History

In 2010 Turtons celebrate the start of our 100th year of operations. We’ve been in the Sydney CBD, arguably the business capital of Australia, for the entire period.


  • 1911

    On 7 December 1911 Frederick William Turton (or ‘FW’, as he was known) opened his doors for business. His office was located on the corner of Pitt and Hunter streets, less than 100 metres from the firm’s current location.


  • 1941

    Joining the firm in 1941, Betty Turton, FW’s daughter, became one of the early women lawyers in private practice in Australia. Back then, many law lecturers were still refusing women entry into their classes.

  • 1961

    In 1961, Betty became the sole principal of Turtons, a relatively large practice (for the time) occupying the entire floor of a city building. Nowadays women still only account for 20% of partners in law firms. It’s difficult to imagine what it
    must have been like for Betty in the 1960s.

  • 1986

    In early 1986 Turtons became one of the first in Australia to install and use a PC based computer network, with lawyers and secretaries (as they were then called) being required to use them on a daily basis. Turtons had been using an in-house mainframe computer for accounting purposes since the late 1970s.

  • 1996

    In 1996, Turtons became one of the first law firms in the country to have its systems independently certified to ISO 9001, a certification that has been maintained without interruption to the present day.


  • 2007

    In 2007 Turtons became possibly the only firm in Australia to have had four successive generations from the same family to join its partner/principal ranks. FW was joined by his daughter Betty in 1941, who in turn was joined by her son Bill in 1972, who was then joined by his son Greg in 2007.

  • 2010

    In 2010 Turtons became the first recognised professional services provider in Australia to hand total control of its fees over to its clients.