Practitioners’ wellbeing a ‘uniform’ priority
President's Message | 12 February 2024
Members may already be aware that one of my President’s Priorities for 2024 is the wellbeing of solicitors. In taking up this issue, I’m continuing the valuable work in this area by my predecessors Cassandra Banks and Joanne van der Plaat.
Under these two past Presidents, our Staying Well in the Law series (affectionately known as SWitL) has gone from strength to strength. These mostly online sessions are always extremely popular. Our Solicitor Outreach Service remains a crucial support for all solicitors in crisis across NSW.
As I remarked in my Opening of Law Term speech, “There are major professional stressors when our people start as solicitors, once they are building their practices, when they try for more senior roles, and the cumulative effects of dealing with matters that profoundly alter the course of people’s lives.”
My approach to this priority will include a ‘back to basics’ focus on the importance of having a GP to speak with as a trusted support for both mental and physical health concerns.
This is not an issue confined to solicitors in NSW. That’s why I am so enthusiastic about a new research project being run jointly by regulators in the Uniform Law jurisdictions on the culture of legal workplaces.
The research, to be undertaken by the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne, seeks to understand whether there is a relationship between appropriate workplace conduct, workplace wellbeing safeguards, employee wellbeing, and the ethical climate of a legal workplace.
If such a relationship is found, targeted interventions could be devised which would foster a positive workplace culture, support mental health, and promote wellbeing in the legal profession.
I’d encourage all members to participate in a survey that is designed to inform this research project to help us develop wellbeing initiatives for the benefit of practitioners right across the Uniform Law jurisdictions, and perhaps beyond.
All in the family
I came to the presidency of the Law Society from being the Partner in Charge at Marsden’s Family Dispute Resolution department and before that, as a Senior Judicial Registrar at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA).
I’m thrilled to let you know that the Law Society will be hosting a series of CPD sessions featuring some of my former colleagues at the FCFCOA on subjects of deep interest to family law practitioners.
The three webinars, which will be held on consecutive Monday afternoons commencing 26 February, are complimentary for members and will cover three main areas:
- dispute resolution;
- preparation for interim hearings and online advocacy; and
- skills to excel in the Registrar-led case management pathway.
I am enormously grateful to Senior Judicial Registrars Alison Osmand and Frances Nielsen, along with Judicial Registrars Julianne Bardetta, Anna D’Addona and Kimberley Buttriss, for agreeing to share their considerable expertise with the profession. Register here so you don’t miss out.
History beyond the bicentennial
As you are probably aware, the Chief Justice of NSW, the Hon Andrew Bell, has a busy year ahead with the bicentenary of the Supreme Court. I continue to be grateful to the Chief Justice for his determination to provide members throughout the state with opportunities to be a part of recognising 200 years of continuous rule of law in NSW. In the past week alone, practitioners from both Albury and Newcastle were able to do just that.
But there’s another tradition of the Chief Justice that I want to bring to members’ attention; the annual Plunkett Lecture tomorrow at the Banco Court at 5.15pm.
This will be the twelfth such lecture, entitled “Unheralded nation-builder: another dimension of John Hubert Plunkett”. John Plunkett was appointed NSW Solicitor General in 1832, while the relatively newly created Supreme Court was in its infancy. He is said to be the first Catholic appointed to high civil office in the colony and later became Attorney General.
Further details of the event, put on by the Forbes Society of which I’m a board member, can be read in Monday Briefs below. I encourage all interested members to hear the Chief Justice’s speech.
Brett McGrath, President, Law Society of NSW
History beyond the bicentennial
As you are probably aware, the Chief Justice of NSW, the Hon Andrew Bell, has a busy year ahead with the bicentenary of the Supreme Court. I continue to be grateful to the Chief Justice for his determination to provide members throughout the state with opportunities to be a part of recognising 200 years of continuous rule of law in NSW. In the past week alone, practitioners from both Albury and Newcastle were able to do just that.
But there’s another tradition of the Chief Justice that I want to bring to members’ attention; the annual Plunkett Lecture tomorrow at the Banco Court at 5.15pm.
This will be the twelfth such lecture, entitled “Unheralded nation-builder: another dimension of John Hubert Plunkett”. John Plunkett was appointed NSW Solicitor General in 1832, while the relatively newly created Supreme Court was in its infancy. He is said to be the first Catholic appointed to high civil office in the colony and later became Attorney General.
Further details of the event, put on by the Forbes Society of which I’m a board member, can be read in Monday Briefs below. I encourage all interested members to hear the Chief Justice’s speech.
Brett McGrath, President, Law Society of NSW
