The Golden Gavel is back – and this year it’s kicking up a notch, with a new venue and a new evening format. The 2026 NSW Golden Gavel will see up-and-coming comics from the ranks of NSW Young Lawyers take the stage at one of Sydney’s iconic performance spaces, The Metro.

There is not much time for those wanting to display their comedy chops to fine tune their act. The NSW Golden Gavel opens for one night only on Wednesday, 1 July, at 6.30pm.

If you’re an early career solicitor who thinks you can bring the house down, make sure you register here by Sunday, 31 May. You’ll need to upload a 500 word ‘mock’ speech OR a video (no longer than 5 minutes); then – as they say in the classics, ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you!’

Hesitating? Don’t. As well as comedy immortality, the winner will represent NSW in the National Golden Gavel later in the year, and there’s a cash prize of $1,000! If you nominate someone who goes on to qualify as a finalist, you’ll earn $250 – a persuasive incentive, even by legal standards.

Extracting a laugh out of an audience of lawyers can be exacting work. That’s why finalists will receive training from an experienced comedian, who also happens to be a lawyer! That training will be handy, because competitors will have to devise their set from scratch, having had very little notice of their topic.

Along with prizes for the winner and runner-up, there’s a People’s Choice Award. But, for that exercise in democracy to work, there needs to be an audience. You can book single seats or tables here for a vibrant night out filled with big laughs, buzzing energy and a room full of great company.

The Golden Gavel has become one of the profession’s richest traditions, one which our Governor the Hon. Margaret Beazley once called: ‘the Eurovision of the legal profession’ (in her judicial days). I look forward to seeing you there and joining the laughter!

Ronan MacSweeney, President, The Law Society of NSW