At a respectable 50 years of age, Snedden Hall & Gallop Lawyers (SHG) is one of Canberra's oldest law firms and, like any good quinquagenarian, the firm celebrated its recent 50th anniversary in style.

And while the firm has enjoyed a successful and prosperous past which has, according to managing director Richard Faulks, turned it into a household name, it is the future on which this firm has its sights firmly set.

"[The firm's] 50th anniversary is not only an opportunity for the firm to celebrate the past, but to look forward to continued success of the firm and the growth of its community activities over the next 50 years," he says.

Though the future looks bright, the firm's past is certainly worth celebrating.

Founded in 1960, SHG was established by two friends - Norm Snedden and Allan Hall - who left public practice to explore the small community of private practitioners in Canberra. John Gallop, who went on to become a Justice of the ACT and NT supreme courts, joined them two years later and the firm became a breeding ground for some of Canberra's most prominent legal minds. Among them were Hall and Jim Constance - who were eventually appointed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal - as well as Australian of the Year 1975, Major General Alan Stretton AO CBE.

That a small firm can produce such talent is perhaps telling of the fact that, since its inception, the firm has made it a priority to engage the community while positioning itself at the cutting edge of private practice in the ACT.

"[The firm] has changed over the past 20 years, but I have always been proud of the fact [we have] been very innovative and tried new programs, various new applications of the law or new areas of practice ... we are always out there giving it a go," says director Gerald Santucci.

This philosophy has earned the firm a solid reputation in Canberra and resulted in SHG snaring an important and burgeoning niche market in the area of Commonwealth superannuation.

"Many years ago, [some] employees were given wrong or negligent advice about their rights in relation to the Commonwealth superannuation scheme. A fellow came and saw us and we decided it was an interesting and important area ... We won [a case] in the High Court in 2007 and that was the basis on which we launched other cases," says Santucci.

And the directors of SHG have no doubt the firm's innovation will continue well into the future as it supports and trains its next generation of leaders, some of whom come through the Snedden Hall & Gallop Scholarship for Legal Studies, which provides financial support and ongoing practical experience for two promising law students.

"In the next decade, I would anticipate that all of the current directors would retire," says Santucci. "We expect to see the new crop of younger people, who have consolidated their position in the firm, who have a great affection for the firm, and who promote the firm, to become the new breed of directors."

By Claire Chaffey