He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Laws and a Blue in rowing.
From 1965 to 1993, he was a partner at Freehill Hollingdale & Page, where he recruited and mentored David Gonski.
He was remembered for his contribution to the resolution of commercial disputation, such as the practical benefit consideration in his judgment in Musumeci v Winadell Pty Ltd (1994) 34 NSWLR 723, and his judgments on the prohibition of collateral benefits in takeover bids and the imposition of civil penalty and disqualification orders upon defaulting directors.
[2] Santow was a visiting scholar at Harvard, Cornell and at Lincoln's Inn, London.
He was a director of various companies and sat on a variety of government and charity committees, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales, St Vincent's Hospital and the Malcolm Sargent Fund for Children With Cancer.