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Nicola Gobbo lives in constant fear and has been hiding in more than a dozen different locations across Australia and around the world during the last six years, her lawyer says.
Details of Ms Gobbo's secretive life were revealed on Tuesday, during the controversial lawyer's civil trial against the State of Victoria in the Supreme Court.
Ms Gobbo is seeking compensation for ongoing physical and mental health injuries, claiming Victoria Police acted negligently when it used her as a secret informer during Melbourne's gangland war two decades ago.
The public outing of Ms Gobbo as Informer 3838, or Lawyer X, triggered one of the biggest scandals in Victorian legal history in 2018.
It led to a royal commission and prompted high-profile criminals to appeal their convictions because of Ms Gobbo's passed on confidential information about them to police.
Ms Gobbo's lawyers say she has been fearful and in poor health during her years spent in hiding. (ABC News: Greg Nelson)
Ms Gobbo's barrister, Tim Tobin SC, said Ms Gobbo returned to Australia in 2019 and lived under police protection in Victoria.
Mr Tobin said Ms Gobbo and her family regularly moved from house to house. On one occasion they shifted after becoming fearful of a "suspicious" man in a leather jacket who walked past their home. There was another six-month period spent in "an isolated farmhouse", Mr Tobin told the Supreme Court.
"They were under close guard, no social life, limited schooling," he said.
Mr Tobin said Ms Gobbo "undertook some surgery" and legally changed her name.
In late 2021, he said Ms Gobbo and her family were able to travel overseas and live in a rental in a country she described as "filthy, dirty and unsafe". Mr Tobin said Ms Gobbo moved between several countries over several months.
Underworld drug kingpin Tony Mokbel was one of Nicola Gobbo's clients. (ABC News)
Due to suppression orders covering the trial, Mr Tobin was unable to specifically name many of the locations and countries Ms Gobbo travelled to.
Mr Tobin said Ms Gobbo was in constant fear of being exposed.
Some people had been able to link her new identity to her old one, Mr Tobin said, as he outlined examples where she had been caught out.
Recently workers at a Melbourne eyewear company became aware of Ms Gobbo's true identity when she went to buy a new pair of prescription glasses. And despite a new name, workers at a car rental company and police officers investigating a burglary on her street could connect her to her former life.
"There are other things which just pop up from time to time," Mr Tobin said.
Mr Tobin said his client was "in a holding pattern", unable to sell properties or shares under her old name, file a tax return, or obtain a passport.
Ms Gobbo's health has previously been described as "very poor", and Mr Tobin said she had "significant" vascular leg problems and jaw clenching that was so severe that her teeth fractured. He said her current situation left her unable to take out health insurance or access historic medical records, including information about a heart implant.
Ms Gobbo was an informer for police while acting as a legal adviser for some of the most infamous criminals in Victoria. (ABC News)
Mr Tobin said Ms Gobbo remained afraid of members of Victoria Police, and was concerned for her kids' mental health after years living in hiding.
Ms Gobbo is expected to take the witness stand on Wednesday, albeit via video link from a secret location and with her face hidden from people in the courtroom. Her current whereabouts remain a closely guarded secret.
The State of Victoria is defending the case, refuting Ms Gobbo's claims police officers deceived her and acted negligently by recruiting her as a secret informer.
Key current and former police officers are listed as potential witnesses in the trial, including former chief commissioner Simon Overland, Sir Ken Jones, Ron Iddles, Bob Hill, and Stuart Bateson.
The judge-only trial, before Melinda Richards, is expected to run for at least four weeks.