Gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo made the voluntary choice to become and remain a police informer without being forced by officers, state lawyers have argued.
Ms Gobbo, who became known as 'Lawyer X', is suing the state of Victoria for damages in the Supreme Court over claims she was groomed to become a human source in late 2005 and police had exploited her vulnerabilities.
Her judge-alone trial entered final submissions on Wednesday, with barrister Bernard Quinn KC putting the state's case forward.
He argued Ms Gobbo was not induced to become an informer, rather she made the choice to sign up as a human source.
Ms Gobbo conceded in her evidence that she could have taken other steps to distance herself from her gangland clients but she instead turned to the police, Mr Quinn said.
Her stroke in July 2005 also represented a golden opportunity to stop working for drug kingpin Tony Mokbel and his crew, but she made the conscious decision to keep them as clients, he claimed.
"Ms Gobbo had the other choices open to her," Mr Quinn told the court.
The barrister said Ms Gobbo was aware of the risks in becoming a police informer, namely that her identity could be revealed and her life threatened.
She was familiar with the case of informer Terrence Hodson, who was killed after his identity was uncovered in the criminal underworld, Mr Quinn said.
He argued Ms Gobbo never had to become an informer and she could have chosen at any time to stop being one.
"It might have been difficult - it required a change in her practice as a barrister," he said.
"That might have been seen to her as a major life decision.
"But we all face major life decisions and don't chose to inform on people that might kill us."
Lawyers for Ms Gobbo will deliver their final submissions to Justice Melinda Richards on Thursday.
