Dale is a graduate of Cairns State High School, after having attended primary school on Nauru and in Victoria. He attended Queensland Institute of Technology (now QUT) graduating in 1982. Upon admission as a solicitor, Dale returned to Cairns in 1984 and shortly thereafter began his own firm. In 1998, Dale joined Williams Graham and Carmen and headed up their local government and town planning section.
After a break of 5 years pursuing other interests (which culminated in him writing and directing a successful musical Mr Pinstripe Suit), Dale returned to the law in 2012. He joined O’Reilly Stevens in June 2020.
Dale was sworn in as a notary public in 1996 and continues to develop a thriving notarial practice. In 2023 Dale was made a Fellow of the Society of Notaries, Queensland.
Dale describes himself as a broadly experienced commercial and property development lawyer, but with particular emphasis on:-
- Construction law (commercial and residential)
- Property development (including town planning, land subdivision, unit developments and resorts development)
- Body corporate (including management rights and serviced strata-schemes)
- Commercial conveyancing
- Leasing (including state tenure and native title)
- Commercial litigation
- Franchising
Dale also has a wide range of interests. He is a self-confessed AFL tragic, who played football until the ripe-young age of 55 and hasn’t yet given up on the prospects of a come-back. He has recently acquired a passion for carpentry and landscaping and even drives a ute complete with timber racks. Dale has been actively involved in the performing arts in Cairns over many years but readily admits to being the lesser light in his family, falling well short of the talents of his wife, son and daughter (who are actually talented).