Mentor registrations open for ANU and UC mentoring programs

WLA ACT is proud to support ANU's Women In Law Mentoring Program (WILO) and the University of Canberra's Women Lawyers' Mentor Program (WLMP) again in Semester 1, 2018.

You can now register to become a mentor:

Complete this short form to register to become a mentor to a UC student.

Complete this short form to register to become a mentor to an ANU student. 

Mentor registrations will close 23 February 2018, and matches will be advised on 27 February 2018. 

This program pairs women law students with professional women in the legal sector, as a means to empower and develop women studying law.

The Program is run each semester by the ANU Women In Law Organisation and UC Women Lawyers' Mentor Program.

Please see the WILO website for more information about the ANU program and a useful mentoring manual.

WLMP has also produced a useful mentoring handbook. 

Gratis Membership for Law Students

For the first time, in the 2017-18 membership year the Women Lawyers Association of the ACT will offer free membership to students who are enrolled in a course for a degree in law at a tertiary education institution in Australia

If you are a law student you can register online and become a member today, at no cost. 

This demonstrate's WLA ACT's commitment to the Canberra legal community and the next generation of women lawyers. 

We look forward to working with law students in the future.

Go into the draw to win a $200 Aubergine restaurant voucher

The ACT Lawyers Pay and Conditions Survey closes on 9 February 2018. Complete the survey to be in the running to win a $200 Aubergine restaurant voucher. 

WLA ACT, in partnership with the ACT Young Lawyers Committee, conducts the Lawyers Pay and Conditions Survey. The 2017/18 Survey is open to lawyers of all genders, and not just early career lawyers. 

The ACT is a small jurisdiction and information about pay and conditions is often unavailable in the public sphere, making it difficult for lawyers to find an independent benchmark from which to negotiate their entitlements.

The more lawyers that fill out the survey, the more accurate a picture we will gain about employment in the ACT legal sector. So make sure you have filled out the survey and that you have circulated this email to your firm or department, and your legal eagle friends. 

The 2017/18 Survey has been made possible by the generous assistance of our corporate sponsors. 

Mentor Breakfast with The Hon. Associate Justice McWilliam sold out

Ont Tuesday 13 February WLA ACT will host its first event of 2018, a Mentor Breakfast with guest speaker the Honourable Associate Justice Verity McWilliam.

Associate Justice McWilliam was sworn in as the Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT in June 2017. Prior to her appointment, Associate Justice McWilliam was a solicitor at PwC and the Crown Solicitor’s Office of NSW before being called to the NSW bar and practising in the areas of commercial/equity, criminal, employment, environment/planning, public and torts law.

Associate Justice McWilliam will share her insights on her fascinating career at our first mentor breakfast of the year.

This has been a popular event and tickets sold out quickly. Should you wish to be placed on a waiting list, please email contact@wlaact.org.au. 

WLA ACT 2017/18 Pay & Conditions Survey NOW OPEN

The Women Lawyers Association ACT's 2017 Pay & Conditions Survey is now open! 

The Women Lawyers Association (WLA) ACT and the ACT Young Lawyers are seeking the views of ACT-based lawyers of all genders and career levels.
 
The ACT is a small jurisdiction and information about employment, pay and conditions is often unavailable in the public sphere, making it difficult for lawyers to find an independent benchmark from which to negotiate their entitlements.
The purpose of this survey is to collect data about the characteristics of individual lawyers working in the ACT, and the nature of their employment, pay and conditions. The WLA ACT and the ACT Young Lawyers Committee will collate and publish the findings of the survey with the aim of providing ACT lawyers with an insight into their professional community.
 
The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete online.
 
The WLA ACT and ACT Young Lawyers Committee are committed to protecting your privacy. This survey is anonymous, therefore the information we collect will not tell us anything about you specifically (such as your personal details). The WLA ACT and ACT Young Lawyers Committee may use the data collected through this survey for the purposes of releasing a Pay and Conditions Report and other materials pertaining to the findings of the survey. A copy of the 2016 Report can be found HERE.

The expansion of the survey to all lawyers in the ACT has been made possible thanks to our generous sponsors.

A book launch! The essential reference guide to financial planning

Michael Miller from MLC Advice Canberra (one of our fantastic sponsors) has written a book! WLA ACT welcomes this book, titled ‘Personal Financial Services Essentials for Lawyers’, which seeks to demystify financial planning for lawyers.

WLA ACT committee members joined Michael at the book launch on Wednesday 25 October. The event welcomed attendees from across the Canberra legal community, who enjoyed words from guest speaker Noor Blumer, ACT Woman Lawyer of the Year 2016.

Covering topics such as superannuation, insurance and social security, the text combines an explanation of the legal basis for many areas of financial planning, with information and examples on how these are applied by financial planning professionals for their clients.

"Personal Financial Services Essentials for Lawyers is an essential reference providing practical guidance to lawyers on where to start when it comes to matters that may affect the financial planning dealings of their clients"

Copies of the book can be obtained through Lexis Nexis.

Michael Miller of MLC Advice Canberra is the principal sponsor of WLA ACT.

Meet a Member - Emily Bowler

This month we profiled Emily Bowler for our Meet a Member section. Emily is a lawyer at Baker Deane & Nutt, currently practising in personal injury litigation.

'My advice would be to get a mentor and also to become a mentor yourself. As a young lawyer it is extremely valuable to have the opportunity to meet with a more senior practitioner and to ask questions regarding career progression, different working environments and life as a lawyer in a confidential setting.' 

Check out our Meet a Member page to see Emily's full profile. 

Baker Deane and Nutt is a WLA ACT Corporate Member for the 2017-18 year. 

MLC Seminar: How to buy your first home – then pay that loan off!

We are pleased to invite you to a seminar hosted by our Principal Sponsor, MLC Advice, to be held on Wednesday 8 November at 5:30pm.

Come along to this session to learn all about getting your first home and loan, and then how to make sure you can pay that loan off and own that home mortgage free. The session will cover:

• How to avoid the Lifestyle Creep that will keep you from owning your home
• Saving a deposit for your home, including the new First Home Super Savers Scheme rules
• Special mortgage options available for lawyers
• First home buyer and stamp duty concessions, the differences between ACT & NSW
• Understanding the difference between a mortgage offset or redraw and why it’s important
• Having a plan to avoid home ownership bill shock
• How to pay that loan down, faster

Further information and registration can be found on our Events Page.