About Tony Cullinan

Tony Cullinan is the principal and sole lawyer at South Coast Criminal Lawyers. He holds a Master’s degree in criminal practice, and criminal and traffic law is all he does. Every client speaks with Tony directly, and every court date is handled by Tony personally. There is no junior lawyer managing your file and no paralegal taking your calls.

Based at 80 Auckland Street, Bega, Tony appears at Local Courts and District Courts across South East NSW, from Nowra to Eden on the coast, inland to Cooma and the Monaro, and across to Canberra. He regularly assists clients throughout the entire South East region, including Canberra. He knows these courts, the prosecutors, and the practical realities of defending clients in a regional area, where a single charge can decide whether someone keeps their licence, their job, or their reputation.

His approach is direct. He reads the brief of evidence first, tells you plainly what the charge means and what the realistic options are, and prepares the matter thoroughly before you ever set foot in court. He makes no promises about outcomes, because no lawyer honestly can, but you will always know exactly where things stand.

Tony works in his office, usually in a black t-shirt and jeans. He suits up for court. That distinction is deliberate: the real preparation happens in the office, in the brief of evidence, and in the work done before you walk in. By the time you are standing in front of a judge, the serious work is already done.

Tony’s path to the law was not a conventional one. After a difficult start in life, service in the Royal Australian Navy aboard HMAS Perth and HMAS Canberra gave him the footing to study and practise, and he has since lectured in the Faculty of Law at the University of Wollongong. He brings that lived experience to his clients: for Tony, a charge is one chapter in a person’s life, not the end of the story, and much of his role is helping people see that they can get through it and get ahead. Away from the courtroom he plays guitar and runs his own knifemaking forge, Blackstar Forge. The idea behind the forge, that raw material can be worked into something better with time and effort, is close to what he believes about the people he represents: a difficult past does not have to decide the future, and much of his job is helping clients get through the matter in front of them and move forward.

For Tony’s full background, credentials, and the courts he appears at, see his full profile.