Philip Opas

Philip Henry Napoleon Opas AM OBE QC (24 February 1917 – 25 August 2008) was an Australian barrister. He was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to prevent the execution of Ronald Ryan, the last Australian person to be legally executed.

Early life Opas was born in Melbourne on 24 February 1917. He was the oldest of five children born to Sarah and Joseph Henry Opas; his father was an accountant. He was of Portuguese-Jewish descent.

Opas grew up in the suburb of St Kilda, attending Melbourne Church of England Grammar School until the age of 15. He was subsequently apprenticed to Roy Schilling as a law clerk and went on to complete the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne.

Following Ryan's execution, Opas was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Ethics Committee of the Victorian Bar Council in connection with his public appeals for assistance with the case. He was prosecuted by Ninian Stephen but retained Richard McGarvie and Ivor Greenwood in his defence and had the charges dismissed.

Personal life and honours In 1939, Opas married Stella Sonenberg, the daughter of a prominent criminal lawyer. The couple had two daughters, including Lynnette Schiftan who became one of Victoria's first female QCs and the first woman to sit on the County Court of Victoria. He was widowed in 2005 and died at Epworth Freemasons in East Melbourne on 25 August 2008, aged 91.

Opas bred racehorses at a property in Mathoura, New South Wales. In the 1970s he defended an owner accused of using ring-ins, subsequently writing a book titled The Great Ring-In.