The Law Society of NSW’s Annual Conference is a touch over four months away, so you might think it’s a little early to be getting excited about the event and the lineup.

I’ll have to respectfully disagree, and I hope to see you at the Hyatt Regency Sydney on 10 and 11 October.

Day one of this year’s Conference, presented by the Law Society Journal and sponsored by Lawcover, is on the theme The Curious Lawyer – a particularly apt title for a gathering of solicitors.

Day two will allow practitioners to create their own journey and tailor their experience, with four targeted streams relevant to government lawyers, private and regional practitioners, early career lawyers, and in-house corporate practitioners.

By the very nature of our job, curiosity about our clients and the issues that bring them to us is central to effective representation.

Curiosity is an attribute that drives us to find the best evidence to support our case, to develop policy for law reform and to remedy injustice.

This latter application of curiosity is certainly behind the work of one of the headline presenters we will welcome for day one of the Annual Conference: US lawyer Robert Bilott.

Robert is the central character in the movie Dark Waters, where he’s played by Mark Ruffalo, uncovering contamination by so-called ‘forever chemicals’ in rural West Virginia by industrial giant DuPont in the late 90s.  His work helped expose a brazen, decades-long history of pollution by these chemicals (including PFAS) found in most households.

We will also hear from lawyer, scientist, and underground tunnel expert Professor Arnold Dix, who has led some of the world’s most daring rescue missions and became a hero to millions in India where he helped to save 41 workers from a tunnel collapse.

Arnold was recently profiled by the ABC’s Australian Story and will reveal how lawyers can approach the catastrophes of life (large or small) in a way that is human focused, co-operative, and practical.

Consistent with my President’s Priority, AI and the legal profession, both days will feature discussion around the opportunities and challenges of this technology: beginning with the new challenge of discerning the truth from the imagined, before turning to a practical discussion around whether, and if so how, a lawyer should charge for work handled by AI.

Super early bird tickets for the Annual Conference will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday 28 May, so keep an eye on your inbox with details as to how you can register for this must-attend event.

I’m looking forward to seeing you there with two days of sessions you will find engaging, informative, and perhaps even a little entertaining!

Brett McGrath, President, Law Society of NSW