The NSW Attorney-General, Greg Smith SC, yesterday (26 October) announced Grant's return.

"I am delighted Mr Grant has agreed to return to the position of CEO ... Legal Aid's service delivery thrived while Mr Grant was at the helm, resulting in him being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community and to the law," said Smith.

Smith said he was concerned Legal Aid was straying from its core work of improving access to justice for those who cannot afford legal representation.

"I am confident Mr Grant will return the organisation's focus to providing services for those most in need,'' he said.

Grant served as head of Legal Aid from 2001 to 2007 during which time he established a Legal Aid Human Rights Committee and a specialist unit to assist disadvantaged people involved in coronial inquests.

For the past four years, Grant has been the Secretary-General of the Law Council of Australia.

He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws in 1975 and began his career at the Crown Solicitor's Office, where he worked in the prosecution, constitutional law and special litigation branches.

He worked at the Attorney General's Department between 1988 and 2001, reaching the position of Deputy Director General. In that period, he chaired the Victims Advisory Board and was a member of the NSW Privacy Committee and the NSW Legal Practitioners Board.

Grant has also served as Acting Commissioner of the Health Care Complaints Commission.