The Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, the Hon William Alstergren, today announced that the Governor-General has accepted the Courts' nomination of Mr David Pringle, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Principal Registrar of the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court.
Mr Pringle has been Acting CEO and Principal Registrar since September 2019. Today's announcement formalises that appointment.
Immediately prior to commencing with the Family Court and the Federal Circuit Court, Mr Pringle held the positon of Acting National Operations Registrar and Acting Principal Judicial Registrar of the Federal Court.
David Pringle has over 20 years' experience as a high level litigation lawyer and mediator. He also has extensive experience in Court-related reform and change management, particularly in policy development and judicial support.
Mr Pringle completed a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts at Monash University in 1996 and was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1998.
He began his career at boutique legal firm, Meerkin & Apel in Melbourne, specialising as a litigation lawyer, and quickly rising to partner within 5 years. After 13 years of high level practice, including significant cases in the High Court and superior courts, in 2009 David moved to a Judicial Registrar role within the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, presiding over insolvency cases and conducting highly complex mediations across Australia in a wide variety of practice areas.
In his nearly 10 years with the Federal Court Mr Pringle oversaw the development of best practice mediation and case management techniques, training and mentoring others in the field. For many years, he was at the forefront of a significant transformation of the Federal Court and played a key role in the development and implementation of the National Court Framework reforms.
Chief Justice Alstergren expresses his congratulations to Mr Pringle on the appointment.
