Brian Withers warrior for access to justice for all, in line with his Adelaide legal firm partner Elliot Johnston

Brian Withers developed the national strategy for legal aid and set up the first national legal aid funding congress at parliament house, Canberra, In 1996.

Brian Withers was a champion of access to justice in South Australia at the state and federal levels for 30 years. He shared a concern for justice for all with Elliot Johnston, his partner in a law firm that later bore both their names.

Withers was born at Mannum in 1945, moved to Adelaide with his family as a child and was educated at Unley High School, followed by Adelaide University, where he graduated with a bachelor of laws in 1969. He worked with Haese, Davey and Mulligan, then Peter Wray, before starting a long career with Elliot Johnston in 1970. He joined as a partner and the firm later became Johnston Withers.  Withers built a large workers’ compensation and personal injury practice and later took on a lot of medical negligence work.

One of Withers's greatest legacies was as driving force and first chairman of the litigation assistance fund, begun in 1992. The charitable body helped people pursue civil claims and, through it, thousands of clients and achieved more than $200 million in compensation.  Withers chaired the Law Society of South Australia’s justice access committee for 11 years from 1989 to 1998. For 13 years, he was involved with, and sometime chairman of, the Law Council of Australia’s access to justice committee.

Withers developed the national strategy for legal aid and set up the first national legal aid funding congress at parliament house, Canberra, In 1996. He presented papers and speeches to promote increased access to justice, including a focus on remote, regional and Indigenous legal issues. In 1998, Withers became a commissioner for the Legal Services Commission of South Australia. He also served as commission chairperson from 1997.

In 2004, Withers took part in a research project entitled “Erosion of legal representation in the Australian justice system”. That year, he was appointed master of the South Australian supreme court and a judge of the district court . The Law Society of South Australia society recognised Withers’ outstanding commitment to promoting access to justice in South Australia with its  inaugural justice award that year. In 2005, the council of the law society decided to present the Brian Withers Award to recognise a member of the Law Society who had provided outstanding service to the Society, its members and the profession, above and beyond the call of duty.

In 2015, Withers was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the law through his leadership of various organisations and as a judicial officer. That year, in an interview with The Bulletin, Withers said that Elliot Johnston had instilled in him a passion to help the vulnerable and disadvantaged. At Johnston Withers: “I acted for a lot of workers – people from overseas who were, in a sense, the cannon fodder for factories. That really fostered my interest in people getting a fair return, in their circumstances.”