The 2018 Gold Quill: The winning entry

Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon of Herald Sun won the 2018 Gold Quill for their coverage of the Lawyer X scandal.

Judges' citation

"Anthony Dowsley’s dogged five-year pursuit of truth and public interest to reveal lawyer Nicola Gobbo’s secret double life as a police informer who helped convict many of her own clients exemplifies the very best of modern-day journalism. It was a blockbuster scoop. Dowsley’s work with Patrick Carlyon uncovered gross misconduct the consequences of which will reverberate throughout Victoria’s criminal justice system for years to come and could yet see some of the state’s most notorious underworld figures freed from prison. The journalists’ tenacity helped overcome many often expensive legal obstacles before they laid out a complex trail of deceit in an engrossing and powerful narrative."

The winning entry

Lawyer X: Truth at Last', Herald Sun, 4 December 2018

Lawyer X full online series, Herald Sun, 2018