Last week, the Council of the Law Society of NSW and Regional Presidents from across the state met on the NSW Far North Coast to discuss issues affecting your work as solicitors. We were honoured to be joined by members of the Far North Coast Regional Law Society to hear an address from the Chief Justice the Hon Andrew Bell, on the theme of this year’s bicentenary of the Supreme Court of NSW.

Our visit to this region allowed me and CEO, Kenneth Tickle, to check in on and listen to practitioners in Lismore around progress towards recovery since the disastrous floods of more than two years ago. While the floods have been long absent from the headlines, the impact of the floods and the work to overcome the challenges left behind continues. I’m impressed but not surprised at the courage shown by those we visited, along with the President of the Far North Coast Regional Law Society, Sean Radburn, and its Treasurer, Kelly Waring. The resilience demonstrated by these solicitors has emerged through their support for each other, continuing the fine tradition of unity in the legal profession.

Sean and Kelly told me that the solicitors of Lismore have each other’s backs, respect each other and are helping each other out. That strong sense of collegiality, of unity, I’m told, only strengthened after the floods.

The Law Society was quick to provide assistance to practitioners in the aftermath of the floods to help them get back to serving clients as quickly as possible. With so much left to do, we’ve committed to delivering projects later this year to address office productivity, early career lawyer skills and practitioner wellbeing.

We also highlighted in the media the 14 per cent decline in the number of private solicitors practising in Lismore since the floods and advocated in the media for the Law Council of Australia’s proposal for a higher education debt forgiveness scheme to attract lawyers to regional areas of unmet legal need. This is a broader scheme than recommended by last month’s independent review into the National Legal Assistance Partnership.

Whether or not we make progress on that proposal, I was humbled to have witnessed unity in action among the Lismore profession. I’m honoured to stand with them and offer the support of an organisation representing the interests of more than 42,000 of their colleagues across NSW.

Stellar speakers engaged for Specialist Accreditation Conference

Our Specialist Accreditation Conferences are renowned for the quality of presenters and panels on offer across multiple areas of Specialisation. This year is no different.

This year’s Conference will take place on 15 and 16 August. The first day will feature in-person sessions at the International Convention Centre followed by a half day of webinars. The full program is now available, with ten CPD points across each of the five Conference streams:

• Business Law;
• Family Law;
• Personal Injury;
• Property Law; and
• Wills and Estates

The Law Society’s Professional Development team has put together a conference that combines advanced learning in these specialised areas with a truly impressive speaker line up.

No fewer than eight serving or former judicial officers will speak at the Conference. I’m especially enthusiastic about the Family Law stream at this year’s conference, given my background in that area of the law. The Deputy Chief Justice of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia the Hon Robert McClelland AO leads other FCFCOA Judicial Officers, Justice Campton, Judge Boyle, and Senior Judicial Registrar Julianne Bardetta in the Family Law stream. Our Wills and Estates stream is also expected to attract significant interest this year with former Supreme Court Justice the Hon Phillip Hallen SC delivering a session on topical issues in succession and family provision.

If you are an Accredited Specialist in any of the areas of law offered this year, or an experienced practitioner looking for a Specialist level CPD conference to learn and network with your peers, I encourage you to register now, places are limited.

Brett McGrath, President, Law Society of NSW