On 4 May 2019 the doors of the ACT Courts were opened to ACT practitioners and their family members for the WLA ACT Court Family Day. This was a great way for children and partners of ACT practitioners to be able to see inside the newly refurbished Courts and to get an idea of what a day in the life of a lawyer or judge entails.

After enjoying a tour of the Courts we were joined by Justice Loukas-Karlsson and Associate Justice McWilliam, who shared some observations and wisdom from their experience behind the bench. Associate Justice McWilliam reminded practitioners that it is okay to tell the Court if you have family commitments and that without sharing this information the system cannot and will not change. In addition to some wonderful advice for both practitioners and their families from Justice Loukas-Karlsson, she also shared the hot tip from a young family member that any presentation can and will be improved by the inclusion of a knock-knock joke.

Family members were then given the opportunity to try on barrister’s and judges’ robes, horse-hair wigs included. Most readers would agree that the cuteness of the counsel and bench in this room would be most distracting to other members of the court!

At the end of the tour the attendees enjoyed some morning tea and discussion about the daily working life of a lawyer. Some of the children in attendance shared their thoughts on the daily working life of a lawyer. Many children shared their appreciation for the hard work that their parents do and they were overwhelmingly impressed by the idea of wearing robes to work.

WLA ACT would like to extend thanks to everyone who made this day possible, including the ACT Law Society, the Court Staff, [sponsor] and Justice Loukas-Karlsson and Associate Justice McWilliam and also all barristers who provided their robes for this event.