The aim of the Sydney Law School practitioner-in-residence program is to foster closer relationships with the profession, leveraging the lawyer's expertise and knowledge in a way that engages and contributes to the scholarly life of the school.
The Sydney Law School practitioner-in-residence program engages and integrates the expertise of legal practitioners with the school's centres, staff, students, alumni and friends, as well as school partners and stakeholders, the University generally, and the wider community.
The program forms part of a greater scheme to help realise the School's vision and mission as embodied in its 2020-2025 strategy, Reimagining Sydney Law School, and bridge the gap between education and the profession.
Specifically, the School's vision is to transform the legal landscape and innovate through its central pillars - education, research and community engagement, and it's mission is to inspire legal minds within the Law SChool, the profession and beyond.
Through the program, the School is able to engage and build closer links with the profession by providing a space where the legal practitioner can further their development while also leveraging their expertise and knowledge in a way that engages and contributes to the scholarly life of the School.
Sara Gul graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws in 2003. She was admitted to practice in 2004.
Since then, she has practised primarily in criminal law – across State, Commonwealth and Military jurisdictions. She has conducted superior court trials since 2012 – in various District and Supreme Courts. In 2018 she was appointed a NSW Crown Prosecutor. She has run numerous jury trials, with a particular focus on sexual assault matters.
Sara is the Secretary of the Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors and is a Legal Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Sara has a particular interest in jury directions in sexual assault prosecutions. As prosecutor in residence, she is focussing on the application of the Liberato Direction in sexual assault trials, which directs juries that they must acquit an accused person in certain circumstances.
Danielle Captain-Webb
Danielle Captain-Webb is Wiradjuri and Gomeroi woman, mother, and lawyer who was born and raised on Darkinjung Country.
She has a background in lore and law, criminology, Aboriginal land rights, social impact and systemic advocacy, and is deeply committed to advancing justice, Aboriginal affairs, and social change.
After completing a Bachelor of Laws/Criminology and Criminal Justice and a Master of Business Administration (Social Impact) at UNSW, Danielle began a career dedicated to advocating for Aboriginal rights and representation within the legal system. Her journey has included roles at the Justice and Equity Centre (formerly PIAC) and Legal Aid NSW, focusing on civil litigation, criminal defence, law reform and the establishment of a statewide multidisciplinary legal advice service. She currently serves as the Solicitor Advocate of the Coronial Inquest Unit, leading its statewide service.
Danielle is also the first Aboriginal person elected to the Council of the Law Society of New South Wales. She is actively involved in advancing Indigenous issues within the legal profession, serving as Co-Chair of its Indigenous Issues Committee, and as a member of the Criminal Law Committee, Disclosure Committee and the Council of Law Reporting for NSW (appointed by the Attorney General). She has also contributed her expertise to the Professional Conduct Committee and Ethics Committee.
In addition to her professional work, Danielle is a long-term member of the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council and Darkinjung Funeral Fund and has served as a board member since 2019. In 2024, she was selected for the prestigious Atlantic Fellowship for Social Equity and completed a Master of Social Change Leadership at the University of Melbourne. Her research focused on reimagining the Coronial Inquest System to create a culturally responsive space that provides truth, healing and justice for First Nations people, families, and communities.
In 2025, Danielle was appointed as the First Nations Practitioner-in-Residence at the University of Sydney Law School. In this role, she brings critical insight to legal education and research, deepening the academy’s engagement with First Nations knowledge, experience, and justice.
Jenavive Westbury
Jenavive Westbury is a Practitioner in Residence at the University and a criminal defence solicitor at Legal Aid NSW. Her work is grounded in her identity as a proud Wiradjuri (Tubba-Gah) woman, and also shaped by her experiences as the daughter of an Egyptian migrant.
She brings broad legal experience across the family, civil, and criminal jurisdictions, and is committed to challenging systemic injustice through both frontline representation and structural reform. Jenavive has led and contributed to a range of First Nations–centred projects, within both tertiary and legal settings, including Legal Aid NSW's Aboriginal Women's Bail Project, focussed on decreasing the over representation of Aboriginal women on remand.
She is currently developing a digital education initiative to empower Aboriginal people navigating the criminal justice system.
