After completing his degrees Alex Chernov practised as a barrister for over 30 years in commercial law and equity and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1980.
Whilst a barrister he also taught law, co-authored a legal text and was an Honorary Consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission. He became President of the Victorian Bar and Vice President of the Australian Bar Association. Later, he was President of the Law Council of Australia and Vice President of LawAsia, a member of the Council of the Presbyterian Ladies College and chaired the Australian Motor Sport Court of Appeal.
In 1997 Alex Chernov was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria and, in the following year, to its Court of Appeal.
He was also a Deputy Chancellor of the University of Melbourne and in 2009 was elected as its Chancellor. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 and a Companion of the Order in 2012.
Alex Chernov was sworn in as Victoria’s 28th Governor in April 2011 and, in September, 2014 as deputy to the Governor-General. After completing these terms Alex Chernov joined the boards of the Ian Potter Foundation, the Grattan Institute which he chairs, and other organisations. He also conducts local and international alternative dispute resolutions.