James Harley "Jim" Kennan SC

Senior Counsel

The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...

 (25 February 1946 – 4 August 2010) was an Australian politician and later Adjunct Professor of Law at Deakin University

Deakin University

Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...

.

He earned a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

. He was a member of parliament between 1982 and 1993, initially in the Victorian Legislative Council

Victorian Legislative Council

The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...

, and then in the Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 as the member for Broadmeadows

Electoral district of Broadmeadows

The Electoral district of Broadmeadows is an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly created in 1952. The seat is currently based on the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Dallas and Jacana...

 and was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1990-1992.

After the defeat of the Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 Government at the 1992 state election, and the later retirement of leader Joan Kirner

Joan Kirner

Joan Elizabeth Kirner AM , Australian politician, was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, the first woman to hold the position, which she held for two years prior to a landslide election defeat.-Biography:...

, he became the Leader of the Opposition until his retirement from Parliament in 1993. He was succeeded as leader and member for Broadmeadows by a former member of the Legislative Council, John Brumby

John Brumby

John Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...

. He worked as a Senior Counsel in the Victorian legal system, most notably representing Jack Thomas at his re-trial on terrorism charges in late 2008.