David Heilpern LLB LLM is an Australian lawyer, author and poet. After attending school in Sydney and Bathurst, and universities in Sydney, Canberra and Lismore, David became a solicitor and barrister. He acted for several high-profile clients, including North East Forest Alliance, and Nimbin HEMP. He is the author of five books, most notably For Fear of Favour: Sexual Assault of Young Prisoners, a world-first study of sexual assault in prisons, and has been an advocate of prison and law reform. In 1998 he became the youngest Magistrate in Australia. In 2004 he was awarded Southern Cross University’s Alumnus of the Decade. He is an award-winning short story writer, and is currently Dean of Law at Southern Cross University, having “retired” from the bench in 2020. He writes a syndicated column for the Byron Echo and other community newspapers, and is a regular opinion writer and guest on national media.