaries on social justice issues close to his heart.
As well as being a lawyer, he is an activist and poet. His 2019 anthology of poetry, 'Too Soon to be Late ' was Stewart's "Australian Retrospective" and covers race relations, international politics, religion and the human condition. It was followed by 'We Mortals': the international edition of 'Too Soon to be Late ', which includes new work about the Australian landscape, environmental concerns and Jewish identity in the face of latter-day antisemitism. It is available for purchase on Amazon.
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