von Doussas was established by Louis von Doussa in 1872.

In between being Attorney–General for various periods of time, Louis ran the firm himself with the assistance of his son Stanley von Doussa until about 1930. (At one time a branch office was opened at Mannum which office traded under the name of ‘S B von Doussa’. It later became known as ‘Burdett & Brookman’ before later changing its name to ‘Mason Westover & Rowe’).

William Louis von Doussa (known as Bill von Doussa), who was a grandson of Louis, joined the firm in about 1930 and ran the firm until about 1974. Bill’s son is John von Doussa QC, a former Supreme Court Judge, Federal Court Judge, and Human Rights Commissioner, and now Chancellor of the University of Adelaide.

Upon Bill’s death the firm was taken over by Grant Harris, who had joined the firm as an employee in 1969. In early 1977, Ross McOmish joined the firm and became a partner later that year. Grant Harris retired from the firm in early 1984 to become a Magistrate.

In 1985, the firm changed its name to von Doussa Tucker & Co following a loose arrangement between the firm and the old firm of ‘E J Tucker & Sons’ at Strathalbyn. Upon moving into the firm’s new premises in von Doussa Mall in 1990 the firm name was changed to ‘von Doussas’. The Tucker firm, with offices at Strathalbyn and Victor Harbor, was later absorbed by Stanley & Partners, and later still, by Jeremy Moore under the name of ‘Moore Law’.

In January 1995, Henry Ringwood merged his practice of Ringwood & Co with von Doussas. Henry Ringwood had conducted his practice at Mount Barker and elsewhere in the Adelaide Hills for some 15 years or so prior to the merger. Henry comes from a well-known Hills Family and is well known in the Adelaide Hills area.

From that point on there were a small number of non-capital partners within the firm. Tim Preston and Andrew Duncliff both joined the firm in about 1994. Tim Preston left the firm to take up a role as in-house counsel to a large Adelaide legal firm and Andrew Duncliff accepted a position as a consultant to another large Adelaide legal firm. In around 1998, there was a short-lived merger between Roberts Belperio Clark and von Doussas.

In 2001, both Ross McOmish and Henry Ringwood left the firm, and it was purchased by Charles Gillam, and it has been carried on by him since that time.