Leanne Clare commenced work at the office of the Parliamentary Council as a Publications Clerk in 1982, a position she held until 1986. Graduating from the Queensland University of Technology in 1984 with a Bachelor of Laws, Leanne was admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in the following year. She joined the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in the Justice and Attorney’s-General Department that same year. From 1986 to 1989, she was with the Child Abuse Unit and became a Crown Prosecutor in 1988, becoming Senior Crown Prosecutor in 1991. Leanne became a Senior Counsel, Appeals in 1995. She stepped up to act as Director and Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions several times during 1998. During 1999 and 2000, she was an acting member of the District Court. Eventually, she was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions in July of 2000 – the first woman to hold this position in Queensland.