Profile
"West Oak’s success has come from always putting our clients’ best interests first and always finding ways to improve and add more value to them"
Andrew mcquiston,
west oak family office, wellington-altus private wealth
Warwick Korn got his feet wet in the legal profession by joining criminal law firm Kiki Kyriacou Lawyers as a paralegal and hasn’t looked back since. The son of two immigrants – a Lebanese mother and Scottish father – has ended up becoming a trailblazer for defence lawyers, helping to establish Defence Lawyers NSW, of which he has been vice president since 2018.
“This initiative was born from a realisation that despite being on the front line of the justice system, defence lawyers had little say in the policies, procedures or development of the system we serve,” Korn tells Australasian Lawyer.
He is presently cultivating a program for the association that provides young solicitors with the court experience they were unable to gain over recent years. The program offers mentorship beyond the firm structure and concentrates on the basics for criminal lawyers, including court etiquette and advocacy advice.
Korn’s practice focuses on criminal cases going before the District and Supreme Courts, as well as bail applications and white-collar crime. For Korn, the events of recent years have shown him that “civil liberties, personal freedoms and due process are under unprecedented attack”.
“I have watched the apparatus of a police state erect itself with minimal opposition, few safeguards and concerning speed. I believe this generation of lawyers must rise to these challenges with urgency, with diligence and with bravery. Lady Justice has never needed her custodians more,” he says.
In 2020, Korn helped secure a legal victory for Chinese actor Gao Yunxiang, in a case that saw the actor, as well as producer Jing Wang, facing sexual assault charges following an encounter with a woman in Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel. Gao and Wang’s acquittal ended a legal bout that lasted nearly two years and made headlines across both Australia and China; Korn’s role led to him being asked to consult at the China University of Political Science and Law in relation to matters of procedural fairness as demonstrated in Gao’s case.
Korn launched his first firm, Korn MacDougall Legal, just two years after his admission as a NSW solicitor in 2011. In 2021, he founded Korn Tlais Defence Lawyers.
“Few areas of law offer what criminal defence does in terms of its capacity to dramatically shape the lives of our clients and communities they live in,” he explains. “Nothing would make me happier than to see principled young lawyers consider joining the industry and contribute to the work we do.”
Beyond his legal work, Korn helped found the Banksia Project, a men’s mental health charity, in 2016.
He volunteered to organise events for the charity at universities and high schools. Last year, he also contributed to the Australian Muslim Project to aid in building a school, mosque and freshwater facilities at an orphanage in Africa.
“[Korn] has a commitment to justice which is undeniable and that extends to mentoring the younger generation of lawyers to feel as deeply about social issues as he does,” says Korn Tlais partner Abdul Tlais. “It’s not every day that a leader of a busy practice picks up more responsibility and workload so that he can allow his employees to adhere to their cultural and religious duties.”
Suite 1503/338 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000
02 8041 4900
warwick@ktlaw.com.au
https://www.linkedin.com/in/warwick-korn-7619b7190/
ktlaw.com.au
Warwick Korn
Founder and Partner
Korn Tlais Defence Lawyers Pty Ltd
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2020–present
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Deputy Principal at Australian Christian College - Southlands
Doctor of Education
2020–present
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2021
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Year 7 Community Leader and Leader for Learning Technologies and Platforms at Northern Beaches Christian School
Master of Business Administration, 2017–2019
2021
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2013
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Master of Education (Curriculum and Pedagogy)
2013
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Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
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Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Bachelor of Education (Primary)
2009–2012
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2011
2013
2018–present
2020
2021
Warwick Korn
Founder and Partner
Korn Tlais Defence Lawyers Pty Ltd
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
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Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
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Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
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1994
2016
2018
2019
2020–present
Warwick Korn
Founder and Partner
Korn Tlais Defence Lawyers Pty Ltd
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2021
2020
2018–present
2013
2011
2021
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Founded Korn Tlais Defence Lawyers
2021
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2020
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Won acquittal of Chinese film star Yunxiang Gao in Regina v YAnxiang Gao
2020
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2018–present
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Vice president of Defence Lawyers NSW
2018–present
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2013
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Founded Korn MacDougall Legal
2013
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2011
human resources | key media
Admitted as NSW solicitor
Commenced practice at Mitry Lawyers
2011
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Milestones