With tomorrow marking the end of the CPD year, our focus at the Law Society of NSW turns to practising certificate (PC) and membership renewals. On the surface, these can seem an irritating annual administrative task.

But they are, in fact, so much more. By renewing your PC, you’re signalling to your community that you are committing to serve the justice system and rule of law for another year. By choosing to remain or become a member of the Law Society, you’re taking your place in a united profession, as part of one of the largest legal membership bodies in the world.

The strength of that unity enables the Law Society to represent you as a trusted voice to government and the courts, and provides you with an opportunity to be a part of that voice through our policy and practice sector committees.

Our CPD offerings, delivered in face to face, hybrid, or online formats, and both live and on demand, are tailored to your needs, and your calendar. We are there to support you to manage your practice, whether it’s ethical, regulatory compliance, costs, or AML/CTF support, and to provide access to free wellbeing services to improve and maintain your mental health, through our SoWell service.

Importantly, as legal practices face emerging challenges, such as the new obligations on solicitors under the AML/CTF regime, we are at the forefront of developing practical tools to help ensure your success. Likewise, as artificial intelligence (AI) changes the way many enterprises work, we provide guidance to help you manage the risks and gain the benefits of this rapidly evolving tech. I’m pleased to advise that we have just published a new edition of the Law Society of NSW and Lexis Nexis AI Glossary; I encourage you to explore it via our AI for legal professionals page.

Through all this, it’s my honour, as President of the Law Society, to serve the interests of NSW’s 44,000 strong profession, from the CBDs of the eastern seaboard to, literally, the back of Bourke.

Over the coming weeks, you’ll receive information to assist your renewals. Members who are Accredited Specialists can renew their Specialist Accreditation at the same time as renewing their PC and membership.

I offer my sincere thanks in advance to our Registry, Membership, Specialist Accreditation and Customer Service teams, who’ll be working hard to process your applications and respond to your queries, and to you, for choosing to be a part of our united profession.

New titles for the Local Court
As of the weekend, Local Court Magistrates are no more. The title of ‘magistrate’, which in Australia traces its origins to NSW’s first Governor, Arthur Phillip, and whose history extends to at least the Roman Republic, has now passed into history.

In September last year, Attorney General Michael Daley introduced legislation to change the title of judicial officers presiding in the Local Court of New South Wales from "magistrate" to "judge". That change was proclaimed to take effect on Saturday, and extends to the Chief and Deputy judicial officers of that Court.

Children’s Magistrates have become Children’s Judges, and Industrial Magistrates are now Industrial Local Court Judges. These judicial officers will continue to be addressed in court as ‘your Honour’, as the term ‘Magistrate’ joins ‘your Worship’ as a relic of NSW curial history.

Ronan MacSweeney, President, The Law Society of NSW