Christopher Shanahan is a Senior Counsel

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...

 barrister in the state of Western Australia. He works primarily in the areas of superior court appeals, equity and administrative law.

He was educated at Aquinas College, Perth

Aquinas College, Perth

Aquinas College is a Catholic independent, day and boarding school for boys, located in Salter Point, Western Australia. Its sister school is Santa Maria Ladies College located in Attadale...

, University of Western Australia

University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...

, University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

 and the University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales

The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

. He completed his articles with Jackson MacDonald in 1983. He was admitted to practise in the state of Western Australia in 1984, New South Wales in 1989 and in the High Court of Australia

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

 in 1990.

From 1990-91 he was Senior Officer to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is an Australian Government department. The Department was first established in 1911...

. During 1993, he joined the Western Australian Bar Association and continued to work as a barrister. He was responsible for the development of the Bar Readers' Course, which was presented in 2004 by the Western Australian Bar Association.

During his career he has taught at Macquarie University

Macquarie University

Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...

 in Sydney, been a lecturer at Murdoch University

Murdoch University

Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...

in Perth, where he continues to work part-time lecturing in law. He also lectures Ethics and Professional Responsibility with the Law Society of Western Australia.

In 2004, he was appointed senior counsel in the state of Western Australia. During 2005, he was appointed acting commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission in Western Australia.