History made with top judge appointment
A respected judge will become the first-ever female Chief Justice in South Australia.
Supreme Court Justice Laura Stein has been appointed as South Australia’s next top judge, taking the reins from outgoing Chief Justice Chris Kourakis.
Attorney-General Kyam Maher MLC said Stein had an extensive legal background with more than three decades of experience in the legal profession, including in both the public and private sectors.
Chief Justice Chris Kourakis announced in December 2025 that he would step down in February 2026, saying at the time that it was “an appropriate time to retire”.
Kourakis expressed “deep gratitude to those judicial officers of this state who, through their diligent and conscientious commitment to administration of justice, have lightened my burden”.
Stein was appointed to the Supreme Court in September 2021, having previously served as a senior solicitor in the Civil Litigation Section of the Crown Solicitor.
She began practising law in 1991 at Fisher Jeffries, where she rose to equity partner.
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Stein began working at the Crown Solicitor’s Office in 2001, where she held roles ranging from senior solicitor to executive solicitor and assistant crown solicitor.
She is currently a member of the Legal Practitioners Education and Admission Council, the Audit and Risk Management Committee of the Courts Administration Authority and the Supreme Court Workplace Conduct Committee.
In addition, Stein is chair of the Special Classification Trial Management Committee and the Steering Committee of the Respectful Behaviours Committee.
Meanwhile, current Supreme Court Justice Ben Doyle has been appointed as an additional judge to the state’s Court of Appeal.
Stein and Doyle will begin their new roles on February 19.
“Justice Stein is an exceptionally talented legal mind, and her elevation to the position of Chief Justice will come as no surprise to anyone who has worked alongside her,” Attorney-General Maher said.
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“In addition to her immense skill as a lawyer, her work with the Crown Solicitor’s Office – including her time as Crown Solicitor – has involved an extensive level of managing staff and supporting a productive, positive workplace.
“Justice Stein’s leadership role in building cultural change in the legal profession, following the Equal Opportunity Commissioner’s report on bullying and harassment, makes her uniquely well-placed to lift standards across the profession as Chief Justice.”
Newly appointed Law Society President David Colovic congratulated Stein on her appointment.
“Justice Stein has forged a reputation as a hard-working, astute, and erudite practitioner of the law, as well as a generous, innovative and effective leader,” he said in a statement.
“The Law Society and the legal profession have every confidence that the administration of justice will be very well served under Justice Stein’s stewardship as Chief Justice.”
Speaking previously to InDaily, Kourakis said, “I’d like to think that I’ve always looked for the opportunity within the law, and within the legal principles, to help the law keep up with modern understandings of social problems, so that the law can adequately deal with those problems”.
Kourakis said he hoped that his greatest legacy would be the method of work he had encouraged.
“It’s to try and look at the underlying substance of any case, and to address that and to think differently, to think inevitably about the law’s responses to problems and to a particular case – that’s what I hope is my legacy,” he said.
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