Much will be said and written about the life of Sir Gerard Brennan, and most of it will be more eloquent than my own musings. But such is the legacy of the man, and such was his impact upon me in the moments I spent with him that I, too, felt compelled to put pen to paper.

To be clear, how I feel about Sir Gerard’s passing is both incomparable and insignificant compared to how his family must feel (some of whom I’ve known most of my life), and also how many First Nations Australians will feel.

This said, I had the immense privilege – at a vulnerable time in my life, no less – of benefiting from the former chief justice’s great kindness and generosity.

I first met Sir Gerard in 2011, when I was still a law student at the University of Technology, Sydney. In that year, I served as the vice-president of the UTS Law Students’ Society, and – together with president Codie Asimus and Professor Paul Redmond – we established a Duke of Edinburgh-style scheme for law students to attain a more holistic legal education and imbibe a sense of service to the community.

There was only one potential patron and namesake for this program, Professor Redmond espoused at the time: Sir Gerard.

To his great credit and our even greater delight, he agreed to lend his name to what became known as the Brennan Justice and Leadership Program: an extracurricular venture that not only broadens the horizons of prospective law graduates but also embeds within them a true understanding and appreciation for the altruistic nature and purpose of law, and the role of lawyers to serve.

Such was the presence and aura of Sir Gerard, whenever he graced us on campus, that one could not help but be moved to do, and be, more.

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Our paths crossed again in 2014, during which I had made the decision to write my first book.

I had, for almost two years up until that year, suffered from severe clinical anxiety and depression, which resulted in one period of hospitalisation. Whilst on the road to recovery, I observed how utterly uncommon my experience was and that the storms I was weathering were raining down on a substantial number of young practitioners and students.

I was barely removed from that bout of ill-health when I decided to write about my experiences; to produce a text that could serve as a central resource for emerging lawyers to proactively manage their health and wellbeing, with the benefit of my own story and also the insights of legal professionals across the board, from junior solicitors through to managing partners.

I realised, early on, that if I was to have any prospect of making a meaningful difference to the lives of others by way of my book, it needed more gravitas and authority than that which a lowly graduate could offer. Enter, Sir Gerard.

Armed with the hope that not only would the former chief justice remember me but that he might be willing to contribute to my project, I attended his chambers and sought his input. He ultimately penned the foreword to what became The Wellness Doctrines for Law Students and Young Lawyers.

(In the picture above, Sir Gerard and I stand in his chambers with one of the first-edition copies.)

I was (and perhaps still am) a nobody. But Sir Gerard was willing to put his name to my self-published book – an act of generosity that is still astounding to me.

Maybe he saw, in my project, an act of service to the profession and an attempt to help others in ways that I had so desperately needed myself. Whatever his reasons, the kindness he displayed in writing that foreword, thereby giving credibility to the book that I couldn’t bring myself, showed me just how selfless and considerate he was.

The mark that Sir Gerard Brennan has left – not just on Australia’s legal profession, but on Australian society more broadly – is immeasurable. As Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC MP noted in a statement yesterday (2 June), the 30th anniversary of the Mabo judgment “overturning the shameful myth of ‘terra nullius’ is a reminder of his great work and enduring legacy”.

He was “one of Australia’s greatest legal minds [and] a brilliant, compassionate man whose life devoted to the law made Australia a better, fairer and more decent nation”, the A-G penned.

His professional accomplishments are all of this, and more. His impact on the cultural and sociopolitical landscape of Australia is profound. And, to me – as he no doubt was to so many others – Sir Gerard was a towering figure (in the best way possible) who had an incredible capacity for kindness, compassion and generosity.

As aforementioned, my feelings about his passing pale in comparison to others. But the fact that I, who spent only a brief time with him, can feel so strongly about his passing, speaks volumes about a man who has – both as a person and an officer of the court – made Australia a better place.

Thank you, Sir Gerard. Vale.

Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and author of The Wellness Doctrines book series.