Former ICAC Commissioner David Ipp dies aged 82

In between judicial appointments, Mr Ipp headed a landmark review of Australian negligence laws, reporting in September 2002, aimed at reining in negligence actions and ballooning damages awards.

"I seem to have spent a lot of my professional life doing things that a lot of people object to," Mr Ipp told the Herald in 2014.

The experience served him well. In November 2012, Mr Ipp was at the helm of ICAC when it began a series of historic public hearings into the dealings of former NSW Labor government figures, including Operation Jasper, its explosive inquiry into a $30 million coal deal involving the Obeid family.

In July 2013, Mr Ipp found Obeid, his son Moses and former NSW Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald acted corruptly in relation to a coal exploration licence granted in 2009 over the Obeid family's Bylong Valley property.

The three men are now standing trial over the coal deal in the NSW Supreme Court on charges of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, and have pleaded not guilty. Justice Elizabeth Fullerton is expected to deliver her verdict in 2021.

Mr Obeid snr has already spent three years behind bars after he was convicted of misconduct in public office over his business dealings at Circular Quay, investigated in a subsequent ICAC inquiry.

Last week, the NSW Supreme Court ordered the Obeid family to pay $5 million in legal costs, including $1.6 million to Mr Ipp, over a failed lawsuit brought against ICAC, the former commissioner and others that sought damages in relation to the watchdog's inquiry into the Obeids' coal deal.

Justice David Hammerschlag said in 2017 that the family had made baseless allegations of misconduct "of the gravest kind" against Mr Ipp, which were "unmaintainable and irresponsibly made".

Mr Ipp is survived by his wife Erina and their three children.

In a statement, the Ipp family said: "The family and friends of David Ipp deeply mourn his death. He loved this, his adopted country, for its egalitarian qualities and he recognised the opportunities it afforded him.

"He worked tirelessly to bring equality before the law to the broader community in Western Australia and New South Wales. He was a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and father-in-law. He brought enormous joy to those close to him.

"The family wish to thank the doctors and nurses of The Wolper Hospital and St Vincent's Private Hospital who gave him wonderful support and care in the last period of his life."

NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, who sat with Mr Ipp on the Court of Appeal bench, remembered his sharp intellect, quick mind and "ferocious appetite for knowledge".

"As a judge of the NSW Court of Appeal David’s legal and judicial talent came to the fore, his judgments being erudite, promptly delivered and invariably correct," she said.

"David was a big personality, with the most infectious laugh, and felt things keenly, both the good and the bad. He held his friendships dear and it was a privilege to be amongst them.

"Sad as his death is, I know from conversations with him over the last couple of weeks that he was at peace with the end of his life, save that he was to be separated from the 'love of his life', wife Erina and family."