The firm's lawyers have always taken an active role in the legal profession.
In Sydney, Alfred Hemsley, Norman Cowper, Bob Stevenson and Alan Loxton served as presidents of the Law Society of New South Wales. In Melbourne, Kenric Brodribb, William Fookes, TC Alston and Sir Arthur Robinson served as presidents of the Law Institute of Victoria. In Brisbane, Bill Rowland and Peter Short served as presidents of the Queensland Law Society, with Short also president of the Law Council of Australia.
These roles reflect a long tradition of investment in the legal profession and in legal education.
Arthur Robinson helped establish the Council of Legal Education, which was responsible for overseeing the professional standards required for admission in Victoria. For over a century, his firm provided the council with an honorary secretary, a position filled successively by Sir Arthur Robinson, George Forrest Davies, Ian Harper, Colin Galbraith and Anne Ferguson (who went on to be appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria).
Many of the firm's lawyers lectured at universities, and published articles and books, to share their knowledge of and enthusiasm for the law. Ian Renard lectured at the University of Melbourne before going on to become chancellor. He was also co-author of the legal text Takeovers and Reconstructions in Australia. Partners of the firm continue to keep this text up to date. John Lehane and Bill Gummow's lectures on equity were held in particularly high regard at the University of Sydney, as were the tutorials of Jim Dunstan. Allens continues to host a biennial lecture by a leading overseas judge to honour Lehane's contribution to the law. Soon after he graduated in 1949, Alan Loxton found himself delivering lectures on criminal law at Sydney Law School, despite it not being an area of the law practised at the firm. He ran the course for seven years and said he felt comfortable that he understood the subject after the first three.
John Lehane became a judge of the Federal Court of Australia.
Lehane and Gummow were both partners at Allen Allen & Hemsley when the text was first published in 1984. Lehane served as managing partner and later chairman of the firm, and became a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. Gummow became a judge of the High Court of Australia, and Meagher a judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal.
The book remains a highly regarded text in Australia and internationally.