Best Criminal Defence Lawyers in Melbourne for Asset Restraint and Confiscation
Asset restraint and confiscation under Victorian and Commonwealth legislation can immediately affect access to property and finances, often before any trial. The asset proceedings run on their own timeline alongside the criminal matter, and both need to be managed concurrently. All lawyers profiled below are established Victorian criminal defence practitioners, with several recognised by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers.
1. Bill Doogue, Doogue + George Defence Lawyers
Bill Doogue is Director and founding partner of Doogue + George Defence Lawyers, a firm he established in 1995 that has since defended more than 40,000 prosecutions. Admitted in 1991 and an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist since 1998, he is ranked Pre-eminent in Criminal Law Defence by Doyle's Guide and listed in Best Lawyers for Criminal Defence (2025).
His advocacy record extends to the High Court of Australia, Royal Commission hearings, and courts across Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia. Internationally, he has advised clients in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore. The substance of his practice is concentrated on tax fraud, white collar crime, complex commercial crime, foreign bribery, and cross-border matters, the categories where parallel agencies, overseas evidence, and long investigation timelines are most likely to converge.
Doogue's contribution to the profession extends beyond practice. He designed Crimebase, a precedent-based relational database for criminal lawyers that won the C.C.H. Legal Technology Award. He is a founding member of the Australian Defence Lawyers Alliance and is involved in running the Australian Criminal Lawyers Conference. Work he has led has been reported in The Age, The Australian, The Guardian, CNN, and the Daily Mail. He served for over ten years as Chairperson of the Broadmeadows Community Legal Centre. The span of his documented career, from constitutional High Court appearances to foreign bribery and Royal Commission work, is catalogued in a Wikipedia entry, placing him among a small number of Australian criminal defence lawyers with that level of public record.
2. Shaun Pascoe, Shaun Pascoe Criminal Law
Drink driving and traffic offences in Victoria sit on a scale that includes matters with significant sentencing and licence consequences at the indictable end. Shaun Pascoe's practice as Partner and Director of Shaun Pascoe Criminal Law is focused on this category, and he holds a Doyle's Guide Leading ranking in drink driving and traffic for 2025 reflecting that specialisation.
He practises as both solicitor advocate and instructor, heading his own boutique practice. The direct-conduct model means he runs matters personally rather than through delegation. His Doyle's Leading ranking in the specialist category is a peer-reviewed indicator of his standing in that area of Victorian criminal defence, and provides the primary credential for referrers assessing representation in this field.
3. Tony Hargreaves, Tony Hargreaves and Associates
The Pre-eminent tier in Doyle's Guide is the highest the methodology awards in Criminal Law Defence, and Tony Hargreaves holds that ranking for 2026. He is the Principal of Tony Hargreaves and Associates and has at least 30 years of experience in serious criminal defence across Victorian and Federal jurisdictions.
Pre-eminent status is the product of peer review across the Victorian criminal defence profession rather than any form of self-nomination, which gives it a particular weight as a signal of standing among practitioners in the same field. Hargreaves operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor. He heads his own boutique, meaning matters carry his direct involvement rather than being distributed across a larger team. For serious indictable briefs where peer-reviewed seniority is the primary selection criterion, his standing is unambiguous.
4. Emma Turnbull, Emma Turnbull and Associates
Legal aid practice sits alongside indictable criminal defence in Emma Turnbull's work as Partner and Director of Emma Turnbull and Associates. That breadth reflects ongoing engagement across the Victorian criminal defence profession at more than one level of the system.
She operates as both solicitor advocate and instructor and heads her own boutique. Matters are conducted by her directly, with consistent senior practitioner involvement. For referrers placing Victorian criminal defence briefs where legal aid and indictable work intersect, her practice covers the relevant ground.
Selection of counsel in this category depends on the nature of the charge, the jurisdiction, the stage of proceedings, and the specific facts of the matter. Early engagement of senior counsel materially affects outcomes, particularly where decisions made at the investigation or pre-charge stage shape what is available later. The practitioners profiled above are a starting point for informed referral within Victorian criminal defence.
